 The 453d BG entered combat on 5 February 1944 with an attack against an airfield at Tours.Throughout combat, the unit served chiefly as a strategic bombardment organization.Targets included a fuel depot at Dülmen, marshalling yards at Paderborn, aircraft assembly plants at Gotha, railway centres at Hamm, an ordnance depot at Glinde, oil refineries at Gelsenkirchen, chemical works at Leverkusen, an airfield at Neumünster, a canal at Minden, and a railway viaduct at Altenbeken.