RAF Shipdham was the first US heavy bomber base in Norfolk and was also the continuous host to Consolidated B-24 Liberators longer than any other Eighth Air Force combat airfield in Britain - from October 1942 to late 1945.

[5] The personnel of the group used the base as a staging and assembly point before moving in early October for RAF Horsham St Faith in Norfolk.

[citation needed] With the departure of the 319th BG, Shipdham was assigned to the 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy),[7] arriving from Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma on 10 October 1942.

Its operational squadrons were: The group flew Consolidated B-24 Liberators as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign.

[6] The 44th Bomb Group's operations consisted primarily of assaults against strategic targets in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Romania, Austria, Poland, and Sicily.

[7] The unit received a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for an extremely hazardous mission against naval installations at Kiel on 14 May 1943: Its B-24's flew in the wake of the main formation and carried incendiaries to be dropped after three Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress groups had released high explosive bombs, thus the group's aircraft were particularly vulnerable lacking the protection of the firepower of the main force.

[7] Late in June 1943 a large detachment moved to Libya to help facilitate the Allied invasion of Sicily by bombing airfields and marshalling yards in Italy.

From November 1943 to April 1945, the group carried out operations against targets in western Europe, concentrating on airfields, oil installations, and marshalling yards.

The group aided the Caen offensive and the Saint-Lô breakthrough in July; and dropped food, ammunition, and other supplies to troops engaged in the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September.

The group attacked airfields and transportation in support of the advance into Germany, and flew a resupply mission during the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.