468th Bombardment Group

468th Bombardment Group
468th Bombardment Group Insignia
Active	1943–1946
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army Air Forces
Role	Bombardment
Part of	Twentieth Air Force
Garrison/HQ	Pacific Ocean Theater of World War II
Engagements	World War II Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1944–1945)

The 468th Bombardment Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It was inactivated on March 31, 1946. The unit served primarily in the Pacific Ocean theater and China Burma India Theater of World War II as part of Twentieth Air Force. The 468th Bomb Group's aircraft engaged in very heavy bombardment B-29 Superfortress operations against Japan. After its reassignment to the Mariana Islands in 1945, it's aircraft were identified by a "I" and a triangle painted on the tail.

History

Lineage

• Constituted as 468th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 19 May 1943

Activated on 1 August 1943

Redesignated 468th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) in November 1943

Inactivated on 31 March 1946.

Assignments

• 58th Bombardment Wing, 1 August 1943-12 October 1944
• XX Bomber Command, 13 October 1944-7 February 1945
• 58th Bombardment Wing, 8 February-15 November 1945
• Continental Air Forces, 1 December 1945
• Strategic Air Command, 21-31 March 1946

Components

• 512th Bombardment Squadron 1945–1946
• 792th Bombardment Squadron 1943–1946
• 793th Bombardment Squadron 1943–1946
• 794th Bombardment Squadron 1943–1946
• 795th Bombardment Squadron 1943–1944

Stations

• Smoky Hill AAFld, KS August 1, 1943 – March 12, 1944
• Kharagpur (Salua Airfield), India, April 13, 1944 – February 24, 1945

Pengshan Airfield (A-7), China designated as forward staging base.

• West Field, Tinian, Mariana Islands April 6 – November 15, 1945
• Ft Worth AAFld, TX December 1, 1945
• Roswell AAFld, NM January 12 – March 31, 1946

Aircraft flown

• B-26 Marauder, 1943-1944 (Training Only)
• B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943-1944 (Training Only)
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1944–1946

Operational history

Photo of "The Craig Comet" Bell-Atlanta B-29-15-BA Superfortress 42-63445 of the 794th Bomb Squadron 468th Bomb Wing, Kalaikunda AB, India

Photo of "Kickapoo II" Martin-Omaha B-29-1-MO Superfortress 42-6232 of the 468th Bomb Wing, Kalaikunda AB, India. This aircraft was condemned after being damaged in combat, June 20, 1944.

Photo of "American Beauty" Boeing B-29-45-BW Superfortress 42-24703 of the 792d Bomb Squadron 468th Bomb Wing, Kalaikunda AB, India

The 468th Bombardment Group was constituted as the 468th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on May 19, 1943; activated on August 1, 1943 and organized at Smoky Hill Army Airfield in September 1943 as one of the 58th Bombardment Wing's four Boeing B-29 Superfortress groups (the others being the 40th, 444th and 462d).

In late 1943, the 468th trained 60 air and ground crews with the available equipment at Smokey Hill (eight Martin B-26s, 12 Boeing B-17s and four Boeing B-29s). In January 1944, its advance ground echelon departed while combat crews and crew chiefs received 40 new B-29s and prepared them for combat. In March/April 1944 as each airplane was made combat-ready, its flight crew and crew chief departed for overseas. They only knew where they would stop next.

The route taken was first to Presque Isle, Maine, Gander Newfoundland, Marrakech Morocco; Cairo, Egypt; Karachi, Pakistan and Kharagpur, India, their destination. In India, the 58th Wing was designated XXth Bomber Command, the only 20th Air Force operational command.

With bombardment airplanes, the 468th hauled bombs, fuel, ammunition and spare parts 1,200 miles to its advanced base at Field A-7, Pengshan, Szechwan Provience, China. Six round trips were necessary to deliver enough fuel for one airplane to mount a combat mission from China - an impractical logistics concept for an aerial campaign, particularly with an airplane plagued with an unreliable engine.

On June 5, 1944, the 468th flew its first operational mission from Kharagpur against railroad yards at Bangkok, Thailand. Ten days later, flying from field A-7, the 468th bombed the Imperial Iron & Steel Works, Yawata, Japan - the opening of the B-29 phase of the Air Offensive against Japan.

By late 1944, it established the best operational record of the four B-29 groups then in combat, for which Hq. XXth Bomber Command awarded it General Billy Mitchell's personal sailing burgee and authorized it to adopt the name "The General Billy Mitchell Group," a name requiring outstanding performance of duty. Within a year, it participated in eight campaigns and earned three Distinguished Unit Citations.

From June 1944 until May 1945, operating at maximum range, the 468th conducted aerial reconnaissance and bombardment operations from India and China against Japanese targets in Japan, Manchuria, China, Taiwan, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Singapore and Sumatra. Sixteen-hour combat missions were common; the longest 21. Weather, terrain and the enemy were equally unforgiving. The B-29 was still being "invented" and its operational tactics had to be proved while the airplane was being de-bugged in the face of the enemy.

In July 1944, U. S. Marines invaded the Mariana Islands and as soon as West Field, Tinian, was readied in May 1945, the India-based B-29s were again designated the 58th Bombardment Wing and flew to West Field and continued the Air Offensive against Japan.

The 468th flew its last combat mission from Tinian on August 15, 1945. It had played a vital role in the sudden, almost overnight development of 20th Air Force strength and had fought from beginning to end in the Air Offensive. On September 2, 1945, Major General Curtis LeMay had the 468th lead the 20th Air Forces show of force over the USS Missouri during the Japanese surrender ceremonies. As part of the 20th Air Force, it has participated in the first use of air power to end a major conflict without having to fight one's way into the enemy homeland.

The group returned to Roswell AAF in November 1945 and was assigned to the Strategic Air Command. After a short period, it was inactivated on March 31, 1946.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.