331st Bombardment Group

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 331st Bombardment Group


caption= 331st Bombardment Group Insignia
dates= 1942 - 1946
country= United States
allegiance=
branch= United States Army Air Forces
type=
role= Bombardment
size=
command_structure= Twentieth Air Force
current_commander=
garrison= Pacific Ocean Theater of World War II
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
nickname=
patron=
motto=
colors=
march=
mascot=
battles=


* World War II: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1945)
anniversaries=The 331st Bombardment Group (331st BG) was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It was inactivated on 15 April 1946.

History

The unit initially was an Operational Training Unit (OTU) of Second Air Force, training aicrews on B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers in the United States. Later, the group served in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II as part of Twentieth Air Force. The 331st Bomb Group's aircraft engaged in very heavy bombardment B-29 Superfortress operations against Japan.

Operational Units

* 462d Bombardment Squadron 1942-1944 (B-17, B-24)
* 463d Bombardment Squadron 1942-1944 (B-17, B-24)
* 464th Bombardment Squadron 1942-1944 (B-17, B-24)

* 355th Bombardment Squadron 1944-1946 (B-29B)
* 356th Bombardment Squadron 1944-1946 (B-29B)
* 357th Bombardment Squadron 1944-1946 (B-29B)
* 461st Bombardment Squadron 1942-1944 (B-29B)

Aircraft Flown

* Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (1942-1944)
* Consolidated B-24 Liberator (1942-1944)
* Boeing B-29B Superfortress (1944-1946)

Stations assigned

* Salt Lake City AAB, Utah 6 Jul 1942 - 15 Sep 1942
* Casper AAF, Wyoming, 15 Sep 1942 - 1 Apr 1944
* Dalhart AAF, Texas, 12 Jul 1944 - 14 Nov 1944
* McCook AAF, Nebraska, 14 Nov 1944 - 6 Apr 1945
* Northwest Field, Guam 12 May 1945 - 15 Apr 1946

Operational history

Constituted as 331st Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 1 Jul 1942 and activated on 6 July at Salt Lake City AAB, Utah. Assigned to Second Air Force. The mission of the 331st was initially that of a replacement training unit. Equipped with B-17's and B-24's for duty as a replacement training unit at Casper AAFld, Wyoming. Inactivated on 1 Apr 1944.

Redesignated 331st Bombardment Group (Very Heavy). Activated on 12 Jul 1944 at Dalhart AAFld, Texas. Assigned to Second Air Force. Trained for combat with B-29B's initially at Dalhart, then to McCook AAFld, Nebraska.

The 331st was assigned the B-29B model. This model was built at Bell-Atlanta. The B-29B was a limited production aircraft, built solely by Bell-Atlanta. It had all but the tail defensive armament removed, since experience had shown that by 1944 the only significant Japanese fighter attacks were coming from the rear. The tail gun was aimed and fired automatically by the new AN/APG-15B radar fire control system that detected the approaching enemy plane and made all the necessary calculations. The elimination of the turrets and the associated General Electric computerized gun system increased the top speed of the Superfortress to 364 mph at 25,000 feet and made the B-29B suitable for fast, unescorted hit-and-run bombing raids and photographic missions.

Moved to Northwest Field, Guam, Apr-Jun 1945, and assigned to the 315th Bomb Wing, Twentieth Air Force. Bombed Japanese-held Truk late in Jun 1945. Flew first mission against the Japanese home islands on 9 Jul 1945 and afterward operated principally against the enemy's petroleum industry on Honshū. Despite the hazards of bad weather, fighter attacks, and heavy flak, the 331st bombed the coal liquefaction plant at Ube, the Mitsubishi-Hayama petroleum complex at Kawasaki, and the oil refinery and storage facilities at Shimotsu, in July and August 1945, and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for the missions.

After the war the group dropped food and supplies to Allied prisoners of war in Japan. Inactivated on Guam on 15 Apr 1946.

The lineage of the 331st was temporarily reactivated at Randolph AFB, TX, in 2008 as the 331st Air Expeditionary Group, a special unit formed to support Hurricane Ike relief efforts. Units and personnel assigned to the 331st came from both the active and reserve components of the Air Force and Navy. [http://www.1af.acc.af.mil/media/archive/story.asp?id=123115481]

ee also

* Second Air Force
* Twentieth Air Force
* 315th Air Division

References

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.

External links

* [http://www.315bw.org 331st Bombardment Group @ 315bw.org]