The 308th Bombardment Wing is an inactive

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

Far East Air Forces The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF is headquartered at the Hickam AFB portion of Join ...

Nagoya, Japan is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, where it was inactivated on 30 June 1948. 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 ...

served in combat with

Fifth Air Force The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organ ...

from February 1944 to August 1945, operating as a

task force A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many ...

with various

groups A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

and

squadrons Squadron(s) may refer to: Military * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 ...

that were attached for brief periods. It earned a

Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation The Philippine Presidential Unit citation BadgeThe AFP Adjutant General, ''Awards and Decorations Handbook'', 1997, OTAG, p. 65. is a unit decoration of the Republic of the Philippines. It has been awarded to certain units of the United States ...

for its actions on

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

and

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

. The 308th became part of the occupation force from 1945 to 1947 when it was stripped of all personnel, remaining a paper unit until it was inactivated.

History

Background

General

George C. Kenney George Churchill Kenney (6 August 1889 – 9 August 1977) was a United States Army general during World War II. He is best known as the commander of the Allies of World War II, Allied Air Forces in the South West Pacific Area (command), Southw ...

, commander of

(FEAF), developed the concept in late 1942 for an "Air Task Force“ to be located at an advanced base. The Air Task Force was to be a streamlined operational organization free from administrative duties so that it could concentrate on a given operation. Once the operation was complete, components of the force could be returned to their parent organizations. To implement this concept, the Buna Task Force (later renamed the 1st Air Task Force) was formed at Dobodura as a provisional organization, with its personnel drawn from the

Advanced Echelon (ADVON), already located there. The task force defended installations at Dobodura from enemy air and sea attack, attacked Japanese forces at

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

and dropped supplies to advanced forces fighting at

Lae Lae (, , later ) is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River on the northern coast of Huon Gulf. It is at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is ...

and

Saidor Saidor is a village located in Saidor ward of Rai Coast Rural LLG, Madang Province, on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It is also the administrative centre of the Rai Coast District of Madang Province in Papua New Guinea. The village was the ...

New Guinea

On 1 Feb 44 the provisional Air Task Force was transformed into the 308th Bombardment Wing. The wing began to establish air bases at Saidor, Cape Gloucester and

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U. ...

. The wing's ADVON moved to Finschhafen and almost at once began to support the landings on Momote by the 1st Cavalry Division with fighter cover, air resupply and limited air strikes. The ADVON moved to

Wakde Wakde is an island group in Sarmi Regency, Papua, Indonesia, between the districts of Pantai Timur and Tor Atas. It comprises two islands, Insumuar (the larger) and Insumanai (much smaller). History Occupied by Japanese forces in April 1942, th ...

one day after the infantry landed to establish a base to extend the range of Allied airpower in New Guinea. The island seemed secure, so the infantry units were withdrawn from the island on 20 May. However Japanese forces infiltrated the 308th's camp the following morning. The camp was successfully defended by members of the wing's 303d Airdrome Squadron. As the Wakde airstrip was being established, Japanese attacks continued and caused casualties among units attached to the wing. The wing proceeded to

Biak Biak is the main island of Biak Archipelago located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The largest popula ...

to establish airfields for the forthcoming Morotai offensive. but strong resistance delayed the offensive on the island beyond the date when the airfields were planned to become operational, so nearby Owi Island was reconnoitered and proved to be a better base. The last resistance on Owi ended when wing

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

s attacked on 22 July, destroying the last enemy stronghold. A Japanese attempt to reinforce the island was beaten back by wing

North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allies of World War ...

s, which sank three ships, damaged two, and turned the reinforcements back. Wing fighters covered the Noemfoor landings. Extensive strikes by the wing were able to keep enemy airfields in the region non-operational. During this period wing Mitchell bombers became the first American planes to strike the Philippines since the defeat there in May 1942. During operations from Owi and Biak wing fighters scored 28 victories over enemy aircraft and 55 more were destroyed on ground. In addition, shipping strikes resulted in 30 freighters plus 91 smaller craft sunk while over 200 more were damaged.Herring p. 33

Philippine Islands

The wing did not resume operations until September when it began attacks from Hollandia. On 22 Oct 1944 it landed at

Tacloban Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city on Leyte island in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, Tacloban has a popu ...

in the Philippines Only two days later as preparation of the airfield had barely begun, Tacloban was used as an emergency strip by

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

planes engaged in the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf () 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. By late 1944, Japan possessed fewer capital sh ...

because their carriers were under attack. The incomplete strip handled a landing every 2 minutes, some crashing because of the soft uneven nature of the strip. Japanese strafers arrived during the recovery operation, but two hours later, 59 Navy planes had been prepared to enter combat again On the 27th the field was ready for the

Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...

s of the

49th Fighter Group The 49th Fighter Group was a fighter aircraft unit of the Fifth Air Force that was located in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II. Activation and training The group was constituted as 49th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 20 November ...

. These fighters initially concentrated on defending the Leyte beachhead, but as fighter strength increased, Japanese air attacks were limited to night raids. During operations on Leyte, in addition to merchant shipping, wing aircraft destroyed one

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

, eight

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s, and two

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

. 375 enemy aircraft were destroyed as the 308th achieved air superiority before handing over Leyte at the end of December.Herring, p. 36 In Jan 45 the wing assumed responsibility for

Lingayen Lingayen, officially the Municipality of Lingayen (; ; ; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality and capital of the Philippine Province, province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 10 ...

with its headquarters at

Binmaley Binmaley, officially the Municipality of Binmaley (; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 86,881 people. Etymology The town is thought to be named after the "Binm ...

. It supported I Corps and

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

forces most of which were concentrated on northern

. Wing aircraft flew hundreds of

close air support Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS requires ...

missions near

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

. Japanese air opposition in the Philippines had been reduced to the extent that wing fighters were diverted from providing air cover to close air support missions. The 308th began attacks on

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

, concentrating on chemical

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

providing materiel for aviation fuel and explosives. It attacked

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and Canton to isolate Japanese forces there.Herring, p. 38 The wing arrived in Okinawa in late June where it served as the ADVON for both Fifth Air Force and Far East Air Forces, assuming Operational Control of all land based aircraft on the island including Navy and Marine aircraft until

Seventh Air Force The Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (7 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The command's mission is to plan and direct air component operations in ...

headquarters arrived the following month.

Occupation Duty

The wing moved to Korea late in 1945 and became part of the occupation force. It transferred without personnel and equipment to Japan in 1947 and was not remanned. The unit inactivated on 30 June 1948.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 308th Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 20 January 1944 : Activated on 1 February 1944 : Redesignated 308th Bombardment Wing, Light in March 1946 * Inactivated on 30 June 1948

Assignments

, 1 February 1944 – 31 August 1945 *

, 1 September 1945 – 30 June 1948

Stations

* Oro Bay (Cape Sudest) Airfield, New Guinea, 1 February 1944 *

Owi Airfield Owi Airfield is a former World War II airfield located on Owi Island in the Schouten Islands, Indonesia. The airfield was ordered built by General MacArthur on 6 June 1944. It was constructed by the 864th Engineer Aviation Battalion with B Compa ...

Schouten Islands The Biak Islands (, also Schouten Islands or Geelvink Islands) are an island group of Southwest Papua province, eastern Indonesia in the Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) 50 km off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. Th ...

, Netherlands East Indies, 2 July 1944 * Hollandia, Netherlands East Indies, 10 August 1944 * Tacloban Airfield, Leyte, Philippines, 22 October 1944 *

San Marcelino Airfield San Marcelino Airfield is a World War II airfield located in Zambales province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. It was closed after the war. History San Marcelino Airfield was built before the war by the Americans. On ...

, Luzon, Philippines, 11 January 1945 *

Motobu Airfield Motobu Airfield is a World War II airfield on the Motobu Peninsula of Okinawa, near the East China Sea coast. The airfield was deactivated after 1945. History The airfield was built in April 1945 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and ...

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, Japan, 16 June 1945 *

Seoul, Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, 22 September 1945 * Kimpo, Korea, 7 January 1946 *

, March 1947 – 30 June 1948

Components

Groups * 3d Air Commando Group: (attached, 26 January 1945 – 18 May 1945) *

: 5 June 1944 – 11 July 1944; 26 September – 8 December 1944 *

475th Fighter Group 475th may refer to: *475th Air Base Wing, inactive United States Air Force unit *475th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 475th Fighter Group, World War II predecessor of 53d Weapons Evaluation Group * 475th Test Squadron ...

: 1 February 1946 – 22 March 1947 (attached 1 February 1944 – 24 March 1944; ''ca''. 23 September 1945 – ''ca''. 31 January 1946) * Groups attached for brief periods between 1 February 1944 and 1 September 1945Herring, p. 19 ::

3d Bombardment Group 3D, 3-D, 3d, or Three D may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics * A three-dimensional space in mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geome ...

8th Fighter Group 008, OO8, O08, or 0O8 may refer to: * "008", a fictional 00 Agent of MI6 * '' 008: Operation Exterminate'', a 1965 Italian action film * ''Explosivo 008'', a 1940 Argentine crime film * Tyrrell 008, a Formula One car * Balls 8, NASA NB-52B mothersh ...

18th Fighter Group 018 may refer to: *Air Canada Flight 018, an airline flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver, Canada, illegally boarded by a Chinese man wearing a disguise in 2010 *Area code 018, a telephone area code in Uppsala, Sweden *BMW 018, an experimental turboj ...

22d Bombardment Group D, or d, is the fourth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''dee'' (pronounced ), plural ''dees''. History Th ...

:: 35th Fighter Group ::

38th Bombardment Group The 38th Bombardment Group is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. It was most recently assigned as the operational (flying) component of the 38th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Laon-Couvron Air Base, France, where it was inactivated o ...

43d Bombardment Group The Poor Relief Act 1601 ( 43 Eliz. 1. c. 2) was an act of the Parliament of England. The act, popularly known as the Elizabethan Poor Law, the "43rd Elizabeth", or the "Old Poor Law", was passed in 1601 and created a poor law system for Engl ...

:: 58th Fighter Group :: 90th Bombardment Group ::

312th Bombardment Group 31 may refer to: * 31 (number) Years * 31 BC * AD 31 * 1931 * 2031 Music * ''Thirty One'' (Jana Kramer album), 2015 * ''Thirty One'' (Jarryd James album), 2015 * "Thirty One", a song by Karma to Burn from the album ''Wild, Wonderful Purgatory ...

:: 345th Bombardment Group :: 348th Fighter Group :: 375th Troop Carrier Group ::

417th Bombardment Group The 417th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with V Bomber Command at Itami Airfield, Japan, where it was inactivated on 5 November 1945. During World War II, the group operated in the So ...

494th Bombardment Group 494th may refer to: * 494th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 494th Bombardment Wing, inactive United States Air Force unit * 494th Fighter Squadron (494 FS), part of the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, England See ...

Operational Squadrons *

4th Reconnaissance Squadron The 4th Reconnaissance Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 319th Operations Group and stationed at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, from which it operates RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned vehicles. It was activated there ...

: (attached 22 October 1945 – 14 April 1946) * 26th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron: 21 November 1945 – 20 February 1946 (attached 22 October 1945 – 21 November 1945) * 160th Liaison Squadron: 25 March 1946 – 20 May 1946 (attached ''ca''. 22 September 1945 – 25 March 1946) *

418th Night Fighter Squadron 418th may refer to: *418th Bombardment Group, inactive United States Air Force unit *418th Flight Test Squadron (418 FLTS), part of the 412th Test Wing based at Edwards Air Force Base, California *418th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, inactive ...

: (attached 1 February 1944 – ''ca'' 15 May 1944, 9 July 1945 – ''ca''. 30 July 1945) * 547th Night Fighter Squadron: (attached 16 January 1945 – February 1945)Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 650–651 Navy and Marine units attached in Okinawa * MAG 24 * MAG 32 *

VMF-115 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 (VMFA-115) was a United States Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet squadron. Officially nicknamed the "Silver Eagles" and on occasion ''Joe's Jokers'' after their first commanding officer Major Joe Foss, the squadron w ...

VMF-211 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VMFA-211) is a United States Marine Corps fighter attack squadron, currently consisting of F-35B Lightning II stealth STOVL strike fighter jets. Known as the "Wake Island Avengers" and the "Bastion Defender ...

VMF-218 Marine Fighting Squadron 218 (VMF-218) was a reserve fighter squadron of the United States Marine Corps that was originally activated during World War II. Known as the "Hellions", they flew throughout the South Pacific but saw the majority of ...

* VMF-313 * VMF(N)-541 * VB-117

Awards and campaigns

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:308th Bombardment Wing (World War Ii) Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1948 Bombardment wings of the United States Army Air Forces