383d Bombardment Group

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 383d Bombardment Group


caption=
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: American Campaign (1942-1945): Pacific Theater (1945)

anniversaries=The 383d Bombardment Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It served primarily as a training unit in the United States. Late in the war the group was trained as a Very Heavy (VH) B-29 Superfortress group for assignment to the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II.

History

Assignments

* Second Air Force: 2d (later II) Bomber Command:: 3 Nov 1942 - 1 Apr 1944:: 28 Aug 1944 - 31 Aug 1945
* Eighth Air Force: 316 Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, 31 Aug 1945-3 Jan 1946 : Attached to Twentieth Air Force:: 313th Bombardment Wing, 12 Sep-19 Dec 1945

Stations Assigned

* Salt Lake City AAB, Utah, 3 - 12 Nov 1942
* Rapid City AAB, South Dakota, 12 Nov 1942 - 20 Jun 1943
* Geiger Field, Washington, 20 Jun - 26 Oct 1943
* Peterson Field, Colorado 26 Oct 1943-1 Apr 1944
* Dalhart AAF, Texas 28 Aug 1944 - 14 Jan 1945
* Walker AAF, Kansas 14 Jan - 11 Aug 1945
* Tinian 12 Sep - 19 Dec 1945
* Camp Anza, California 2 - 3 Jan 1946

Operational Units

* 540th Bombardment Squadron 1942-1944 (B-17, B-24)
* 541st Bombardment Squadron 1942-1944 (B-17, B-24)
* 542d Bombardment Squadron 1942-1944 (B-17, B-24)
* 543d Bombardment Squadron 1942-1944 (B-17, B-24)
* 876th Bombardment Squadron 1944-1946 (B-29)
* 880th Bombardment Squadron 1944-1946 (B-29)
* 884th Bombardment Squadron 1944-1946 (B-29)

Aircraft Flown

* Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
* Consolidated B-24 Liberator
* Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Operational History

The 383d Bombardment Group (Heavy) was constituted on 28 Oct 1942 at Salt Lake City AAB, Utah, and activated on 3 Nov 1942. The 383d was assigned to Second Air Force as an operational training unit for B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator flight crews, first at Rapid City AAF, South Dakota, then later at Geiger AAF, in Washington.

With the phasedown of B-17/B-24 training, the 383d was inactivated on 1 April 1944. However, the unit was reactivated on 28th August as the 383d Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) and programmed as a B-29 Superfortress group for the Pacific Theater at Dalhart AAF, Texas. Shortages of B-29s for training caused the group to remain in the United States for almost a year until finally it deployed to Okinawa in August 1944 to be part of Eighth Air Force in the Pacific. However, the war ended before the group could enter combat.

Reassigned to Twentieth Air Force in September 1945, the group flew a few training missions from Okinawa until being returned to the United States for demobilization in December.

The 383d Bomb Group was inactivated on 3 January, 1946.

References

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

External links