Assigned 8th AAF: June 1943
Wing/Command Assignment
VIII BC, 4 BW, 402 PCBW 6 Jun 1943
VIII BC, 3 BD, 13 CBW 13 Sep 1943
2 BD, 13 CBW 8 Jan 1944
2 AD, 13 CBW 1 Jan 1945
Combat Aircraft:
B-17F
B-17G
Stations
PODINGTON 2 Jun 1943 to 8 Jun 1943
THORPE ABBOTTS 9 Jun 1943 to 11 Dec 1945
Group COs
COL. DARR H. ALKIRE 14 NOV 1942 -- 26 MAR 1943
COL. HOWARD TURNER 26 MAR 1943 -- 08 MAY 1943
COL HOWARD HUGHLIN 08 MAY 1943 -- 01 JULY 1943
COL. NEIL "CHICK" HARDING 01 JULY 1943 -- 06 MAR 1944
(LT COL. JOHN BENNETT ASSUMES TEMPORARY COMMAND)
COL ROBERT H. KELLY 20 APR 1944 -- 28 APR 1944
(LT COL. JOHN BENNETT ASSUMES TEMPORARY COMMAND AGAIN)
COL. THOMAS JEFFREY 06 MAY 1944 -- 02 FEB 1944 COL.
FREDERICK SUTTERLIN 02 FEB 1944 -- 23 JUN 1945
COL. JOHN WALLACE 23 JUN 1945 -- 01 AUG 1945
COL. HARRY F. CRUVER 01 AUG 1945 -- UNTIL GROUP WAS DISBANDED.
COL. KELLY KIA AT SOTTEVAST 28 APR 44
First Mission: 25 June 1943
Last Mission: 20 Apr 1945
Missions: 306
Total Sorties: 8,630
Total Bomb Tonnage: 19,257 Tons
Aircraft MIA: 177
Major Awards:
Two Distinguished Unit Citations:
17 Aug 1943; Regensburg
4/6/8 Mar1944 Berlin
Claims to Fame
Spectacular heavy loss at intervals throughout period of combat
Early History:
Activated 1 June 1942 at Orlando AB, Florida. Originally scheduled to be a B-24
group. Formation did not commence until late October 1942 at Gowan Field Idaho,
thereafter the Group was transferred to Walla Walla AAb, Washington on 1 Nov
1942 and received their first B-17s for training. Then the group moved to Wendover
field in Utah on the 30th of November 1942 until 28 December 1942 when they
moved to Sioux City AAB, Iowa. At the end of January 1943 they moved again to
Kearney AAFd Nebraska. the ground unit left Kearney on the 2 May 1943 and sailed
on the Queen Elizabeth, arriving in Greenock on the 2nd of May 1943. the aircraft
left Kearney on the 1st of May 1943 for advance training and processing at Wendover
Field, Utah before taking the northern ferry route to England on the 21st of
May 1943.
Subsequent History:
Scheduled for occupational duties in Germany, but plans changed on September
1945. The group was assigned to the 1 AD, on 12 August 1945 but reassigned to
the 3 AD on the 28th of September 1945. The aircraft were flown to the United
States or transferred to continental units from October to December 1945, and
the squadrons were inactivated. The remaining personnel sailed on the Lake Chamlain
on the 12th of December and arrived in New York on the 20th of December 1945.
The group inactivated at Camp Kilmer in New Jersey on the 21st of December 1945.