4th Photographic Group
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The 4th Reconnaissance Group 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. It was last assigned to
Thirteenth Air Force The Thirteenth Expeditionary Air Force (13 EAF) is a provisional numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base, Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam on the island of Oahu, ...
and was stationed at
Clark Field Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...
, Philippines. It was inactivated on 15 January 1946. The unit operated P-38/F-4 Lightning photo-reconnaissance aircraft in the
Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
of
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 ...
over a wide area. The group, based successively on New Caledonia, Espiritu Santo, Guadalcanal, and Morotai, flew reconnaissance missions over enemy territory to supply air force units with target and damage- assessment photographs and to provide army and navy units with intelligence on Japanese troop concentrations, installations, shore defenses, supply routes, and shipping. It also produced maps of Allied and enemy-held territory and prepared navigation charts for US units. During the last three months of the war the group photographed Japanese positions and installations on Mindanao and Borneo to aid US and Australian operations.


History


Lineage

* Constituted as 4th Photographic Group on 14 July 1942 : Activated on 23 July 1942 : Redesignated 4th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group on 15 May 1943 : Redesignated 4th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) in November 1943 : Redesignated 4th Reconnaissance Group on 4 May 1945 : Inactivated on 15 January 1946 : Disbanded on 6 March 1947 * Reconstituted on 31 July 1985 and redesignated 534th Combat Crew Training GroupDepartment of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations (not active)


Assignments

*
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 ...
, 23 July – 24 October 1942 *
Thirteenth Air Force The Thirteenth Expeditionary Air Force (13 EAF) is a provisional numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base, Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam on the island of Oahu, ...
, 22 November 1942 – 15 January 1946


Components

* 17th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 23 July 1942 – 15 January 1946 * 18th Combat Mapping Squadron (1942–46) * 19th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 23 July 1942 – 15 January 1946 * 20th Reconnaissance Squadron, 23 July 1942 – 15 January 1946 * 38th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 23 July 1942 – 15 January 1946


Stations

* Colorado Springs AAFd.,
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
23 July – 24 October 1942 *
Plaine Des Gaiacs Airfield Plaine Des Gaiacs Airfield is a former World War II airfield on New Caledonia in the Oceania, South Pacific. It is located at Plaine Des Gaiacs near the village of Pouembout. The airfield was also known as De Gaiacs and was named for the Gaiac t ...
,
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
,
Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...
, 22 November 1942 * Pekoa Airfield,
Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...
,
New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium () and named after the Hebrides in Scotland, was the colonial name for the island group in the South Pacific Ocean that is now Vanuatu. Native people had inhabited the islands for three th ...
, 22 January 1943 *
Carney Airfield Carney Airfield is a former World War II airfield on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands in the Oceania, South Pacific. It is located near Koli Point about six miles from Henderson Field (Guadalcanal), Henderson Field, close to the Metapona River to t ...
,
Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...
, Solomon Islands, 6 May 1944 *
Wama Airfield Leo Wattimena Airport, formerly known as Pitu Airport is a public airport located on the southern coast of Morotai Island, North Maluku, Indonesia. History World War II Morotai island was the final island invasion in Netherlands New Guinea b ...
, Morotai,
Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
, 12 December 1944 *
Clark Field Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...
,
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 ...
, Philippines, September 1945-15 January 1946


Aircraft

*
F-5 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 ...
* F-10 Mitchell


References


Notes


Bibliography

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


See also

{{USAAF 2d Air Force World War II Military units and formations established in 1942
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