5th Photo Group Recon

Constituted as 5th Photographic Group on 14 Jul 1942 and activated on 23 Jul. Redesignated 5th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group in May 1943, and 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Group in Aug 1943. Trained and participated in maneuvers. Moved to the Mediterranean theater, Jul-Sep 1943. Assigned first to Twelfth AF and later (Oct 1944) to Fifteenth. Flew missions to Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the Balkans, using F-5 aircraft. Also flew some photographic missions at night with B-17's and B-25's. Photographed areas near Anzio prior to the Allied landings. Provided reconnaissance of road and rail targets to support US Fifth and British Eighth Army in southern Italy. Made bomb-damage assessments at Cassino. Operated over northwest France, photographing rail targets to be bombed in connection with the invasion of Normandy. Mapped coastal areas in preparation for the invasion of Southern France. Received a DUC for action on 6 Sep 1944 when the group secured photographic intelligence of German Air Force installations in the Balkans and thus enabled fighter organizations to destroy large numbers of enemy transport and fighter planes. Provided reconnaissance services for Fifteenth AF's campaign against the enemy's oil industry, aircraft production, and communications. Also assisted the advance of ground forces in northern Italy by supplying intelligence on enemy installations in the area. Redesignated 5th Reconnaissance Group in May 1945. Returned to the US in Oct. Inactivated on 28 Oct 1945.

Squadrons

Photo Reconnaissance Squadrons (PRS)
15th: 1944-1945
21st: 1942-1943
22d: 1942-1943
23d: 1942-1944
24th: 1942-1943
32d: 1944-1945
37th: 1944-1945

4th Photo Technician Squadron (PTS)

Stations

Colorado Springs, Colo, 23 Jul 1942-8 Aug 1943
La Marsa, Tunisia, 8 Sep 1943
San Severo, Italy, 8 Dec 1943
Bari, Italy, 11 Oct 1944-Oct 1945
Camp Kilmer, NJ, 26-28 Oct 1945

Commanders

2nd Lt Frederick A Williams, 23 Jul 1942
Maj D Russell, 1942
Maj James F Setchell, 12 Jan 1943
Lt Col Waymond A Davis, 27 Feb 1943
Maj Leon W Gray, 23 Oct 1943
Maj Lloyd R Nuttall, 4 Feb 1944
Col Wilbur H Stratton, 21 Sep 1944
Lt Col Bernard S Hendler, 9 Aug 1945-unkn

Campaigns

American Theater
Air Combat, EAME Theater
Air Offensive, Europe
Naples-Foggia
Rome-Arno
Normandy
Northern France
Southern France
North Apennines
Rhineland
Central Europe
Po Valley

Decorations. Distinguished Unit Citation: MTO, 6 Sep 1944.

Insigne. Shield: Azure, on a chevron inverted or two wings conjoined in lure and elevated of the field, in chief a camera lens proper ringed of the second. Motto: Beware, We Snap! (Approved 25 Jan 1943.)

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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Veteran Roster

15th Air Force personnel records and roster in World War II.

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