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Constituted as 505th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) on 28 Feb 1944. Activated on 11 Mar 1944. Equipped first with B-17's; later trained for overseas duty with B-29's. Moved to Tinian late in 1944. Assigned to Twentieth AF. Entered combat in Feb 1945 with strikes on Iwo Jima and the Truk Islands. Then began daylight missions against Japan, operating at high altitude to bomb strategic objectives. Received a DUC for a strike against the Nakajima aircraft factory at Ota in Feb 1945. Conducted incendiary raids on area targets in Japan, carrying out these missions at night and at low altitude. Bombed in support of the Allied assault on Okinawa in Apr 1945. Engaged in mining operations against Japanese shipping, receiving second DUC for mining the Shimonoseki Strait and harbors of the Inland Sea, Jun-Jul 1945. After V-J Day, dropped supplies to Allied prisoners, participated in show-of-force missions, and flew over Japan to evaluate bombardment damage. Moved to the Philippine Islands in Mar 1946. Inactivated on Luzon on 30 Jun 1946.
Squadrons. 482d: 1944-1946. 483d: 1944-1946. 484th: 1944-1946. 485th: 1944.
Stations. Dalhart AAFld, Tex, 11 Mar 1944; Harvard AAFld, Neb, 1 Apr-Nov 1944; North Field, Tinian, 19 Dec 1944-5 Mar 1946; Clark Field, Luzon, 14 Mar-30 Jun 1946.
Commanders. Maj George D Roberts, 15 Apr 1944; Col Robert A Ping, 3 May 1944; Lt Col Charles M Eisenhart, 1 Jul 1945; Col John P Kenny, c. Sep 1945-1946.
Campaigns. Air Offensive, Japan; Eastern Mandates; Western Pacific.
Decorations. Distinguished Unit Citations: Ota, Japan, 10 Feb 1945; Japan, 17 Jun-1 Jul 1945.
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.
