The V Bomber Command is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. It was last assigned to Fifth Air Force, based at Irumagawa AB, Japan. It was inactivated on 31 May 1946. During World War II the unit initially controlled Fifth Air Force bomber units in the Philippines. It was largely destroyed in the Battle of the Philippines, and withdrew to Australia at the end of December 1941, although elements of some units remained in the Philippines until April 1942. Re-equipped, the command provided command and control authority of Army Air Force bombardment organizations within the Fifth Air Force Area of Responsibility (AOR). Afterward, served with the occupation force in Japan before being inactivated in 1946.

History

Participated in the defense of the Philippines in December 1941. Late in December the remaining bombers and some men were evacuated to Australia, and in January 1942 they were moved to Java to help delay the Japanese advance in the Netherlands Indies. The command ceased to function in March 1942 (the AAF bombardment organizations in the Southwest Pacific being under the control of American-British-Dutch-Australian Command ( ABDA) and later Allied Air Forces). Headquarters was remanned in September 1942 and shortly afterward it assumed control of AAF bombardment groups in Australia and New Guinea. The command served in combat with Fifth Air Force until the end of the war. Brigadier General Kenneth N. Walker, who was killed during a mission over

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

on 5 January 1943, was awarded the Medal of Honor; he had repeatedly taken part in combat missions and had developed an effective technique for bombing when opposed by enemy interceptors and antiaircraft fire. After the war the command became part of the occupation force for Japan. Inactivated on 31 May 1946. Disbanded on 8 October 1948.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 5th Bomber Command on 28 October 1941Maurer indicates that the unit was constituted as the "V" Bomber Command. However, the unit was constituted and activated with an arabic number in its name. The use of roman numerals to designate Army Air Forces combat commands did not begin until September 1942. : Activated on 14 November 1941 * Redesignated V Bomber Command c. 18 September 1942 : Inactivated on 31 May 1946 : Disbanded on 8 October 1948Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 442-443

Assignments

* Fifth Air Force, 14 November 1941 – 31 May 1946

Stations

Clark Field Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

, Luzon, Philippines, 14 November 1941 * RAAF Base Darwin, Australia, December 1941 * Java, January–March 1942 * RAAF Base Townsville, Australia, 5 September 1942 * Jackson Airfield, Port Moresby, New Guinea, December 1942 *

Nadzab Airfield Lae Nadzab Airport is a regional airport located at Nadzab outside Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea along the Highlands Highway. It is served by both private and regional aircraft with domestic flights. The airport replaced the Lae Airfi ...

, New Guinea, 21 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 Compan ...

, Schouten Islands, Netherlands East Indies, c. 15 August 1944 * Bayug Airfield, Leyte, Philippines, November 1944 * McGuire Field, Mindoro, Philippines, January 1945 * Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines, March 1945 * Hamasaki (Motobu Airfield), Okinawa, August 1945 * Murayama, Japan, October 1945 * Irumagawa AB, Japan, c. 15 January – 31 May 1946

Units

; Wings * 314th Bombardment Wing: 30 May 1946 – 31 May 1946 ; Groups *

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

: 5 September 1942 – 31 May 1946 * 6th Reconnaissance Group: 10 October 1943 – 1 March 1944 *

19th Bombardment Group 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

: 16 November 1941 – March 1942; September 1942 – 9 December 1942 *

22d Bombardment Group D, or d, is the fourth letter in 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 The ...

: 5 September 1942 – November 1945 (attached to

309th Bombardment Wing 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, 1–16 February 1944) *

27th Bombardment Group 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

: c. 20 November 1941 – 4 May 1942 (under operational control of American-British-Dutch-Australian Command after c. March 1942) *

35th Fighter Group Military units * 35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force * 35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I * 35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 Jul ...

: 10 November 1945 – 25 May 1946 *

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 ...

*: 18 January – 1 August 1942 *

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

: 5 September 1942 – 3 December 1945 *

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 194 ...

: 10 November 1945 – 1 June 1946 * 71st Reconnaissance Group*: November 1943-1 March 1944 *

90th Bombardment Group 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

: November 1942 – 23 November 1945 * 312th Bombardment Group: 16 January 1944 – 18 October 1945 * 345th Bombardment Group*: 5 June 1943 – 10 December 1945 *

380th Bombardment Group 38 may refer to: *38 (number), the natural number following 37 and preceding 39 *one of the years 38 BC, AD 38, 1938, 2038 *.38, a caliber of firearms and cartridges **.38 Special, a revolver cartridge *'' Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transfo ...

*: May 1943-20 February 1946 *

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 ...

*: 28 January 1944 – 1 November 1945 *

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 al ...

: operational control 15 December 1944 – 28 January 1945 *Note; Does not include periods detached to combat wings ; Squadrons * 2d Emergency Rescue Squadron, 5 September – 7 October 1944 *

3d Emergency Rescue Squadron 3-D, 3D, or 3d may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * Three-dimensional space ** 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data ** 3D film, a ...

: operational control 26 August – 2 October 1944; assigned 21 November 1945 − 31 May 1946 *

8th Photographic Squadron 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

(later 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron): assigned 5 September 1942 – 13 November 1943; attached c. 10 December 1945, assigned c 27 April 1946 – 31 May 1946 * 20th Reconnaissance Squadron: 1 December 1945 – 31 May 1946 *

25th Liaison Squadron Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash th ...

: 24 November – 13 December 1943 *

82d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number ...

: 1 February – 31 May 1946 * 157th Liaison Squadron: attached 25 November 1945, assigned 25 March – 1 June 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, inactiv ...

: attached 10 November 1945 – 20 March 1946 * 547th Night Fighter Squadron: attached 10 November 1945 – 20 February 1946Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 650-651

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{USAAF 5th Air Force World War II 05 Command Bomb Military units and formations disestablished in 1948