The 370th Fighter Group was a unit of the
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...
that was located in the
European Theater of Operations
The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground For ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
[Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units Of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. .]
Activation and training
The group was constituted as 370th Fighter Group on 25 May 1943 and activated on 1 Jul 1943. The group trained with
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...
aircraft at Westover Field, Massachusetts. They moved to
Groton Army Air Field Groton may refer to:
Places
England
*Groton, Suffolk
**Groton Wood
United States
*Groton, Connecticut, a town
**Groton (city), Connecticut, within the town
*Groton, Massachusetts, a town
**Groton (CDP), Massachusetts, the main village in the tow ...
, Connecticut in October 1943 and then to
Bradley Field in January 1944.
Move to England
The group moved to
RAF Aldermaston
Royal Air Force Aldermaston or more simply RAF Aldermaston is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Newbury, Berkshire and southwest of Reading, Berkshire, England.
Originally built as an RAF Bomber Command airfield during 1941-1 ...
in England in January and February 1944 and were assigned to the
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...
. They moved to
RAF Andover
RAF Andover is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station in England, west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air ...
at the end of February and remained there until July 1944
They were equipped with
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...
aircraft in February and trained until May 1944 when the group entered combat.
Their missions consisted of dive-bombing radar installations and flak towers, and escorted bombers for attacks on bridges and marshalling yards in France as the Allies prepared for the
invasion of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
.
D-Day invasion
The group provided cover for Allied forces that crossed the Channel on 6 Jun 1944 for the
Normandy landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
. They flew armed reconnaissance missions over the
Cotentin Peninsula
The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its w ...
until the end of the month.
The group moved to the
Cardonville
Cardonville () is a commune in the Calvados department and Normandy region of north-western France.
History World War II
After the liberation of the area by Allied Forces in early June 1944, engineers of the Ninth Air Force IX Engineering Comman ...
, France, on 24 Jul 1944 to support the drive of ground forces across France and into Germany.
They attacked gun emplacements, troops, supply dumps, and tanks during the
Battle of Saint-Lô
The Battle of Saint-Lô is one of the three conflicts in the , which took place between July 7 and 19, 1944, just before Operation Cobra. Saint-Lô had fallen to Germany in 1940, and, after the Invasion of Normandy, the Americans targeted the c ...
in July 1944 and the
Falaise Pocket in the Falaise-Argentan area in August 1944. The group moved to
La Vieille Airfield
La Vieille Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield, which is located in the commune of Saint Georges d'Elle in the Normandy region of northern France.
Located at the " Hameau Lavieille " - Saint Georges d'Elle ( to the northeast ...
, France, on 15 August 1944.
Airborne assault on Holland
The group sent planes and pilots to England to provide cover for the
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...
airborne assault on Holland in September 1944. The group struck
pillboxes and troops early in October 1944 to support the
First Army during the
Battle of Aachen
The Battle of Aachen was a combat action of World War II, fought by American and German forces in and around Aachen, Germany, between 2–21 October 1944. The city had been incorporated into the Siegfried Line, the main defensive network on ...
, and afterward struck railroads, bridges, viaducts, and tunnels in that area.
The group moved to
Lonrai
Lonrai () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.
World War II
After the liberation of the area by Allied Forces in August 1944, engineers of the Ninth Air Force IX Engineering Command began construction of a combat Advan ...
, France, 6 September 1944;
Roye-Amy Airfield
Roye-Amy Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield which is located approximately 5 km south-southeast of Roye, approximately 98 km north-northeast of Paris.
Originally a 1930s airport which was seized by the Germans duri ...
on 11 September 1944 and
Florennes Air Base
Florennes Air Base is a Belgian Air Component military airfield located east southeast of Florennes, a Walloon municipality of Belgium. It is home to the 2nd Tactical Wing, operating F-16 Fighting Falcons. It also used to be the home to the Ta ...
, Belgium, 26 September 1944.
A
Distinguished Unit Citation
The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enem ...
was awarded to the group for a mission in support of ground forces in the
Hurtgen Forest area on 2 Dec 1944. Despite bad weather and barrages of antiaircraft and small-arms fire, the group dropped napalm bombs on a heavily defended position in Bergstein, setting fire to the village and inflicting heavy casualties on enemy troops defending the area.
Battle of the Bulge
The group flew armed reconnaissance during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945, attacking warehouses, highways, railroads, motor transports, and other targets. The group converted to
North American P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team ...
aircraft starting in February 1945. The group moved to
Zwartberg
Zwartberg (Black mountain) is a parish, founded on 3 December 1926 in a district of Genk in the Belgian province Limburg.
Coalmine
Zwartberg was the seat of the nearby coal mine of the same name, until it closed in 1966.
Riots
On Monday, Janua ...
, Belgium, 27 January 1945.
Crossing of the Rhine
The group bombed bridges and docks in the vicinity of Wesel to prepare for the crossing of the Rhine, and patrolled the area as paratroops were dropped on the east bank on 24 March 1945. They supported operations of
2nd Armored Division in the Ruhr Valley in April 1945.
The group was stationed in
Gutersloh, Germany, 20 April 1945. Their last mission was a sweep over Dessau and Wittenberg on 4 May 1945.
After
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...
, the group moved to
Sandhofen
Sandhofen is a northern borough ('' Stadtbezirk'') of Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The US Army is present in Sandhofen with Coleman Airfield
Coleman Barracks/Coleman Army Airfield (ICAO: ETOR) is a United States Army military insta ...
, Germany, 27 June 1945 and
Fritzlar
Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history.
The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. Thirty-eight meters (125& ...
, Germany, from 6 August until September 1945.
Return to the United States
The group returned to
Camp Myles Standish
Camp Myles Standish was a U.S. Army camp located in Taunton, Massachusetts during World War II. It was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation, with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their way ...
in the United States between September and November 1945. The 370th Fighter Group was inactivated on 7 Nov 1945.
The group was allotted to Colorado Air National Guard and redesignated the
140th Fighter Group on 24 May 1945.
References
External links
*
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Fighter groups of the United States Army Air Forces