World War II Bombing Ranges

During World War II, Lake Murray islands, most notably Lunch Island, since 1945 also called Bomb Island or Doolittle Island, as well as Shull Island and Dreher Island, were used as bombing ranges. B-25 crews from the Columbia Army Air Base, now Columbiana Metropolitan Airport, flew thousands of training missions here from 1942 to 1945. The islands were used for many types of practice runs in which crews dropped flare, incendiary, and demolition bombs. Five B-25s ditched or crashed into Lake Murray while training here. Four were salvaged during the war, and the last aircraft, a rare B-25C, was salvaged from the lake in 2005.

South Carolina · United States