867th Bomb Squadron 494th Bomb Group B-24J Model

Fly again with the 867th Bomb Squadron 494th Bomb Group in this handcrafted B-24J Model. Each piece is carved from wood and hand painted to provide a piece you'll love.

Length - 11.5 inches
Wingspan - 17.5 inches
Made from Mahogany
US Veteran-Owned Business
Officially Licensed by Lockheed Martin
The product is not intended to be used by children 12 years and younger.

LOCKHEED MARTIN®, B-24 Liberator®, associated emblems and logos, and body designs of vehicles are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Lockheed Martin Corporation in the USA and/or other jurisdictions, used under license by Squadron Nostalgia LLC

History
Despite its eventual high number the 867th Bombardment Squadron was in action almost from the start of the American involvement in the Second World War, flying anti-submarine warfare patrols for eighteen months before joining the Seventh Air Force as a heavy bomber squadron.

The squadron had originally been formed as the 92nd Aero Squadron in August 1917, before being demobilized in December 1918. In 1940, while out of service the squadron had been redesignated as the 92nd Reconnaissance Squadron (Light), and had been reactivated in this form on 15 January 1941 as part of the pre-war expansion of the Army Air Force. During 1941 the squadron flew a mix of Douglas B-18 Bolos and Douglas Havocs, but it would enter combat with the Lockheed A-29 Hudson.

The squadron began flying anti-submarine warfare patrols from Dow Field, Bangor, Maine, on 28 February 1942 (as the 92nd Reconnaissance Squadron (Medium). In April it moved to Mitchell Field, New York, where it continued to fly ASW patrols, this time as the 433rd Bombardment Squadron. A third change of name and number came on 29 November 1942 when the bombardment squadrons flying with AAF Antisubmarine Command were redesignated as Antisubmarine Squadrons (3rd to 19th). The 433rd became the 10th Antisubmarine Squadron, by now operating the B-25 Mitchell.

The squadron flew its last ASW patrol from Galveston on 30 September 1943. In the next month it was redesignated as the 867th Bombardment Squadron, converted to the B-24 Liberator and was allocated to the 494th Bombardment Group. The squadron joined the rest of this group at Wendover Field, Utah, on 5 January 1944, one month after the other three squadrons in the group arrived. The new group spent most of 1944 in training, before moving to Anguar at the end of the year.

From then to the end of the war the squadron's history was the same as the groups. On arriving on Anguar the group operated against Japanese held targets on just about every island in range, as well as beginning a campaign against the Japanese on the Philippines that would last until June 1945, when the group moved to Okinawa. On 5 July 1945 the group became the first to operate the B-24 Liberator against the Japanese Home Islands from Okinawa, and for the rest of the war it split its attention between attacks on Japan (focusing on airfields) and on Japanese occupied China and Korea. At the end of the war the group was used to transfer personnel to Japan and to help Allied prisoners of war held near Tokyo.

The 867th Bombardment Squadron's B-24s were left in their all-metal finish, and could be identified by offset quartered black squares painted on the tail.

For more details see the 494th Bomb Group (H) Association website

Aircraft
Douglas B-18 Bolo: 1941
Boeing Stearman PT-17: 1941
Douglas DB-7 Havoc: 1941
Douglas A-20 Havoc: 1941
Lockheed A-29 Hudson: 1942
Lockheed RM-37 (Ventura): 1942-1943
Lockheed B-34 Lexington (Ventura): 1943
North American B-25 Mitchell: 1943
Consolidated B-24 Liberator: 1943-1945

867th Bomb Squadron

Lockheed Martin® (Consolidated) B-24J® 867th Bomb Squadron 494th Bomb Group, 18" Mahogany Model