Army Air Forces in Europe

world war II

95th Bomber Group


8th Air Force 95th BG

Squadrons of the 95th BG

334th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy
335th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy
336th Bombardment Squadron -Heavy
412th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy

Assigned 8th AAF: April 1943

Wing/Command Assignment

VIII BC, 4 BW, 402 PCBW 12 May 1943
VIII BC, 4 BW, 401 PCBW 6 June 1943
VIII BC, 3 BD, 13 CBW 13 Se 1943
3 BD, 13 CBW 8 Jan 1944
3 AD, 13 CBW 1 Jan 1945

Combat Aircraft:

B-17F
B-17G

Stations

ALCONBURY 15 April 1943 to June 1943
FRAMLINGHAM 12 May 1943 to 15 June 1943
HORHAM 15 June 1943 to 3 August 1945

Group COs

Col. Alfred A. Kessler 23 Oct 1942 to 22 Jun 1943
Col John K. Gerhart 22 Jun 1943 to 28 Apr 1944
Col Chester P. Gilger 29 Apr 1944 to 9 May 1944
Col. Karl Truesdell Jr. 10 May 1944 to 14 Dec 1944
Col. Jack E. Shuck 15 Dec 1944 to 27 Apr 1945
Lt. Col. Robert H. Stuart 28 Apr 1945 to Jun 1945

First Mission: 13 May 1943
Last Mission: 20 Apr 1945
Missions: 320
Total Sorties: 8,903
Total Bomb Tonnage: 19,769 Tons
Aircraft MIA: 157
Loses: 39

Major Awards:

Three Distinguished Unit Citations: 17 Aug 1943; Regensburg, and 10 Oct 1943 Munster, and 4 Mar 1944 Berlin

Claims to Fame

Only 8AF group awarded three DUCs (See Above)
Highest total claims of enemy aircraft destroyed of all 8AF Bomb Groups-425 aircraft
First AAF group to bomb Berlin
Last Aircraft lost by 8AF on a mission went down in sea on 7 May 1945
First 8AF General Killed in Action while flying with this group on 13 Jun 1943

Early History:

Activated 15 June 1942 at Barkesdale Field in LA. Formation did not commence until late August of 1942 at Geiger Field in Washington. The unit moved to Ephrata Washington on the 31st of October 1943 and back to Geiger Field on the 24th of November 1943. Final training was conducted at Rapid City AAB, SD from 14 Dec 1942 to 11 Mar 1943. the air echelon moved to Kearney Field Neb for there final processing prior to overseas duty. Aircraft took the southern route via Florida, Trinidad, Brazil, Dakar, and Marrakesh to the UNited Kingdom, arriving early in April 1943. The ground elements arrived at Camp Kilmer on the 21st of April 1943 and sailed on the Queen Elizabeth on the 5th of May 1943, arriving in Greenock on the 11th of May 1943.

Subsequent History:

Redeployed to the US June and August 1945. First of the air echelon departed the United Kingdom on 19 June 1945 and arrived at Bradley Field in Conn on 21 June 1945. Ground echelon sailed, out of Greenock on the Queen Elizabeth on the 5th of August 1945, and arriving on the 11th of August 1945 in Sioux Falls AAFd, South Dakota and inactivated there on the 28th August 1945. Activated in the 1950s as a B-36 Bomber unit, and later upgraded to B-52s, and finally inactivated in 1967.

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