Active 1943–1945; 1953–1957 Role Bombardment | ||
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Motto(s) Onus Ferrens Vitam Latin Cargo Carrying Life | ||
The 465th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 465th Troop Carrier Wing at Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France, where it was inactivated on 8 July 1957.
Contents
- World War II
- United States Air Forces in Europe
- Lineage
- Assignments
- Components
- Stations
- Aircraft flown
- References
Originally activated in 1943 as the 465th Bombardment Group, a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. The group served primarily in the Mediterranean, African, and Middle East Theater of World War II and was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations for its actions in the summer of 1944.
Inactivated at the end of the war and allotted to the Air Force Reserve, the group was reactivated as the 465th Troop Carrier Group, Medium during the 1950s. It was assigned to the like numbered 465th Troop Carrier Wing, Medium.
World War II
Activated on 19 May 1943 at Alamogordo Army Airfield, New Mexico as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb group; assigned to II Bomber Command for training. Moved to Kerns, Utah for group formation and personnel assignments. Assigned 780th, 781st, 782d and 783d Bombardment squadrons and began initial training in September. Reassigned to McCook Army Airfield, Nebraska in October and received full complement of personnel. Completed training by February 1944 and received deployment orders to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO), being assigned to Fifteenth Air Force in Southern Italy. New B-24s for combat operations were assigned to the group from Consolidated and training was completed.
After training was completed the air echelon was then deployed to Tunisia. Began movement overseas via South Atlantic Route via Morrison Field, Florida, via Trinidad, Brazil, Dakar, Senegal and Marrakesh, French Morocco, then to the Tunisia. Completed training and moved to Pantanella Airfield, Italy in April 1944
Once in Italy the 465th was assigned to the 55th Bombardment Wing of Fifteenth Air Force. Entered combat on 5 May 1944, and served primarily as a strategic bombardment organization until late in April 1945. During this time, the Group attacked marshalling yards, dock facilities, oil refineries, oil storage plants, aircraft factories, and other objectives in Italy, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, and the Balkans. On two different missions – to marshalling yards and an oil refinery at Vienna on 8 July 1944 and to steel plants at Friedrichshafen on 3 August 1944 – the group bombed its targets despite antiaircraft fire and fighter opposition, being awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for each of these attacks. Other operations included bombing troop concentrations and bivouac areas in May 1944 to aid the Partisans in Yugoslavia; attacking enemy troops and supply lines to assist the drive toward Rome, in May to June 1944; striking bridges, rail lines, and gun emplacements prior to the invasion of Southern France in August 1944; bombing rail facilities and rolling stock in October 1944 to support the advance of Russian and Romanian forces in the Balkans; and hitting troops, gun positions, bridges, and supply lines during April 1945 in support of Allied forces in northern Italy.
After V-E Day, was assigned to Green Project which was the movement of troops from Europe to the United States via the South Atlantic Transport Route. B-24s were modified with sealed bomb bays, removal of all defensive armament and internal fuselage equipped with seating to carry approximately 30 personnel. Was assigned to Air Transport Command at Waller Field, Trinidad. Moved personnel from staging area at Atkinson Field, British Guiana to Morrison Field, Florida. Provided air transport until the end of July when the unit was inactivated .
United States Air Forces in Europe
The unit was reactivated as the 465th Troop Carrier Group, Medium on 1 February 1953 at Donaldson Air Force Base, South Carolina and attached to the 64th Troop Carrier Wing. In August, the group was assigned the newly activated 465th Troop Carrier Wing but remained attached to the 64th Troop Carrier Wing for training. Squadrons assigned to the group were the 780th, 781st and 782d Troop Carrier Squadrons. In November, the group moved to Toul-Rosières Air Base, France to become part of Twelfth Air Force, but two of its squadrons were located at Wiesbaden Air Base and Neubiberg Air Base in Germany.
In the spring of 1954, the group was reunited with its operational squadrons at Toul and once more assigned to the 465th, which moved to France from Mitchel Air Force Base, New York. The group became non operational in 1956 when the organization began to transition to the dual deputate organization structure, and its operational squadrons were attached to the wing until the group was inactivated in 1957.