Chuckie’s 36th Bombardment Squadron and the 406th Bombardment Squadron formed the 482nd Bomb Group at the beginning of 1944. It was the only U.S. 8th Army Air Force Bomb Group formed outside of the United States during WWII. 

On 1 April 1944 they were placed under the provisional 801st Bomb Group at RAF Harrington. Twenty four of the fat B-24s arrived and were soon squatting on the hardstandings round the perimeter of the airbase.  More than a thousand troops would move into Harrington during April of 1944. The first “Carpetbagger” missions were carried out by this unit under the control of General “Wild Bill” Donovan’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The group has been generally recognized as the ancestor of today’s Air Force Special Operations.

Gen. William J. Donovan Heads Office of Strategic Services

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a wartime intelligence agency of the U.S. during World War II, and a predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The OSS consisted of men and women from many areas and backgrounds — lawyers, historians, bankers, baseball players, actors, and businessmen. Their assignment was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and morale operations against the Axis powers, and conduct in-depth research and analysis on the nation’s enemies and their capabilities.

The OSS was instrumental in many of the successes during World War II, including providing the U.S. government with advance information about German efforts to develop atomic weapons and the plot to assassinate Hitler.

Donovan became known as the “Father of American Intelligence.  More information on him and the OSS can be found on the CIA website.