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Constituted as 494th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 14 Sep 1943. Activated on 1 Dec 1943. Trained for combat with B-24's. Moved to Hawaii in Jun 1944 for additional training. Assigned to Seventh AF and moved to Palau late in Sep. Helped to construct a base of operations on Angaur, then entered combat on 3 Nov 1944 with attacks against Japanese airfields on Yap and Koror. Conducted strikes on other bypassed enemy installations in the Pacific and against the Japanese in the Philippines. Late in 1944 hit gun emplacements, personnel areas, ant storage depots on Corregidor and Caballo at the entrance to Manila Bay; bombed radio installations and power plants at Japanese bases in the Philippines; and attacked enemy-held airfields, including Clark Field on Luzon. Early in 1945 struck airfields on Mindanao and ammunition and supply dumps in the Davao Gulf and Illana Bay areas. Moved to Okinawa in Jun 1945. Engaged primarily in attacks against enemy airfields on Kyushu until V-J Day. Also participated in incendiary raids, dropped propaganda leaflets over urban areas of Kyushu and struck airfields in China, in southern Korea, and around the Inland Sea of Japan. Transported personnel and supplies from Manila to Tokyo after the war Returned to the US in Dec 1945. Inactivated on 4 Jan 1946.
Squadrons. 864th: 1943-1946. 865th: 1943-1946. 866th: 1943-1946. 867th: 1944-1946.
Stations. Wendover Field, Utah, 1 Dec 1943; Mountain Home AAFld, Idaho, 15 Apr-2 June 1944; Barking Sands, TH, 15 Jun 1944; Angaur, 30 Sep 1944; Yontan, Okinawa, 24 Jun-8 Dec 1945; Ft Lawton, Wash, 2-4 Jan 1946.
Commanders. Unkn, Dec 1943-Feb 1944; Col Laurence B Kelly, 24 Feb 1944-unkn.
Campaigns. Air Offensive, Japan; Eastern Mandates; Western Pacific; Luzon; Southern Philippines; Ryukyus; China Offensive.
Decorations. Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
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.
