Air Force Combat Units of WWII

AIR FORCE COMBAT UNITS-GROUPS 271Jun 1943, and assigned to Eighth AF.Functioned primarily as a strategic bombardmentorganization, concentrating itsattacks on airfields and industries inFrance and Germany. Targets includedairdromes at Orleans, Bricy, and Nancy;motor works at Cologne; a coking plantat Gelsenkirchen; an aircraft componentparts factory at Halberstadt; steel works atMagdeburg; and ball-bearing plants atSchweinfurt. Made a damaging raid onaircraft factories in central Germany on11 Jan 1944 and received a DUC for theaction. Took part in the campaign ofheavy bombers against the German aircraftindustry during Big Week, 20-25Feb 1944. Received another DUC for themission of 4 Apr 194 when the group,although crippled by heavy losses of menand planes, led the 41st Wing throughalmost overwhelming opposition to attackan aircraft factory and airfield at Oberpfaffenhofen.The group also bombed parts,communications centers, oil facilities, andcities, attacking such targets as oil storageplants in Leipzig and Berlin, ports at Hamburgand Emden, and marshalling yardsat Duren and Mannheim. At times it flewinterdictory and support missions. Attackedinstallations along the coast ofNormandy prior to and during the invasionin Jun 194 and then bombed airfieldsand communications beyond thebeachhead. Supported ground troops duringthe breakthrough at St Lo, 24-25 Jul,by bombing enemy strong points just beyondAllied lines. Hit tank and gun concentrationsnorth of Eindhoven to assistthe airborne assault on Holland in Sep.Struck enemy communications and fortificationsduring the Battle of the Bulge,Dec Ig44-Jan 1945. Aided the Allied assaultacross the Rhine in Mar 1945 byattacking marshalling yards, railroad junctions,and bridges to cut off enemy supplies. Remained in the theater after thewar as part of United States Air Forces inEurope. Carried American soldiers toCasablanca for return to the US, returnedGreek soldiers to their homeland, andmoved Allied troops to Germany. Znactivatedin France on 28 Feb 1946.Redesignated 384th BombardmentGroup (Very Heavy). Allotted to the reserve.Activated on 16 Jul 1947. Inactivatedon 27 Jun 1949.SQUADRONS. 338th: 1947-1949. 339th:1947-1949. 544th: 1942-1946; 19474949.545th: 1942-1946; 1947-1949. 546th: 1942-1946. 547th: 1942-1946.STATIONS. Gowen Field, Idaho, I Dec1942; Wendover Field, Utah, 2 Jan 1943;