The 96th Air Division is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air 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 of the United States Army S ...

unit. Its last assignment was with the

Tenth Air Force The Tenth Air Force (10 AF) is a unit of the U.S. Air Force, specifically a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). 10 AF is headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field (formerly Carswell ...

Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Scott Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the ...

, Illinois. It was inactivated on 27 June 1949. As the 96th Bombardment Wing, the unit was one of the primary

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models ...

heavy strategic bombardment wings of the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces ...

2d Bombardment Division D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''dee'' (pronounced ), plural ''dees''. History T ...

in World War II.

History

"The 96th Bombardment Wing's units entered combat in early 1944, bombing oil refineries, marshaling yards, steel plants, and tank factories plus numerous other assorted targets in the European theater. In September 1944, some of the units ceased bombardment missions and instead flew gasoline for Army units to airfields in France. Others air-dropped supplies to Allied troops during the airborne attack on the Netherlands that same month. During the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 through January 1945, subordinate units of the 97th aided Allied ground forces by bombing German transportation lines. Besides strategic bombardment, they also dropped supplies to Allied troops during the airborne assault across the Rhine River in March 1945." Returned to the United States in summer 1945. Programmed to become a

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 F ...

command wing, however inactivated at the end of the Pacific War. "Active in the Reserves from June 1947 to June 1949, the organization was redesignated as a division in April 1948."

Lineage

* Established as the 96th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 8 November 1943 : Activated on 11 January 1944 : Redesignated 96th Combat Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 7 August 1944 : Redesignated 96th Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 9 June 1945 : Redesignated 96th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 17 August 1945 : Inactivated on 17 October 1945 * Activated in the Reserve on 12 June 1947 : Redesignated 96th Air Division, Bombardment on 16 April 1948 : Inactivated on 27 June 1949

Assignments

, 11 January 1944 *

(later 2d Air Division), 22 February 1944 *

VIII Fighter Command The VIII Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces unit of command above the wings and below the numbered air force. Its primary mission was command of fighter operations within the Eighth Air Force. In the World War II European The ...

, 16 July - 6 August 1945 *

Army Service Forces The Army Service Forces was one of the three autonomous components of the United States Army during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces, created on 9 March 1942. By dividing the Army into three large comm ...

, Port of Embarkation, 6 August - c. 14 August 1945 *

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 defended ...

, c. 14 August-17 October 1945 * Second Air Force, 2 June 1947 *

, 1 July 1948 – 27 June 1949

Components

* 44th Bombardment Group, 26 June-24 July 1945 * 93d Bombardment Group, c. 6 June-24 July 1945 *

351st Bombardment Group The 351st Missile Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit, which was last based at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. Assigned to Strategic Air Command for most of its existence, the wing maintained LGM-30F Minuteman II ICBMs in a st ...

, 4 June 1948 – 27 June 1949 *

381st Bombardment Group 381st may refer to: * 381st Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 381st Fighter Squadron or 18th Reconnaissance Squadron, squadron of the United States Air Force *381st Intelligence Squadron, intelligence unit located at Joi ...

, 17 October 1947 – 4 June 1948 *

392d Bombardment Group 39 may refer to: * 39 (number), the natural number following 38 and preceding 40 * one of the years: ** 39 BC ** AD 39 ** 1939 ** 2039 * ''39'' (album), a 2000 studio album by Mikuni Shimokawa * "'39", a 1975 song by Queen * "Thirty Nine", a song ...

, c. 6 July 1944-c. 7 June 1945 * 446th Bombardment Group, 1 June-c. 30 July 1945 *

448th Bombardment Group 448th may refer to: * 448th (Northumbrian) Field Company, Royal Engineers, in the 1st Newcastle Engineers in the British Territorial Army * 448th Fighter Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 448th Missile Squadron, inactive United Stat ...

, 6 July 1944 – 23 July 1945 *

458th Bombardment Group 458th may refer to: *458th Air Expeditionary Group, a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe *458th Airlift Squadron (458 AS), part of the 375th Airlift Wing at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois *45 ...

, c. 8 February 1944 – 25 July 1945 * 466th Bombardment Group, c. 14 March 1944-c. 2 October 1945 * 467th Bombardment Group, c. 18 March 1944-c. 17 October 1945 *

491st Bombardment Group The 491st Bombardment Group is a former United States Army Air Forces unit. It was activated in October 1943 as a heavy bomber unit, drawing its cadre from the former 17th Antisubmarine Squadron. After training in the United States, the group ...

, c. 5 May 1944-c. 16 June 1945

Stations

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 ...

, England, 11 January 1944 * Ketteringham Hall, England, c. 1 June-c. 5 August 1945 * Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, c. 14 August 1945 * Peterson Field, Colorado, 16 August-17 October 1945 * Scott Field (later

, Illinois, 12 June 1947 – 27 June 1949

Aircraft

consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models ...

, 1944–1945 * North American AT-6 Texan, 1948–1949 * Beechcraft AT-11, 1948–1949

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{USAAF 8th Air Force UK 096 Military units and formations in Illinois