318th Fighter Group P-47 Thunderbolts East Field Saipan 1944

The 318th Fighter Group was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

combat organization. It served primarily in the

Pacific Ocean theater of World War II The Pacific Ocean theater of World War II was a major theater of the Pacific War, the war between the Allies and the Empire of Japan. It included the U.S. Pacific Ocean Areas (command). which included most of the Pacific Ocean and its isl ...

History

The 318th Fighter Group was activated in October 1942 when the remainders of the 72d and 44th Fighter Squadrons were transferred from the 15th and 18th Groups after their former groups were deployed to the Central Pacific. They were part of the 7th Air Force until summer of 1945. The initial mission of the 318th was air protection of the Hawaiian Islands. The 73d and 333d Fighter Squadrons were transferred in November 1942 and January 1943. In March 1943 the 44th was transferred out of the group and was replaced by the 19th Fighter Squadron. The group was equipped with P-40Ks, P-40Ns, and Douglas A-24s, but in June 1943 the Bell P-39Q Airacobras began to arrive at Bellows Field and the 72nd Fighter Squadron traded their P-40s for the Flying Cannon, the Bell Airacobra. In December 1943 the 72nd Fighter Squadron in their P-39s were catapulted from the deck of the

Escort aircraft carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slower type of aircraf ...

USS Nassau (CVE-16) USS ''Nassau'' (CVE-16) (originally AVG-16 then ACV-16) was laid down 27 November 1941 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation of Tacoma, Washington, as M.C. Hull No. 234; launched 4 April 1942; sponsored by Mrs. G. H. Hasselman, Tongue ...

and landed at Makin atoll on the island of Butaritari. At the completion of the

Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign was a series of engagements fought from August 1942 to February 1944, in the Pacific War, Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Empire of Japan, Japan. They were the first battl ...

the 72nd FS was transferred to the newly activated 21st Fighter Group to prepare for the job of escorting the Boeing B-29 Superfortresses over Japan. During 1944 the 318th was equipped with Republic P-47D Thunderbolts and during the

Marianas campaign The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Campaign Plan Granite II, was an offensive launched by the United States against Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific between June and November 1944 during the Pacific War. The campaign ...

, working closely with Marine ground forces, pioneered close infantry support and employed the first use of

napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated aluminium ...

. On

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

the 318th had the dubious distinction along with the 21st Fighter Group on

Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...

of being the only

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

units to engage in ground combat. The squadrons of the 318th Fighter Group were attacked by Japanese ground forces in June 1944 on Aslito Airfield, Saipan (renamed Isley Field), sustaining modest casualties. The 6th Night Fighter Squadron was attached to the 318th on Saipan, and scored several night time victories flying P-61s. Eventually, as they outranged most of their targets, they acquired some P-38 lightnings and flew them as well. However, in the 7th Air Force's heaviest losses since 7 December 1941, the 21st Fighter Group was besieged in their tent camp on Iwo Jima before dawn on 26 March 1945. Pilots and ground personnel took a crash course in infantry tactics and finally destroyed the superior enemy force, but suffered 15 dead and 50 wounded in doing so. The 318th was the first unit to receive the new long range P-47Ns in early 1945 before moving to Okinawa on Ie Shima. Army fighter planes flew from aircraft carriers no less than seven times in the Pacific. P-36s to Hawaii in February 1941, the 73d FS to Midway in P-40s in June 1942, the 45th FS to

Kanton Island Canton Island (also known as Kanton or Abariringa), previously known as Mary Island, Mary Balcout's Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, northernmost, and , the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It i ...

and 72nd FS to Makin in P-39s in December 1943, the 19th, 73d and 333d FS's to Saipan in P-47s in June 1944. The Makin and Saipan operations were from catapult shots. From November 1944 to January 1945, the 318th Fighter Group helped counter the

Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands During World War II, a series of Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands took place between November 1944 and January 1945. These raids targeted United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) bases and sought to disrupt the bombing of Japan by Boeing ...

. Most notably, the Seventh's airmen pioneered Very Long Range (VLR) fighter operations across the Pacific with missions of historic length and duration:

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

Midway Atoll Midway Atoll (colloquialism, colloquial: Midway Islands; ; ) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an Insular area#Unorganized unincorporated territories, unorganized and unincorpo ...

, Midway to

Kaneohe Kāneohe () is a census-designated place (CDP) included in the City and County of Honolulu and in Hawaii state District of Koolaupoko on the island of Oahu. In the Hawaiian language, ''kāne ohe'' means "bamboo man". According to an ancient ...

and Makin to

Jaluit Jaluit Atoll ( Marshallese: , , or , ) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is , and it encloses a lagoon with a ...

and

Maloelap The Maloelap Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) (also spelled Maleolap) is a coral atoll of 71 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area is only , but that encloses a lagoon of ...

. By late 1944, Lockheed P-38s of the 318th were routinely flying missions to Truk and

from Saipan—, 8-hour trips. And by 1945, with new long range P-47Ns, VLR sorties were the rule rather than the exception for the Seventh's fighters. In April 1945 the 15th and 21st Fighter Groups began flying escort and sweep missions from Iwo Jima to Honshu-. In May 1945, the 318th Group advanced to le Shima where they reached out to Japanese targets in Kyu-shu- and China. During the summer of 1945, the 318th Fighter Group (along with the 15th and

21st 21 (twenty-one) is the natural number following 20 and preceding 22. The current century is the 21st century AD, under the Gregorian calendar. Mathematics Twenty-one is the fifth distinct semiprime, and the second of the form 3 \times q whe ...

from the VII Fighter Command) was reassigned to the

Twentieth Air Force The Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (20th AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. 20 AF's primary mission is Intercon ...

and continued its fighter sweeps against Japanese airfields and other targets, in addition to flying long-range B-29 escort missions to Japanese cities, until the end of the war. On 13 August 1945, the 318th flew from le Shima to Tokyo and back, an 8½ hour non-stop flight. The 318th Group was officially credited with 164 air combat victories by 15 August cease fire, with less than 6 pilots shot down by enemy planes. The 318th was assigned to

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 ...

in August 1945, shortly after

V-J Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on wh ...

. Moved to the US, December 1945 – January 1946. Inactivated on 12 January 1946. After the war, it was redesignated the

102nd Fighter Group The United States Air Force's 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, is a military intelligence unit located at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts. Its primary subordinate operational unit is the 101st Intell ...

in May 1946.

Lineage

* Constituted as 318th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 2 February 1942 : Redesignated 318th Fighter Group in May 1942 : Activated in Hawaii on 15 October 1942 : Inactivated on 12 January 1946 * Redesignated as 102d Fighter Group. Allocated to Massachusetts ANG on 24 May 1946

Assignments

VII Fighter Command The VII Fighter Command was a command and control organization of the United States Army Air Forces. Its last assignment was with Far East Air Forces. The Headquarters were based at several locations with forward command moving with the campaign ...

, 15 October 1942 *

, 31 July 1945 *

Army Service Forces The Army Service Forces was one of the three autonomous components of the United States Army during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces, created on 9 March 1942. By dividing the Army into three large comman ...

, 29 November 1945 – 12 January 1946

Components

19th Fighter Squadron The 19th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force fighter squadron and is a part of the Pacific Air Forces' ( PACAF) 15th Wing based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii. The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Fo ...

, 16 March 1943 – 12 January 1946 *

44th Fighter Squadron The 44th Fighter Squadron is a unit of the United States Air Force, part of the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. The 44th Pursuit Squadron was activated on 1 January 1941 and assigned to the 18th Pursuit Group. The 44th Fighter Sq ...

, 20 October – 1 December 1942 * 72d Fighter Squadron, 15 October 1942 – 15 June 1944 * 73d Fighter Squadron, 15 October 1942 – 12 January 1946 *

333d Fighter Squadron The 333rd Fighter Squadron is part of the 4th Operations Group, 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. It operates McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft conducting advanced fighter training. History Activat ...

, 11 January 1943 – 12 January 1946 *

318th Fighter Group The 318th Fighter Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It served primarily in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. History The 318th Fighter Group was activated in October 1942 when the remainders of ...

August 1944– March (?) 1945

Aircraft flown

Curtiss P-36 Hawk The Curtiss P-36 Hawk, also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75, is an American-designed and built fighter aircraft of the 1930s and 40s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, it was one of the first of a new generation ...

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 ...

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry ...

Bell P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by th ...

Douglas A-24 Banshee The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive ...

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

Northrop P-61 Black Widow The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed specifically as a night fighter. Named for the North American spider '' Latrodec ...

Stations

Hickam Field Hickam may refer to: ;Surname * Homer Hickam (born 1943), American author, Vietnam veteran, and a former NASA engineer **'' October Sky: The Homer Hickam Story'', 1999 American biographical film * Horace Meek Hickam (1885–1934), pioneer airpower ...

, Hawaii (Territory), 15 October 1942 *

Bellows Field A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtigh ...

, Hawaii (Territory), 9 February 1943 * East Field,

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st pa ...

, June 1944 *

Ie Shima Airfield is a training facility, managed by the United States Marine Corps and a former World War II airfield complex on Ie Shima, an island located off the northwest coast of Okinawa Island in the East China Sea. The airfield as such was inactivated ...

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 ...

, c. 30 April 1945 *

, November–December 1945

Operational history

References

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .

External links

* {{USAAF 20th Air Force World War II Fighter groups of the United States Army Air Forces Military units and formations established in 1942