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The 483rd Bombardment Group was a B-17 group that fought with the Fifteenth Air Force in Italy from April 1944-April 1945, mainly taking part in the strategic bombing offensive.
The group was activated in the US on 20 September 1943 and moved to Italy in March-April 1944. Combat operations with the Fifteenth Air Force began in April 1945 and the group spent most of its time attacking strategic targets across much of occupied Europe and Germany. It received two distinguished unit citations for its strategic bombing. The first was awarded for an attack on a German airfield at Memmingen on 18 July 1944 carried out without a fighter escort. The second was for an attack on tank factories at Berlin on 24 March 1945.
The group also flew a number of tactical missions. In the summer of 1944 the group destroyed two spans of the Casarsa bridge, cutting the Tarviso railway line, one of two main lines that linked the German front line to north-eastern Italy. In August 1944 it supported the Allied invasion of southern France (Operation Dragoon). In April 1945 the group supported the Allied armies during their final offensive in the Po valley.
After the end of the war the group was used to fly American personnel from italy to North Africa on the first stage of their journey home to the US. It was inactivated in Italy on 25 September 1945.
Sept 1943-: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
| 14 Sept 1943 | Constituted as 483rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) |
| 20 Sept 1943 | Activated |
| Mar-Apr 1944 | To Italy and Fifteenth Air Force |
| April 1944 | Combat debut |
| April 1945 | Combat ends |
| 25 Sept 1945 | Inactivated |
Col Paul L Barton: c.
26 Sep 1943
Col Joseph B Stanley, 8 May-c.
Sep 1945.
Ephrata AAB, Wash: 20 Sep
1943
MacDill Field, Fla: 7 Nov 1943-2
Mar 1944
Tortorella, Italy: 30 Mar 1944
Sterparone Airfield, Italy: 22 Apr 1944
Pisa, Italy: 15 May-25 Sep 1945.
815th Bombardment Squadron: 1943-1945
816th Bombardment Squadron: 1943-1945
817th Bombardment Squadron: 1943-
1945
840th (formerly 818th) Bombardment Squadron:
1943-1945
1944-45: 5th Bombardment Wing; Fifteenth Air Force