2nd Bombardment Group

Organized as 1st Day Bombardment Group in France on 10 Sep 1918. Equipped with DH-4 and Breguet aircraft and entered combat on 12 Sep. Attacked troop concentrations and communications to interfere with the enemy's movement of reinforcements and supplies to the front during the Allied offensive at St Mihiel. Also took part in the Meuse-Argonne campaign, attacking the enemy behind the line, and conducting bombing operations that helped to protect Allied ground forces by diverting German pursuit planes from the battle zone. Participated in one of the great bombing raids of the war when 353 Allied planes (including 200 bombers) under the command of William Mitchell struck a concentration point where German troops were preparing for a counterattack against the Allied offensive in the Meuse-Argonne area. Demobilized in France in Nov 1918, soon after the armistice.

Reconstituted (in 1924) and consolidated with a group that was organized in the US as 1st Day Bombardment Group on 18 Sep 1919 and redesignated 2d Bombardment Group in 1921. Used LB-5A, B-10, B-17 (1937-), B-15 (1938-), and other aircraft during the 1920s and 1930s. Engaged in routine training; tested and experimented with equipment and tactics; participated in maneuvers; took part in Mitchell's demonstrations of the effectiveness of aerial bombardment on battleships; flew mercy missions to aid victims of a flood in Pennsylvania in 1936 and victims of an earthquake in Chile in 1939; and made goodwill flights to South America in the late 1930's. Redesignated 2d Bombardment Group (Heavy) in 1939. Trained and deployed with B-17 aircraft.

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Served on antisubmarine duty for several months after the US entered World War II. Moved to North Africa, Mar-May 1943, and remained in the theater until after V-E Day, being assigned first to Twelfth AF and later (Dec 1943) to Fifteenth AF. Flew many support and interdictory missions, bombing such targets as marshalling yards, airdromes, troop concentrations, bridges, docks, and shipping. Participated in the defeat of Axis forces in Tunisia, Apr-May 1943; the reduction of Pantelleria and the preparations for the invasion of Sicily, May-Jul 1943; the invasion of Italy, Sep 1943; the drive toward Rome, Jan-Jun 1944; the invasion of Southern France, Aug 1944; and the campaigns against German forces in northern Italy, Jun 1944-May 1945. Engaged primarily in long-range bombardment of strategic targets after Oct 1943, attacking oil refineries, aircraft factories, steel plants, and other objectives in Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Rumania, and Greece. En route to bomb a vital aircraft factory at Steyr on 24 Feb 1944, the group was greatly outnumbered by enemy interceptors, but it maintained its formation and bombed the target, receiving a DUC for the performance. On the following day, while on a mission to attack aircraft factories at Regensburg, it met similar opposition equally well and was awarded a second DUC. Served as part of the occupation force in Italy after V-E Day. Inactivated in Italy on 28 Feb 1946.

Squadrons

11th: 1918; 1919-1927
20th: 1918; 1919-1946; 1947-1952
49th (formerly 166th): 1918; 1919-1946; 1947-1952
96th: 1918; 1919-1946; 1947-1952
429th: 1942-1946

Stations

Amanty, France, 10 Sep 1918
Maulan, France, 23 Sep-Nov 1918
Ellington Field, Tex, 18 Sep 1919
Kelly Field, Tex, c. 25 Sep 1919
Langley Field, Va, 1 Jul 1922
Ephrata, Wash, 29 Oct 1942
Great Falls AAB, Mont, 27 Nov 1942-13 May 1943
Navarin, Algeria, Apr 1943
Chateaudun-du-Rhumel, Algeria, 17 Jun 1943
Massicault, Tunisia, 31 Jul 1943
Bizerte, Tunisia, 2 Dec 1943
Amendola, Italy, c. 9 Dec 1943
Foggia, Italy, 19 Nov 1945-28 Feb 1946

Commanders

Unkn, Sep-Nov 1918
Unkn, Sep 1919-May 1921
Maj Thomas J Hanley Jr, May-Sep 1921
Maj Lewis H Brereton, Jun 1925
Maj Hugh Knerr, Jul 1927-Sep 1930
Capt Eugene L Eubank, 26 Dec 1933
Maj Willis H Hale, 1 Jul 1934
Lt Col Charles B Oldfield, 1935
Lt Col Robert C Olds, c. 1937-unkn
Lt Col Darr H Alkire, 6 Jan 1942
Col Dale O Smith, c. Sep 1942
Col Ford J Lauer, 29 Oct 1942
Lt Col Joseph A Thomas, 20 Apr 1943
Col Herbert E Rice, 5 Sep 1943
Col John D Ryan, 8 Jul 1944
Col Paul T Cullen, 25 Sep 1944
Col Robert K Martin, 23 May 1945-20 Feb 1946

Campaigns

World War I:
St Mihiel
Lorraine
Meuse-Argonne

World War II:
Antisubmarine
American Theater
Air Combat, EAME Theater
Air Offensive, Europe
Tunisia
Sicily
Naples-Foggia
Anzio
Rome-Arno
Normandy
Northern France
Southern France
North Apennines
Rhineland
Central Europe
Po Valley

Decorations

Distinguished Unit Citations:
Steyr, Austria, 24 Feb 1944
Germany, 25 Feb 1944

Insigne. Shield: Or, in fess four aerial bombs dropping bend sinisterwise azure, on a chief engrailed paly of five vert and sable a fleur-de-lis argent. Crest: A cloud (gray) rifted disclosing the firmament (blue) crossed by a bolt of lightning (yellow) striking bend sinisterwise all proper. Motto: Libertatem Defendimus - Liberty We Defend. (Approved 19 Jan 1924. The motto then approved was replaced on 15 Apr 1940 by the one shown above.)

Missing Air Crew Reports

Missing Air Crew Reports also known as MACRs are reports of US aircraft that went down, via enemy action or mechanical issues, behind enemy lines. These reports detailed the aircraft and crew along with their disposition; there were statements and eyewitness reports if available describing what they saw. The majority of these reports were completed in the years following the conclusion of World War II. This was so that the survivors who had become prisoners of war could provide statements of the events of that day. These reports differ from accident reports in that those documented aircraft that crashed on take off or landing; these events happened on allied lines.

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