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Constituted as 20th Bombardment Wing on 19 Oct 1940. Activated on 18 Dec 1940. Inactivated on 1 Sep 1941.
Activated on 1 Nov 1942. Redesignated 20th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) in Feb 1943. Moved to England, May-Jun 1943, for duty with Eighth AF. Redesignated 20th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) in Aug 1943. Received its first groups in Nov 1943 and served in combat in the European theater from Dec 1 1943 until Apr 1945. Redesignated 10th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) in Jun 1945. Returned to the US in Aug 1945. Redesignated 20th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) in Aug, and VIII Bomber Command (Very Heavy) in Oct 1945. Apparently had no combat components assigned after Aug 1945. Inactivated on 10 Nov 1946. Disbanded on 8 Oct 1948.
Groups. 7th: 1940-1941. 34th: 1945. 42d: 1941. 93d: 1943-1945. 385th: 1945. 388th: 1945. 446th: 1943-1945. 448th: 1943-1945. 452d: 1945. 489th: 1944.
Stations. Ft Douglas, Utah, 18 Dec 1940-1 Sep 1941. MacDill Field, Fla, 1 Nov 1942-c. 8 May 1943; Camp Lynn, England, c. 9 Jun 1943; Cheddington, England, c. 1 Jul 1943; Horsham St Faith, England, c. 14 Sep 1943; Hethel, England, 24 Sep 1943; Hardwick, England, c. 7 Nov 1943; Snetterton Heath, England, c. 13 June Aug 1945; Sioux Falls AAFld, SD, c. 15 Aug 1945; Peterson Field, Colo, 17 Aug 1945; MacDill Field, Fla, 14 May-10 Nov 1946.
Commanders. Col Shepler W FitzGerald, 16 Jan 1941; Brig Gen Walter H Frank, 6 Feb 1941; Brig Gen Ralph Royce, 2 Mar 1941; Col Lowell H Smith, 6 May-c. 1 Sep 1941. Col John H Hayden, c. 30 Oct 1943; Col Jack W Wood, 29 Dec 1943; Brig Gen Edward Timberlake Jr, 25 Sep 1944; Col Leland G Fiegel, 17 May 1945; Brig Gen Archie Old Jr, 18 Jun 1945-unkn; Col Broake E Allen, c. 18 Aug 1945; Col John W Warren, 22 Aug 1945; Brig Gen Hugo P Rush, 2 Nov 1945-unkn; Col Neil B Harding, 14 May 1946; Maj Gene A Nelson, 16 Aug 1946; Maj Leroy S English, 10 Sep 1946; Lt Col Ermanno D Grana, 3-c. 10 Nov 1946.
Campaigns. American Theater; Air Offensive, Europe; Normandy; Northern Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe.
Decorations. None.
Data from Air Force Combat Units of World War II By Maurer, Maurer, Published 1986
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Historical Artifacts: We are looking for photos, documents and other types of artifacts including uniforms, medals, insignia, gear, manuals, and training material. We accept electronic/scans or originals of pictures and paper records. A General Order could be an award document that contains information on many servicemen. Special Orders may contain transfers or other information. Flight records, accident reports, maintenance logs, after action reports, pilot encounter reports, diaries and biorgraphies; all of these types of documents help us support or mission: preserving your history! Contact us today for instructions on sending us this material. Contact Today
Are you an AAC, AAF or USAF Veteran, family member, historian or WW2 enthusiast? We Need YOU! Contact us today to see how you can help the Army Air Corps Library and Museum, a Texas Not-For-Profit Corporation. We need your help! We are looking for volunteers that can help us with the following tasks. Typing and Transcriptionists: One of our big projects is extracting data from the thousands of documents we have and putting this data into a database where we can display the information on a website such as this one. We also need assistance with retyping unit history documents.
