The 384th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated on December 1, 1942, at Gowen Field, Idaho. It trained in Wendover, Utah, and Sioux City, Iowa, before deploying to Grafton Underwood Airfield, England in May 1943. Combat operations in the European Theatre of Operations began on 22nd June 1943, with the final mission coming on 25th April, 1945. The group became part of the 41st Combat Bombardment Wing of the 1st Air Division and was assigned the Triangle-P tail code.

The 384th Bombardment Group was comprised of four Bomb Squadrons – the 544th, the 545th, the 546th and the 547th. Each was assigned specific areas of the airfield for the dispersal of their allotted aircraft, and also living quarters.

During World War II, the 384th flew 316 missions, completing 9,404 sorties and dropping 22,415 tons of bombs on targets across Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Holland. It played a crucial role in strategic bombing campaigns, including attacks on aircraft factories, oil storage plants, and transportation hubs. The group received two Distinguished Unit Citations, one for a damaging raid on aircraft factories in central Germany on January 11, 1944, and another for bravery under fire during a mission to Oberpfaffenhofen on April 24, 1944.

In total, 7,949 personnel were to serve with the 384th, of which 4,371 were combat aircrew with the remainder being the vital service elements – groundcrew, armourers, chefs, admin for example. 442 were to be Killed in Action, 63 listed as Missing In Action, there were 46 fatalities through ‘non-combat’ causes. A total of 878 crew were to abandon their aircraft over Europe and become Prisoners of War, 51 were interned in neutral countries and a further 115 were to evade capture.

Most missions for a 384th crewmember was Technical Sergeant Richard Clyde Hosmer who was credited with 80 combat missions, conversely 271 crewmembers were recorded with a single combat mission.

The 384th were assigned a total of 339 B17’s throughout their history. Of these, 153 failed to return, 25 were to crash as a result of mission activity, 4 were to ditch and a further 4 were lost in mid-air collisions. 1 was to land in a neutral county and another lost in a non-combat related aerial accident. A further 52 aircraft were lost due to be scrapped, as a result of combat damaged sustained and the aircraft subsequently being deemed unfit or unsuitable for repair.

The group was finally deactivated after the wars end, in February 1946.