364th Fighter Group
Encyclopedia
Army Service Forces
The Army Service Forces were one of the three autonomous components of the Army of the United States during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces. They were created on February 28, 1942 by Executive Order Number 9082 "Reorganizing the Army and the War Department"...
, being stationed at Camp Kilmer
Camp Kilmer
Camp Kilmer, New Jersey is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Transportation Corps. Troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. It was inactivated on 10 November 1945.
During World War II the group was an Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
fighter unit stationed in England. Assigned to RAF Honington
RAF Honington
RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. Although used as a bomber station during the Second World War, RAF Honington is now the RAF Regiment depot and home to the Joint CBRN Regiment.-RAF use:...
in early 1944. It flew 342 combat missions and claimed 256 air and 193 ground aircraft destroyed. It flew its last mission on 6 May 1945.
Lineage
- Constituted as 364th Fighter Group on 25 May 1943
- Activated on 1 June 1943
- Inactivated on 10 November 1945
- Redesignated 131st Fighter Group. Allotted to ANG (Mo) on 24 May 1946
Assignments
- IV Fighter CommandIV Fighter CommandThe IV Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Fourth Air Force, based at Oakland Airport, California...
, 1 June 1943 – 11 January 1944 - 67th Fighter Wing67th Fighter Wing (World War II)The 67th Fighter Wing is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the VIII Fighter Command, being stationed at RAF Troston, England...
, 10 February 1944–
- Attached to: 1st Bombardment (later Air) Division, 15 September 1943 – 3 November 1945
- Army Service ForcesArmy Service ForcesThe Army Service Forces were one of the three autonomous components of the Army of the United States during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces. They were created on February 28, 1942 by Executive Order Number 9082 "Reorganizing the Army and the War Department"...
(for inactivation), 9–10 November 1945
- Army Service Forces
Components
- 383d Fighter Squadron383d Fighter SquadronThe 383d Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with 364th Fighter Group stationed at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.-History:Organized and trained in California during 1943, assigned to 364th Fighter Group...
: (N2) 1 June 1943 – 10 November 1945 - 384th Fighter Squadron384th Fighter SquadronThe 384th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with 364th Fighter Group stationed at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.-History:Organized and trained in California during 1943, assigned to 364th Fighter Group...
: (5Y) 1 June 1943 – 10 November 1945 - 385th Fighter Squadron385th Fighter SquadronThe 385th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with 364th Fighter Group stationed at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.-History:Organized and trained in California during 1943, assigned to 364th Fighter Group...
: (5E) 1 June 1943 – 10 November 1945
Stations
- Glendale Airport, California, 1 June 1943
- Van Nuys AirportVan Nuys AirportVan Nuys Airport is a public airport located in Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley section of the city limits of Los Angeles, California, United States. No major commercial airlines fly into this airport; it is used by private, chartered, and small commercial aircraft...
, California, 12 August 1943 - Ontario Army Airfield, California, 11 October 1943
- Santa Maria Army Airfield, California, c. 7 December 1943-c. 11 January 1944
- RAF HoningtonRAF HoningtonRAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. Although used as a bomber station during the Second World War, RAF Honington is now the RAF Regiment depot and home to the Joint CBRN Regiment.-RAF use:...
(AAF-375), England, February 1944-c. November 1945 - Camp KilmerCamp KilmerCamp Kilmer, New Jersey is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Transportation Corps. Troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in...
, New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, 9–10 November 1945.
Operations
Organized and trained in California during 1943. Moved to England in January 1944, being assigned to VIII Fighter CommandVIII Fighter Command
The VIII Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, being stationed at RAF Honington, England. It was inactivated on 20 March 1946....
.
The 364th FG flew escort, dive-bombing, strafing, and patrol missions in France, Belgium, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and Germany. At first the group operated primarily as escort for B-17/B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
heavy bombers.
The group patrolled the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
during the Normandy invasion
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
in June 1944, and, while continuing escort operations, supported ground forces in France after the invasion by strafing and bombing locomotives, marshalling yards, bridges, barges, and other targets.
Converted from P-38's to P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
's in the summer of 1944 and from then until the end of the war flew many long-range escort missions heavy bombers that attacked oil refineries, industries, and other strategic objectives at Berlin, Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
, Merseburg
Merseburg
Merseburg is a town in the south of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt on the river Saale, approx. 14 km south of Halle . It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese founded by Archbishop Adalbert of Magdeburg....
, Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Brussels, and elsewhere. The 364th received a Distinguished Unit Citation for an escort mission on 27 December 1944 when the group dispersed a large force of German fighters that attacked the bomber formation the group was escorting on a raid to Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
.
The 364th also flew air-sea rescue missions, engaged in patrol activities, and continued to support ground forces as the battle line moved through France and into Germany. Took part in the effort to invade the Netherlands by air, September 1944; the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
, December 1944 – January 1945; and the assault across the Rhine
Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
, March 1945.
Although the last mission by the 364th took place on 25 April 1945, the group did not depart until November, returning to Camp Kilmer
Camp Kilmer
Camp Kilmer, New Jersey is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Transportation Corps. Troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in...
New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
for deactivation.
Redesignated 131st Fighter Group. Allotted to Missouri Air National Guard
Missouri Air National Guard
The Missouri Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Missouri. It is, along with the Missouri Army National Guard, an element of the Missouri National Guard...
on 24 May 1946.