From this page you can download some information about the men, the aircraft and the missions of 885th Bombardment Squadron. Please note that the information are incomplete and the research to extend and complete them is a continuous work in progress.
The list of personnel is the result of research from some original documents and from some selected internet sources. A rather complete personnel list has been compiled thanks to the last document findings: as on March, 2020 a total of 967 men have been listed. The names have been checked one by one and the ASNs have been cross-checked with the NARA database information which, unfortunately, is not 100 % complete.
The Operations Logs have been rearranged from an incomplete copy of the original 885th BS Military History compiled by the CO Col Monro MacCloskey. The mission logs prior to September 1st, 1944 are still missing.
Any comments, supplements, suggestions or corrections would be very welcome. As the files are periodically updated, please check the revision number that follows each filename.
Reprocessed and merged information UPDATED Apr 2020!
List of personnel 885th BS 1943-45 rev 15
List of 885th aircraft rev 3
List of 885th aircraft w missions rev 3
885th BS Operations log 1944 09 rev 3
885th BS Operations log 1944 10 rev 3
885th BS Operations log 1944 11 rev 3
885th BS Operations log 1944 12 rev 3
885th BS Operations log 1945 01 rev 3
885th BS Operations log 1945 02 rev 3
885th BS Operations log 1945 03 rev 3
885th BS Operations log 1945 04 rev 3
List of MTO RAF and USAAF SO targets 1943-45 rev 5
A tale of the 885th BS by Ralph Cavaliere
(this is copyrighted material and can only be downloaded for personal, private reading)
A tale of the 885th – Ralph Cavaliere, NY
The complete collection of the 885th BS afterwar newsletter, “Target For Tonight” by John K. Mattison
(courtesy of Ralph Cavaliere)
19910915 Target For Tonight – 885th BS Newsletter # 01
19911207 Target For Tonight – 885th BS Newsletter # 02
19920315 Target For Tonight – 885th BS Newsletter # 03
19920915 Target For Tonight – 885th BS Newsletter # 04
19930315 Target For Tonight – 885th BS Newsletter # 05
19931001 Target For Tonight – 885th BS Newsletter # 06
19941215 Target For Tonight – 885th BS Newsletter # 07
19950508 Target For Tonight – 885th BS Newsletter # 08
19951111 Target For Tonight – 885th BS Newsletter # 09
19961111 Target For Tonight – 885th BS Newsletter # 10
20000904 Target For Tonight – 885th BS Newsletter # 11
