WWII Censored Donald Hoffman - 860th Bombardment Squadron Letter Cover Relic for Sale

WWII Censored Donald Hoffman - 860th Bombardment Squadron Letter Cover Relic For Sale

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WWII Censored Donald Hoffman - 860th Bombardment Squadron Letter Cover Relic:
$35.00

This original air mail letter cover was written by Donald Hoffman serving with the 860th Bombardment Squadron of the 493rd Bomber Group. While the letter that was inside this letter head has been lost with time it still hold a glimpse into the personal letters send home by the soldier fighting overseas. This letter head is stamped August 14th, 1944 and was written 2 months after the air support flow by the 860th Bombardment Squadron on D-Day.

860th Bombardment Squadron:

The squadron flew its first combat mission onD-Day, 6 June 1944. It continued to fly Liberators until 24 August 1944, when it was withdrawn from combat to convert toBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, along with other units of the93d Bombardment Wing, as Eighth Air Force concentrated all its Liberators in the2d Bombardment Division. It resumed combat missions with the B-17 on 8 September 1944. The squadron concentrated its attacks on military and industrial targets in Germany, attacking an ordnance depot inMagdeburg, factories nearFrankfurt, and asynthetic oilmanufacturing plant atMerseburg. It also attackedlines of communications, including a railroad tunnel atAhrweiler, bridges atIrlich, andmarshalling yardsnearCologne.

The squadron was occasionally diverted from thestrategic bombing campaignto attack tactical targets. It supportedOperation Overlord, the Normandy invasion, strikingartillery batteries, airfields and bridges. It struck enemy ground forces south ofCaenand duringOperation Cobra, the breakout atSt Lo. It bombed Germanfortificationsto supportOperation Market Garden, airborne attacks attempting to secure a bridgehead across theRhinein the Netherlands, and attacked communications during theBattle of the Bulge. Toward the end of the war, it also supportedOperation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine in Germany.

The squadron flew its last combat mission against marshalling yards nearNauenon 20 April 1945, although it flew food-dropping missions in early May. The squadron air echelon departed Debach on 30 June, while the ground echelon sailed for home aboard theRMSQueen Elizabethon 6 August 1945. In late August, the squadron assembled atSioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 28 August 1945.