411th Bombardment Group

The 411th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with III Bomber Command at Florence Army Air Field, South Carolina, where it served as a Replacement Training Unit until it was disbanded on 1 May 1944. In July 1985, the group was reconstituted as the 411th Tactical Missile Wing, but has never been active under that name.

411th Bombardment Group
A-20G of the 650th Bombardment Squadron[note 1]
Active	1943–1944
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army Air Forces
Role	Light Bombardment Replacement Training Unit
Part of	Third Air Force

History

The 411th Bombardment Group was activated at Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma on 1 August 1944. Its original squadrons were the 648th, 649th, 650th and 651st Bombardment Squadrons.^[1][2][3] Two weeks later it moved to Florence Army Air Field, South Carolina, where it absorbed the personnel of the 65th Reconnaissance Group, which had been training observation crews on North American B-25 Mitchell aircraft there.^[4][5]

The group was a World War II Replacement Training Unit, using Douglas A-20 Havoc light bombers. Replacement Training Units were oversized units that trained individual aircrews.^[6] After graduating, the airmen were assigned to overseas combat units.^[4]

However, standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving poorly adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, the Army Air Forces adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.^[7] The group was disbanded on 1 May 1944 and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the 334th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Light Bombardment).^[4][8]

On 31 July 1985 the group was reconstituted and redesignated the 411th Tactical Missile Wing, but was not activated.^[9]

Lineage

• Constituted as 411th Bombardment Group (Light) on 14 July 1943

Activated on 1 August 1943

Disbanded on 1 May 1944^[4]

• Reconstituted on 31 July 1985 and redesignated 411th Tactical Missile Wing^[9]

Assignments

• III Bomber Command, 1 August 1943
• I Tactical Air Division, August 1943 – 1 May 1944

Components

• 648th Bombardment Squadron: 1 August 1943 – 1 May 1944^[1]
• 649th Bombardment Squadron: 1 August 1943 – 1 May 1944^[2]
• 650th Bombardment Squadron: 1 August 1943 – 1 May 1944^[2]
• 651st Bombardment Squadron: 1 August 1943 – 1 May 1944^[3]

Stations

• Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma, 1 August 1943
• Florence Army Air Field, South Carolina, 15 August 1943 – 1 May 1944^[4]

Aircraft

• Douglas A-20 Havoc, 1943–1944^[4]
• North American B-25 Mitchell, 1943–1944^[10]

See also

• List of Douglas A-20 Havoc operators

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

1. Aircraft is Douglas TA-20G-45-DO serial 43-21657. Note squadron emblem on the nose.

Citations

1. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 694–695
2. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 695
3. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 695–696
4. Maurer, Combat Units, p. 296
5. Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 131–132
6. Craven & Cate, Vol. VI, introduction, p. xxxvi
7. Goss, p. 75
8. "Abstract, History Florence Army Air Field, Mar–May 1944". Air Force History Index. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
9. Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations
10. "Abstract, History 411 Bombardment Group". Air Force History Index. Retrieved 28 August 2015.

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955). The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158.

Goss, William A (1955). "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158.

• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.

External links

Media related to 411th Bombardment Group (United States Army Air Forces) at Wikimedia Commons