Air Force Combat Units of WWII

360 AIR FORCE COMBAT UNITS OF WORLD WAR I1immediately preceding and during the invasionof Normandy. Then struckbridges, rail lines, vehicles, road junctions,and troop concentrations in France.Supported ground forces near Caen in Juland near Brest in Sep 1944. After that,converted to B-17’s and operated primarilyagainst strategic targets until the end ofFeb 1945. Mounted attacks againstenemy oil plants, tank factories, marshallingyards, aircraft plants, and airfields insuch cities as Berlin, Hamburg, Merseburg,Munster, Kassel, Hannover, andCologne. Interrupted strategic missionsto attack supply lines and military installationsduring the Battle of the Bulge, Dec1g44-Jan 1945. Beginning in Mar 1945,attacked interdictory targets and supportedadvancing ground forces. AfterV-E Day, carried food to flood-strickenareas of Holland and transported French,Spanish, and Belgian prisoners of warfrom Austria to Allied centers. Returnedto the US, Aug-Sep 1945. Inactivated on7 Nov 1945.SQUADRONS. 848th: 1943-1945. 849th:1943-1945. 850th: 1943-1945. 85zst:1943-1945-STATIONS. Salt Lake City AAB, Utah,I Oct 1943; Mountain Home AAFld,Idaho, 4 Dec 1g43-Apr 1944; Eye, England,c. I May 1g44-Aug 1945; Drew Field,Fla, 3 Sep-7 Nov 1945.COMMANDERS. Maj Lyle E Halstead, 11Oct 1943; Lt Col Beirne Lay Jr, 28 Oct1943; Lt Col James H Isbell, Nov 1943;Col Lloyd H Watnee, 30 Dec 1943; ColFrank P Bostrom, 26 Jun 1944; Col GeneH Tibbets, c. 10 Jun 1945; Lt Col ClarenceJ Adams, c. g Julrg45-unkn.CAMPAIGNS. Air Offensive, Europe ;Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland;Ardennes-Alsace ; Central Europe.DECORATIONS. None.INSIGNE. None.49 1st BOMBARDMENT GROUPConstituted as 4g1st BombardmentGroup (Heavy) on 14 Sep 1943. Activatedon I Oct 1943. Trained for combatwith B-24’s. On I Jan 1944 the group,less the air echelon, was transferred withoutpersonnel and equipment to England,where personnel were assigned later. Theair echelon continued to train in the USuntil it joined the group in England inMay 1944. Served in combat with EighthAF until the end of Apr 1945. Beganoperations early in Jun 1944 and attackedairfields, bridges, and coastal defensesboth preceding and during the invasionof Normandy. Then concentrated itsattacks on strategic objectives in Germany,striking communications centers, oil refineries,storage depots, industrial areas,shipyards, and other targets in such placesas Berlin, Hamburg, Kassel, Cologne,Gelsenkirchen, Bielefeld, Hannover, andMagdeburg; on one occasion attacked theheadquarters of the German General Staffat Zossen, Germany. While on a missionto bomb an oil refinery at Misburg on 26Nov 1944, the group was attacked by largenumbers of enemy fighters; althoughabout one-half of its planes were de-