The 20th Bombardment Wing is a disbanded

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

unit. Its last assignment was with

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...

MacDill Field MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assi ...

, Florida, where it was inactivated on 10 November 1946. It was later disbanded in October 1948

History

The 20th Bombardment Wing was activated in December 1940 at

Fort Douglas, Utah Fort Douglas (initially called Camp Douglas) was established in October 1862, during the American Civil War, as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah. Its purpose was to protect the overland mail route and te ...

and assigned to

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...

. The following month, it was assigned its combat elements, the

7th Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season ep ...

and

42d Bombardment Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

s. In September 1941, the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

was inactivated and its personnel used to form the 2nd Air Support Command.Futrell, p. 13 Moved to England, May–June 1943, for duty with

. Received its first groups in November 1943 and served in combat in the European theater from December 1943 until April 1945. Returned to the US in August 1945 and prepared for

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Bo ...

operations, although had no combat components assigned. Reassigned to

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

postwar

in May 1946 and elevated to VIII Bombardment Command. Inactivated before becoming operational in November 1946.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 20th Bombardment Wing on 19 October 1940 : Activated on 18 December 1940 : Inactivated on 1 September 1941 * Activated on 1 November 1942 : Redesignated 20th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) in February 1943 : Redesignated 20th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) in August 1943 : Redesignated 20th Bombardment Wing (Heavy)' on 20 June 1945 : Redesignated 20th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) in August 1945 : Redesignated VIII Bomber Command (Very Heavy) in October 1945 : Inactivated on 10 November 1946 : Disbanded on 8 October 1948

Assignments

* Second Air Force, 18 December 1940 – 1 December 1941 *

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a Numbered Air Force, numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U ...

, November 1942 – 8 May 1943 *

VIII Bomber Command 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

(later Eighth Air Force), 1 July 1943 – 6 August 1945 *

Continental Air Forces Continental Air Forces (CAF) was a United States Army Air Forces major command, active 1944–1946. It was tasked with combat training of bomber and fighter personnel, and for Continental United States (CONUS) air defense after the Aircraft Wa ...

, 15 August 1945 * Eighth Air Force, 14 May – 10 November 1946

Units assigned

* 7th Bombardment Group: 16 January – 5 September 1941 * 34th Bombardment Group: 18 June – 28 August 1945 * 42d Bombardment Group: 16 January – 1 September 1941 * 93d Bombardment Group: 13 September 1943 – 12 June 1945 *

385th Bombardment Group 385th may refer to: *385th Air Expeditionary Group, constituted as the 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 25 November 1942 Activated on 1 December 1942 *385th Fighter Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit *385th Infantry Division (Wehrmac ...

: 18 June – 4 August 1945 *

388th Bombardment Group 388th may refer to: * 388th Electronic Combat Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 388th Fighter Squadron or 132nd Fighter Wing (132d W), United States Air Force unit assigned to the Iowa Air National Guard, located at Des Moines Inter ...

: 18 June – 13 August 1945 * 446th Bombardment Group: November 1943 – 1 June 1945 *

448th Bombardment Group 448th may refer to: *448th (Northumbrian) Field Company, Royal Engineers, in the 1st Newcastle Engineers in the British Territorial Army * 448th Fighter Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 448th Missile Squadron, inactive United State ...

: 30 November 1943 – 6 July 1945 *

452d Bombardment Group 45 may refer to: * 45 (number) * one of the years 45 BC, AD 45, 1945, 2045 Film * ''45'' (2009 film), directed by Peter Coster *45 (upcoming film), an upcoming Kannada-language action fantasy film * ''.45'' (film), directed by Gary Lennon (2006) ...

: 18 June – 12 August 1945 *

489th Bombardment Group The 489th Bomb Group (489 BG) is a unit of the United States Air Force within the Air Force Reserve Command. It is assigned to the 307th Bomb Wing, and is stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The group is a reserve associate unit of the ...

: 14 August – 29 November 1944

Stations

* Fort Douglas, Utah, 18 December 1940 – 1 September 1941 *

, Florida, November 1942 – c. 8 May 1943 * Camp Lynn (AAF-101), England, c. 9 June 1943 *

RAF Cheddington Royal Air Force Cheddington or more simply RAF Cheddington (also known as RAF Marsworth) is a former Royal Air Force station located south-west of Cheddington, Buckinghamshire, England. The airfield was closed in 1952. Origins Cheddington wa ...

(AAF-113), England, c. 1 July 1943 *

RAF Horsham St Faith Royal Air Force Horsham St Faith or more simply RAF Horsham St Faith is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station near Norwich, Norfolk, England which was operational from 1939 to 1963. It was then developed as ...

(AAF-123), England, c. 14 September 1943 *

RAF Hethel Royal Air Force Hethel or more simply RAF Hethel is a former Royal Air Force station which was used by both the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. The airfield is located south w ...

(AAF-114), England, 24 September 1943 *

RAF Hardwick Royal Air Force Hardwick or more simply RAF Hardwick is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station located between the Norfolk villages of Topcroft and Hardwick, Norfolk, Hardwick in England. It is around west o ...

(AAF-104), England, c. 7 November 1943 *

RAF Snetterton Heath Royal Air Force Snetterton Heath or more simply RAF Snetterton Heath is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station located south east of the A11 road (Great Britain), A11, south west of Attleborough, Norfolk, ...

(AAF-138), England, c. 13 June – 6 August 1945 *

Sioux Falls Army Air Field Sioux Falls Regional Airport , also known as Joe Foss Field, is a public and military use airport three miles northwest of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. It is named in honor of aviator and Sioux Falls native Joe Foss, who later served ...

, South Dakota, c. 15 August 1945 *

Peterson Field Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a United States Space Force base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home t ...

, Colorado, 17 August 1945 * MacDill Field, Florida, 14 May – 10 November 1946

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * *

External links

{{USAAF 8th Air Force UK Military units and formations established in 1943

020 020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exch ...