397th Bombardment Wing

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 397th Bombardment Wing


caption= 397th Bombardment Wing Insignia
dates= 1943-1946, 1963-1968
country= United States
allegiance=
branch= United States Air Force
type=
role= Bombardment
size=
command_structure= Strategic Air Command
current_commander=
garrison=
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
nickname=
patron=
motto= Custodes Libertatis "Guardians of Freedom"
colors=
march=
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battles=
anniversaries=The 397th Bombardment Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It served primarily in the European Theatre of World War II. In the 1960s, during the Cold War, the 397th Bombardment Wing served in Strategic Air Command.

History

Aircraft Flown

* Martin B-26 Marauder (1943-1946)
* Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (1963-1968)
* Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker (1963-1964)
* Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker (1964-1968)

Stations Assigned

* MacDill Field, FL 20 Apr 1943
* Avon Park Air Force Range, FL 12 Oct 1943
* Hunter Field, GA 1 Nov 1943-13 Mar 1944
* RAF Gosfield, England 5 Apr 1944 154
* RAF Rivenhall, England 15 Apr 1944 168
* RAF Hurn, England 5 Aug 1944 492
* Gorges, France Aug 1944
* Dreux, France c. 11 Sep 1944
* Peronne, France 6 Oct 1944
* Venlo, Holland 25 Apr 1945
* Peronne, France c. 24 May-c. Dec 1945
* Camp Kilmer, NJ 5-6 Jan 1946
* Dow AFB, ME, Feb 1963 - Apr 1968

Operational History

World War II

Constituted as 397th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 20 Mar 1943. Activated on 20 Apr 1943. Trained with B-26's. Moved to RAF Gosfield England, Mar-Apr 1944, and assigned to Ninth Air Force, however. no sooner had they arrived than they were moved on to RAF Rivenhall. The group's identification marking was a yellow diagonal band across both sides of the vertical tailplane. Operational squadrons and fuselage codes of the group were:

* 596th Bombardment Squadron (X2)
* 597th Bombardment Squadron (9F)
* 598th Bombardment Squadron (U2)
* 599th Bombardment Squadron (6B)

Over the next few days, more than 60 'bare metal' B-26s were to be seen on the Rivenhall hardstands. Although fresh from the training grounds in south-eastern United States, and having only reached the UK early in April. the 347th undertook its first combat mission on 20 April: an attack on a Pas de Calais V-1 site.

During its tenure of Rivenhall the 397th undertook 56 bombing missions, 32 of them attacks on bridges. Other targets were enemy airficlds, rail junctions, fuel and ammunition stores, V-weapon sites and various military installations in France and the Low Countries. During these missions a total of 16 B-26s were missing in action and several others wrecked in crash-landings at the base.

Early in August, officially on the 5th, the 397th transferred from Rivenhall to RAF Hurn in Hampshire, to give the Marauders a better radius of action as the break-out of the Allied forces from the Normandy beachhead meant that potential targets were receding.

Although moving from Rivenhall, the group arrived without ceasing operations and flew 72 missions from Hurn before moving to the Advanced Landing Ground at Gorges, France (A-26) on 19 August, with the last departures on the 30th and 31st. Three Marauders were lost during the month's stay.

On the continent, the 397th struck enemy positions at St Malo and Brest and bombed targets in the Rouen area as Allied armies swept across the Seine and advanced to the Siegfried Line. The group began flying missions into Germany in September, attacking such targets as bridges, defended areas, and storage depots.

The 397th struck the enemy's communications during the Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944-Jan 1945) and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission on 23 December 1944 when the group withstood heavy flak and fighter attack to sever a railway bridge at Eller, a vital link in the enemy's supply line across the Moselle.

The group continued to support the Allied drive into Germany until April 1945, being stationed at Venlo, Holland (Y-55) on VE-Day. It returned to the United States during Dec 1945-Jan 1946, being inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 6 January 1946.

Cold War

The 397th Bombardment Wing, Heavy was activated and replaced the 4038th Strategic Wing At Dow AFB, Maine in Feb 1963. Conducted bombardment training and air refueling operations to meet SAC commitments.

* 596th Bombardment Squadron (Feb 1, 1963 - April 25, 1968) (B-52G).
Note: The 596th acquired the B-52Gs previously used by the 341 BS, 4038th Strategic Wing on February 1, 1963 and flew them until April 1, 1968, when detached to 2nd Bomb Wing control. Moved to Barksdale AFB and officially reassigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing on April 15, 1968.
* 19th Air Refueling (KC-97) (Feb 1, 1963 - June 15, 1963)
* 71st Air Refueling (KC-135) (Feb 1, 1963 - April 25, 1968)
* 341st Air Refueling (KC-97) (Feb 1, 1963 - Sept 1, 1963)

The wing was inactivated 25 April 1968.

ee also

* Strategic Air Command
* Ninth Air Force

References

* Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle ISBN 0900913800
* Freeman, Roger A. (1996) The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle ISBN 1854092723
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
* Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.

External links