444th Bombardment Group
Constituted as 444th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 15 Feb 1943.
Activated on 1 Mar 1943. Redesignated 444th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy)
in Nov 1943. Trained with B-17, B-24, and B-16 aircraft, and later with
B-19's. Moved to India, via Africa, Mar-Apr 1944. Assigned to Twentieth AF
on 29 Jun 1944. Flew supplies over the Hump to Chinese bases that its
B-29's were to use for staging attacks on Japan. On 15 Jun 1944
participated in the first AAF strike on the Japanese home islands since
the Doolittle raid in 1942. Bombed transportation centers, naval
installations, aircraft plants, and other targets in Burma, China,
Thailand, Japan, and Formosa. Conducted a daylight raid against iron and
steel works at Yawata, Japan, in Aug 1944, being awarded a DUC for the
mission. Evacuated staging fields in China in Jan 1945 but continued
operations from India, bombing targets in Thailand and mining waters
around Singapore. Moved to Tinian in the spring of 1945 for further
operations against targets in Japan. Participated in bombardment of
strategic objectives and in incendiary raids on urban areas for the
duration of the war. Received a DUC for attacking oil storage facilities
at Oshima, bombing an aircraft plant near Kobe, and dropping incendiaries
on Nagoya, in May 1945. Struck light metal industries at Osaka in Jul
1945, receiving another DUC for this action. Returned to the US late in
1945. Assigned to Strategic Air Command on 21 Mar 1946. Inactivated on 1
Oct 1946.
Squadrons. 344th: 1945-1946. 409th: 1946. 676th: 1943-1946. 677th:
1943-1946. 678th (later 10th): 1943-1946. 679th: 1943-1944. 825th:
1945.
Stations. Davis-Monthan Field, Ariz, 1 Mar 1943; Great Bend AAFld, Kan,
29 Jul 1943-12 Mar 1944; Charra, India, 11 Apr 1944; Dudhkundi, India, 1
Jul 1944-1 Mar 1945; West Field, Tinian, 7 Apr-18 Sep 1945; Merced AAFld,
Calif, 15 Nov 1945; Davis-Monthan Field, Ariz, 6 May-1 Oct 1946.
Commanders. Maj Arthur T [?] Snell, 18 Mar 1943; Maj Walter W Cross, 17
Apr 1943; Col Alva L Harvey, 5 Aug 1943; Col Henry R Sullivan, 22 Apr
1945; Col James C Selser Jr, 3 Jun 1945-1 Oct 1946.
Campaigns. American Theater; India-Burma; Air Offensive, Japan; China
Offensive; Western Pacific; Central Burma.
Decorations. Distinguished Unit Citations: Yawata, Japan, 20 Aug 1944;
Japan, 10-14 May 1945; Japan, 24 Jul 1945. Data from Air Force Combat Units of World War II By Maurer, Maurer, Published 1986
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