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Upon arrival in England, the unit went through a miriad of steps in preparation for combat operations. There were training flight to get used to forming up in the cloudy skies of the English winter; navigation flights to familiarize the navigators with the English navaids; base preparations for sustained operations and a thousand and one details that kept everyone busy getting ready.
All of this was a prelude to the coming combat missions. The Eighth Air Force had already been conducting missions for the better part of a year, and were having a rough time of it. Little did the men of the 445th know what was in store for them!
Operations began within a month of arrival. The first mission was flown on December 13, 1943 - the first of what was eventually two hundred eighty missions!
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