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95th Combat Bombardment Wing

Inactive United States Air Force unit

Field	Value
unit_name	95th Combat Bombardment Wing
image	846bs-b24-42-94860--halesworth.jpg
image_size	290
caption	489th Bombardment Group B-24 LiberatorAircraft is Ford-built Consolidated B-24H-20-FO Liberator, serial 42-94860. The yellow tail marking dates from the group's transfer to another wing.
dates	1943-1945
country
branch
role	Bombardment
command_structure	Eighth Air Force
battles	European Theater of Operations
identification_symbol	Green with white stripe (vertical for 489th Group, horizontal for 491st Group)
identification_symbol_label	Tail markings

The 95th Combat Bombardment Wing is a former United States Army Air Forces unit. It was activated in England in 1943 and engaged in strategic bombing campaign against Germany from June through August 1944. It returned to the United States in July 1945 and was disbanded in late August 1945.

History

The 95th Combat Bombardment Wing was activated at RAF Attlebridge, England in December 1943, but was only an administrative headquarters, with no combat units assigned. In February 1944, the wing was assigned to the 2d Bombardment Division and moved to the division's station of Ketteringham Hall.

The wing finally received combat elements in late April 1944, when two newly arrived Consolidated B-24 Liberator groups, the 489th and 491st Bombardment Groups were assigned to the wing. The 95th Wing moved its headquarters to RAF Halesworth in early May as its groups prepared for combat. The 491st Group arrived with only an air element assigned, and was filled out by ground support personnel drawn from 2d Bombardment Division groups assigned to other wings. The 489th flew its first combat mission on 30 May, and the 491st on 2 June. Although the wing's groups were deployed to engage in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, their immediate missions were flown in support of Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. They supported the D-Day landings, and bombed coastal defenses, airfields, bridges, railroads, and V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket launch sites (Operation Crossbow). They also participated in the saturation bombing of German lines just before Operation Cobra, the breakthrough at Saint-Lô in July. It was late July before the wing turned to strategic targets.

The wing's combat participation was brief. In mid-August, the 489th Group was assigned to the 20th Combat Bombardment Wing while the wing closed its headquarters at Halesworth and returned to Ketteringham Hall. It remained there, without combat elements, until July 1945, when it moved to Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota as part of the redeployment of forces from Europe after V-E Day. After Japan's surrender in August 1945, the wing was disbanded.

Lineage

Constituted as the 95th Combat Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 2 November 1943 : Activated on 12 December 1943 : Disbanded on 28 August 1945

Assignments

VIII Bomber Command, 12 December 1943
2d Bombardment Division, 22 February 1944 – 18 June 1945
Second Air Force, c. 23 July–28 August 1945

Units assigned

489th Bombardment Group, c. 25 April–15 August 1944
491st Bombardment Group, c. 25 April–15 August 1944

Stations

RAF Attlebridge, England, 12 December 1943
Ketteringham Hall, England, c. 22 February 1944
RAF Halesworth, England, c. 5 May 1944
Ketteringham Hall, England, August 1944 – c. 12 July 1945
Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, c. 23 July–28 August 1945

Campaigns

Campaign Streamer	Campaign	Dates	Notes
[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG	200px]]	Air Offensive, Europe	30 May 1944 – 5 June 1944	95th Combat Bombardment Wing
[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG	200px]]	Normandy	6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944	95th Combat Bombardment Wing
[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG	200px]]	Northern France	25 July 1944 – 15 August 1944	95th Combat Bombardment Wing

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes

; Citations

Bibliography

References

Watkins, pp. 114-115, 118-119
Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 412
Freeman, p. 261
Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 358-359
Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 360-361
(4 October 2007). "Factsheet 14 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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