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Constituted as 409th Bombardment Group (Light) on 1 Jun 1943 and activated the same day. Used A-20's in preparing for duty overseas. Moved to England, Feb-Mar 1944, and assigned to Ninth AF. Bombed coastal defenses, V-weapon sites, airdromes, and other targets in France, Apr-Jun 1944, in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. Supported ground forces during the Normandy campaign by hitting gun batteries, rail lines, bridges, communications, and other objectives. During Jul 1944, aided the Allied offensive at Caen and the breakthrough at St Lo with attacks on enemy troops, flak positions, fortified villages, and supply dumps. Supported Third Army's advance toward Germany, Aug-Nov 1944, operating from bases in France beginning in Sep. Converted to A-26 aircraft in Dec and participated in the Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944-Jan 1945) by attacking lines of communication and supply. Continued to operate against targets in Germany until May 1945. Flew last mission on 3 May, attacking an ammunition dump in Czechoslovakia. Returned to the US, Jun-Aug 1945. Inactivated on 7 Nov 1945.
Squadrons. 640th: 1943-1945. 641st: 1943-1945. 642d: 1943-1945. 643d: 1943-1945.
Stations. Will Rogers Field, Okla, 1 Jun 1943; Woodward AAFld, Okla, Oct 1943; DeRidder AAB, La, c. 10 Dec 1943-10 Feb 1944; Little Walden, England, 7 Mar 1944; Bretigny, France, Sep 1944; Laon/Couvron, France, Feb-Jun 1945; Seymour Johnson Field, NC, Aug 1945; Westover Field, Mass, c. 6 Oct-7 Nov 1945.
Commanders. Col Preston P Pender, Jun 1943; Col Thomas R Ford, 4 Jul 1944-1945.
Campaigns. Air Offensive, Europe; Normandy; Northern France; 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.
