the
wing was activated at
Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah in February 1943 as the
41st Bombardment Wing. The following month it moved to
Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota, where it organized and trained until July, when it moved to the
European Theater of Operations. Shortly after its arrival at
Brampton Grange, in August 1943 it was redesignated the
41st Combat Bombardment Wing. In September, it moved to
RAF Molesworth and received its combat components and began operations. In addition to the
303rd Bombardment Group at Molesworth, this included the
379th Bombardment Group at
RAF Kimbolton and the
384th Bombardment Group at
RAF Grafton Underwood. These
groups had been previously attached to the 103rd Combat Bombardment Wing (Provisional). The 103rd had been organized in May 1943 to provide tactical control over the number of groups (two or three) that made up the "wing" combat formations. On 11 January 1944, the wing conducted a raid on aircraft factories in central Germany, including an aircraft assembly plant at
Oschersleben for which it was awarded a
Distinguished Unit Citation. Adverse weather prevented American fighter escorts from protecting the wing's groups, exposing them to continuous attack by enemy
interceptors. To attack targets from outside the range of
flak defenses, the
Army Air Forces had experimented with
glide bombs, including a
high explosive bomb with wooden wings and empennage. The wing's groups were given the task of using the weapon in a trial 0n 28 May 1944, with the glide bombs mounted on racks beneath the wings of their B-17s. They attacked a
marshalling yard at
Eifeltor, near
Köln, which was selected as a large target. The wing released 109 bombs, but only a few glided into the intended target, while others exploded miles away. As a result of this failure, VIII Bomber Command recommended that no more of the bombs be procured. The wing continued combat operations until shortly before
V-E Day. In June 1945, its components were reassigned, with the 303rd and 379th Bombardment Groups moving to
Cazes Field, Morocco, where they were assigned to the North African Division, Air Transport Command for participation in the
Green Project. The
384th Bombardment Group moved to
Istres Airfield, France, where it also participated in the Green Project, but was programmed to become part of the
occupation forces. The wing was then disbanded on 18 June 1945. ==Lineage==