392nd Bomber Group

8th Air Force 392nd BG

Squadrons of the 392nd BG

576th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy
577th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy
578th Bombardment Squadron -Heavy
579th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy

Assigned 8th AAF: July 1943

Wing/Command Assignment

VIII BC, 2 BW: Jul 1943
VIII BC, 2 BW, 202 PCBW Sep 2, 1943
VIII BC, 2 BD, 14 CBW 13 Sep 1943
2 BD, 14 CBW 8 Jan 1944
2 AD, 14 CBW 1 Jan 1945

Combat Aircraft:

B-24H
B-24J
B-24L
B-24M

Stations

WENDLING 1 Aug 1943 to 15 Jun 1945

Group COs

Col. Irvine A. Rendle 26 Jan 1943 to 21 Jun 1944
Col Lorin L. Johnson 21 Jun 1944 to 27 May 1945
Lt. Col Lawrence G. Gilbert 27 May 1945 to Jun 1945

First Mission: 9 Sep 1943
Last Mission: 25 Apr 1945
Missions: 285
Total Sorties: 7,060
Total Bomb Tonnage: 17,452 Tons
Aircraft MIA: 127

Major Awards:

Distinguished Unit Citations: 24 Feb 1944: Gotha

Claims to Fame

Despite heavy losses its bombing efficiency was better than average for @BD groups during 9 months of operations.
First B-24H group in the 8th Air Force.

Early History:

Activated 26 January 1943 at Davis Monthan AAFd, AZ, and trained there until Febuary 1943. The unit moved to Biggs Field, TX, and on March of 1943, and then to Alamogordo AAB, NM on the 18th of April 1943. The ground unit left for the port of embarkation on the 18th July 1943. The unit sailed out from New York on the 25th July 1943, and arrived in England on the 30th July 1943.

Subsequent History:

Redeployed to the US May/June 1945. First of the aircraft departed the United Kingdom on 29 May 1945. Ground echelon sailed on Queen Mary on the 15th of June 1945, arriving in New York on the 20th of June 1945. Personnel had 30 days R and R with the unit assembiling in Charleston AAFd, South Carolina, in late June 1945 for air transport duties but was not fully manned and inactivated on the 13th September 1945.