505th Bombardment Group

History

Activation and training

The 505th Bombardment Group was activated at Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas in March 1944 as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment group, drawing its initial cadre from the 9th Bombardment Group. In moved to Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska on 1 April, where the group began training with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses on 1 July until B-29s became available. On 1 May 1944, the group reorganized from four squadrons of 7 airplanes into three squadrons of 10 planes each. The group trained for combat with B-29s until leaving Harvard on 6 November 1944.

The group's ground echelon sailed from the Seattle Port of Embarkation for the Pacific on 14 November. The air echelon staged through Hamilton Field and Mather Field, California with its B-29s.

Combat Operations

The group arrived at its combat station, North Field, Tinian in the Mariana Islands on 19 December 1944. Three days later, it began flying training missions, including an attack on Moen Airfield in January. It flew its first combat mission on 24 January 1945 against targets on Iwo Jima and the Truk Islands.

The group conducted area raids with incendiaries until August 1945. During April 1945, the group was diverted from the strategic campaign against Japan to support Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa. It struck Miyazaki Airfield and Kanoya Airfield,

The group also conducted aerial mining operations against Japanese shipping. It was the only group in XXI Bomber Command to carry out these missions, which began on 27 March. The group flew its last mission on the night of 14 and 15 August 1945. Following V-J Day its B-29s carried relief supplies to Allied prisoner of war camps. It also flew show of force flights and conducted bomb damage assessment flights over Japan. It moved to Clark Field in the Philippines in March 1946, and was inactivated there on 15 June 1946.

Lineage

• Constituted as the 505th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy on 28 February 1944 : Activated on 11 March 1944 : Inactivated on 30 June 1946

Assignments

• Second Air Force, 28 February – 6 November 1944 (attached to 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing, after c. 15 April 1944)
• 313th Bombardment Wing, 19 December 1944
• Thirteenth Air Force, 6 December 1945 – 30 June 1946

Components

• 482d Bombardment Squadron: 11 March 1944 – 30 June 1946
• 483d Bombardment Squadron: 11 March 1944 – 30 June 1946
• 484th Bombardment Squadron: 11 March 1944 – 30 June 1946
• 485th Bombardment Squadron: 11 March – 10 May 1944

Stations

• Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, 11 March 1944
• Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska, 1 April – 6 November 1944
• North Field, Tinian, Mariana Islands, 19 December 1944 – 5 March 1946
• Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines, 14 March – 30 June 1946

Aircraft

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1944
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1944–1946

Awards and campaigns

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes

; Citations

Bibliography

• {{cite book| editor1=Craven, Wesley F|editor2=Cate, James L |url=https://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329890/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-012.pdf |access-date=December 17, 2016 | title=The Army Air Forces in World War II|volume=V, The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki :: ::

References

1. Watkins, pp. 112-113
2. "505th Bombardment Group History, Part 1".
3. Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 368-69
4. Cate, p.122-123
5. "505th Bombardment Group History, Part 2".
6. bases from which [[kamikaze]] attacks were being launched. These bases were located on [[Kyushu]], only 300 miles from Okinawa. The attacks directly impacted kamikaze launches, but also forced the Japanese military to retain [[fighter aircraft]] to defend the [[Japanese Special Attack Units]] that otherwise might have been used to challenge [[air superiority]] over Okinawa.Cate & Olson p. 641
7. (4 October 2007). "Factsheet 17 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency.
8. Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 421 (year only)
9. Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 579-80