:
For additional history and lineage, see 445th Airlift Wing World War II s of the 445th Bomb Group on a mission over enemy-occupied territory The
445th Bombardment Group was activated 1 April 1943 at Gowen Field in Idaho, where initial organization took place while key personnel traveled to
Orlando AAB, Florida for training with the
Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics. Its original components were the
700th,
701st,
702d, and
703d Bombardment Squadrons. Both elements met at
Wendover Army Air Field, Utah on 8 June 1943, where initial training with the
Consolidated B-24 Liberator took place. While the group was at Wendover, it was joined by actor
Jimmy Stewart as the operations officer, then the
commander of the 703d Bombardment Squadron. The group moved to
Sioux City Army Air Base, Iowa in July 1943 to complete training. In late August and early September, the group lost three B-24s to training accidents. In September the group began to receive B-24H aircraft, the model of the Liberator they would fly in combat. Upon arrival in England, the group was assigned to the
2nd Combat Bombardment Wing and stationed at
RAF Tibenham in
East Anglia. The group was initially given a tail code of "Circle-F". The 445th entered combat on 13 December 1943 by attacking
U-boat installations at
Kiel. Only fifteen crews were considered fit for this mission which was heavily defended area. It suffered its first combat loss on 20 December in an attack against
Bremen. The unit operated primarily as a strategic bombardment organization until the war ended, striking such targets as industries in
Osnabrück, synthetic oil plants in Lutzendorf, chemical works in
Ludwigshafen,
marshalling yards at Hamm, an
airfield at
Munich, an ammunition plant at Duneberg, underground oil storage facilities at Ehmen, and factories at
Münster. This was the longest running, continuous air battle of World War II – some two and a half hours of fighter attacks and flak en route and leaving the target area. Bomb damage assessment photographs showed that the plant was knocked out of production indefinitely. and supported ground forces at
Saint-Lô by striking enemy defenses in July 1944. During the
Battle of the Bulge, between December 1944 and January 1945 it bombed German communications. Early on 24 March 1945 the 445th dropped food, medical supplies, and ammunition to troops that landed near
Wesel during the
airborne assault across the Rhine and that afternoon flew a bombing mission to the same area, hitting a landing ground at Stormede. of 27 September 1944. In cloud, the navigator of the lead bomber miscalculated and the 35 planes left the bomber stream of the 2d Air Division and proceeded to
Göttingen some from the primary target. After the bomb run, the group was alone in the skies and was attacked from the rear by an estimated 150
Luftwaffe planes, resulting in the most concentrated air battle in history. The Luftwaffe unit was a
Sturmgruppe, a special unit intended to attack bombers by flying in tight formations of up to ten fighters in line abreast. This was intended to break the bomber formation at a single pass. The
361st Fighter Group intervened, preventing complete destruction of the Group. Twenty-nine German and 25 American planes went down in a radius. Only four 445th planes made it back to the base – two crashing in France, one in Belgium, another at
RAF Old Buckenham. After the end of the air war in Europe, the 445th flew low level "Trolley" missions over Germany carrying ground personnel so they could see the result of their efforts during the war. The group's air echelon departed Tibenham on 17 May 1945, and departed the United Kingdom on 20 May 1945. The 703rd BS ground echelon sailed on
USAT Argentina from Southampton and the other squadrons on the USAT
Cristobal from Bristol.
Cold War The
445th Bombardment Group was activated again in the Reserve during the summer of 1947 at
McChord Field, Washington as a
Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment group the
15th and 702d Bombardment Squadrons. At the beginning of 1948 it added a third squadron at McChord, the 703d, although the squadron moved away in May and was reassigned. It does not appear that the squadrons at Hill were ever equipped with aircraft The group was activated again in the reserves as the
445th Fighter-Bomber Group, an element of the
445th Fighter-Bomber Wing in 1952 at
Buffalo Municipal Airport, New York with the 700th, 701st and 702d Fighter-Bomber Squadrons assigned. Although designated as a fighter unit, until 1955 the group primarily flew
North American T-6 aircraft, although it was equipped with a few
North American F-51 Mustangs and
Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars. In 1955 the group moved a few miles to
Niagara Falls Municipal Airport and converted to the
Republic F-84 Thunderjet. of the Air Force Reserve In 1957 the
United States Air Force realigned its reserve forces, transferring all
fighter aircraft to the
Air National Guard, while
Air Force Reserve organizations flew
tactical airlift aircraft. As a result, the 445th redesignated as the
445th Troop Carrier Group in September and its remaining squadron began training in
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar aircraft. In July 1957 reserve operations at Niagara Falls had been reduced to a single squadron when the 701st and 702d squadrons inactivated. The 445th wing and the 700th squadron moved to
Dobbins AFB, Georgia at the same time. In November,
Continental Air Command reorganized under the dual deputy system. The group was inactivated,
Air Mobility Command had combined
airlift and
air refueling units at a number of locations into what were designated "Air Mobility Wings." In the spring of 1994 the active duty
63d Airlift Wing and its elements inactivated at March and reserve
airlift units were joined with the
air refueling units already assigned to the
452d Air Mobility Wing, while the 445th wing and group inactivated. The 445th was activated again later that year at
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio as a stand-alone
Lockheed C-141 Starlifter organization. It absorbed two squadrons already stationed at Wright-Patterson, the
89th Airlift Squadron from the 906th Operations Group and the
356th Airlift Squadron from the 907th Operations Group
. In 2006, the 356th inactivated
Assignments •
II Bomber Command, 1 April 1943 •
Second Air Force, 6 October 1943 •
Eighth Air Force, c. 2 November 1943 •
VIII Bomber Command, 5 November 1943 •
2d Bombardment Division, 9 November 1943 •
2d Combat Bombardment Wing, November 1943 •
Air Transport Command, 9 June – 12 September 1945 • 305th Bombardment Wing (later
305 Air Division), 12 July 1947 – 27 June 1949 • 445th Fighter-Bomber Wing (later 445 Troop Carrier Wing), 8 July 1952 – 25 September 1958 • 445th Airlift Wing, 1 August 1992 – 1 May 1994 • 445th Airlift Wing, 1 October 1994 – present 1 August 1992 – 1 May 1994; 1 October 1994 – present • 445th Operations Support Flight (later 445th Operations Support Squadron): England, 4 November 1943 – 28 May 1945 •
Fort Dix Army Air Base, New Jersey, 9 June – 12 September 1945 • McChord Field (later McChord AFB), Washington, 12 July 1947 – 27 June 1949 • Buffalo Municipal Airport, New York, 8 July 1952 • Niagara Falls Municipal Airport, New York, 15 June 1955 • Memphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee, 16 November 1957 – 25 September 1958 •
Norton AFB, California, 1 August 1992 •
March AFB, California, 1 July 1993 – 1 May 1994 •
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, 1 October 1994–present
Aircraft •
B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945 •
B-29 Superfortress, 1947–1949 •
T-6 Texan, 1953–1955 •
F-51 Mustang, 1953–1954 •
F-80 Shooting Star, 1953–1956 •
F-84 Thunderjet, 1955–1957 •
C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1957–1958 •
C-141 Starlifter, 1992–1994; 1994–2006 •
C-5 Galaxy, 2006–2011 •
C-17 Globemaster III, 2011–present ==References==