The 20th Bombardment Wing is a disbanded

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

unit. Its last assignment was with Eighth Air Force at

MacDill Field MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...

, Florida, where it was inactivated on 10 November 1946. It was later disbanded in October 1948

History

The 20th Bombardment Wing was activated in December 1940 at

Fort Douglas, Utah Camp Douglas was established in October 1862, during the American Civil War, as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, to protect the overland mail route and telegraph lines along the Central Overland Route. In ...

and assigned to

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defende ...

. The following month, it was assigned its combat elements, the 7th and

42d Bombardment Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

s. In September 1941, the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

was inactivated and its personnel used to form the 2nd Air Support Command.Futrell, p. 13 Moved to England, May–June 1943, for duty with Eighth Air Force. Received its first groups in November 1943 and served in combat in the European theater from December 1943 until April 1945. Returned to the US in August 1945 and prepared for Boeing B-29 Superfortress operations, although had no combat components assigned. Reassigned to Strategic Air Command postwar Eighth Air Force in May 1946 and elevated to VIII Bombardment Command. Inactivated before becoming operational in November 1946.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 20th Bombardment Wing on 19 October 1940 : Activated on 18 December 1940 : Inactivated on 1 September 1941 * Activated on 1 November 1942 : Redesignated 20th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) in February 1943 : Redesignated 20th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) in August 1943 : Redesignated 20th Bombardment Wing (Heavy)' on 20 June 1945 : Redesignated 20th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) in August 1945 : Redesignated VIII Bomber Command (Very Heavy) in October 1945 : Inactivated on 10 November 1946 : Disbanded on 8 October 1948

Assignments

* Second Air Force, 18 December 1940 – 1 December 1941 *

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in ...

, November 1942 – 8 May 1943 *

VIII Bomber Command 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of ...

(later Eighth Air Force), 1 July 1943 – 6 August 1945 *

Continental Air Forces Continental Air Forces (CAF) was a United States Army Air Forces major command, active 1944–1946. It was tasked with combat training of bomber and fighter personnel, and for Continental United States (CONUS) air defense after the Aircraft Wa ...

, 15 August 1945 * Eighth Air Force, 14 May – 10 November 1946

Units assigned

* 7th Bombardment Group: 16 January – 5 September 1941 * 34th Bombardment Group: 18 June – 28 August 1945 * 42d Bombardment Group: 16 January – 1 September 1941 * 93d Bombardment Group: 13 September 1943 – 12 June 1945 *

385th Bombardment Group 385th may refer to: *385th Air Expeditionary Group, constituted as the 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 25 November 1942 Activated on 1 December 1942 *385th Fighter Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit *385th Infantry Division (Wehrmac ...

: 18 June – 4 August 1945 *

388th Bombardment Group 388th may refer to: *388th Electronic Combat Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 388th Fighter Squadron or 132nd Fighter Wing (132d W), United States Air Force unit assigned to the Iowa Air National Guard, located at Des Moines Intern ...

: 18 June – 13 August 1945 * 446th Bombardment Group: November 1943 – 1 June 1945 * 448th Bombardment Group: 30 November 1943 – 6 July 1945 * 452d Bombardment Group: 18 June – 12 August 1945 *

489th Bombardment Group The 489th Bomb Group is a unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 307th Bomb Wing, and is stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The group is a reserve associate unit of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess. During World War II, th ...

: 14 August – 29 November 1944

Stations

* Fort Douglas, Utah, 18 December 1940 – 1 September 1941 *

, Florida, November 1942 – c. 8 May 1943 * Camp Lynn (AAF-101), England, c. 9 June 1943 * RAF Cheddington (AAF-113), England, c. 1 July 1943 *

RAF Horsham St Faith RAF Horsham St Faith is a former Royal Air Force station near Norwich, Norfolk, England which was operational from 1939 to 1963. It was then developed as Norwich International Airport. RAF Bomber Command use The airfield was first developed ...

(AAF-123), England, c. 14 September 1943 *

RAF Hethel Royal Air Force Hethel or more simply RAF Hethel is a former Royal Air Force station which was used by both the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. The airfield is located south we ...

(AAF-114), England, 24 September 1943 *

RAF Hardwick Royal Air Force Hardwick or more simply RAF Hardwick is a former Royal Air Force station located between the Norfolk villages of Topcroft and Hardwick in England. It is around west of Bungay, Suffolk. History Hardwick Airfield was one of t ...

(AAF-104), England, c. 7 November 1943 *

RAF Snetterton Heath Royal Air Force Snetterton Heath or more simply RAF Snetterton Heath is a former Royal Air Force station located south east of the A11, south west of Attleborough, Norfolk, England. History Snetterton Heath airfield was constructed by T ...

(AAF-138), England, c. 13 June – 6 August 1945 *

Sioux Falls Army Air Field Sioux Falls Regional Airport , also known as Joe Foss Field, is a public and military use airport three miles northwest of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. It is named in honor of aviator and Sioux Falls native Joe Foss, who later served a ...

, South Dakota, c. 15 August 1945 *

Peterson Field Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a U.S. Space Force Base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home to the N ...

, Colorado, 17 August 1945 * MacDill Field, Florida, 14 May – 10 November 1946

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * *

External links

{{USAAF 8th Air Force UK Military units and formations established in 1943

020 020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exch ...