The 385th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed.[2] It was last known to be stationed at Incirlik AB, Turkey. It is currently a tenant unit of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.
The group was formed in February 1943 at Geiger Field, Washington. It trained for two months and then moved to Great Falls AAB, Montana in April 1943. The unit completed training at the end of May 1943 with the aircraft moving to Kearney Army Air Field, Nebraska prior to moving to England by the northern ferry route. Two aircraft were lost en route. The ground echelon left Great Falls on 8 June 1943. The 548th BS sailed on the Queen Mary on 23 June 1943 and the other squadrons on the Queen Elizabeth on 1 July 1943.
Under Eighth Air Force based in England, the 385th BG primarily bombed targets such as industrial areas, air bases, oil refineries, and communications centers in Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Norway.[4] The group received two Distinguished Unit Citations for bombing an aircraft factory at Regensburg on 17 August 1943 after a long hazardous flight over enemy territory. The group led the 4th Bombardment Wing a great distance through heavy and damaging opposition for the successful bombardment of an aircraft repair plant at Zwickau on 12 May 1944, being awarded another DUC for this performance.[4] Other strategic targets included aircraft factories in Oschersleben and Marienburg, battery works in Stuttgart, airfields in Beauvais and Chartres, oil refineries in Ludwigshafen and Merseburg, and marshalling yards in Munich and Oranienburg.[4]
The 385th sometimes supported ground forces, flying interdiction missions. It attacked coastal defenses in June 1944 in preparation for the Normandy invasion and hit marshalling yards and choke points during the landing on D-Day. The group bombed enemy positions in support of ground forces at Saint-Lô in July 1944. Attacked German communications and fortifications during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 – January 1945. It bombed troop concentrations and communications centers in Germany and France, March–April 1945, to assist the final thrust into Germany.[4]
On 6 March 1944 raid to Berlin (the most costly mission the Eighth ever carried out) the 3d Bombardment Division commander, Brigadier General Russell Wilson, took off from Great Ashfield in a radar-equipped B-17 in a leading group of the 385th. All of the group's aircraft returned safely ... all, that is, except the one carrying General Wilson. which was seen to take several hits from flak. setting one engine on fire. Although four of the crew managed to parachute to safety (including Medal of Honor hero First Lieutenant John C. Morgan), eight of the others were killed when the bomber exploded.
In May 1945 the group dropped food to the starving Dutch population in the Netherlands as part of Operation Chowhound. The 385th suffered the last enemy action in the European part of the war. On 2 May 1945, a B-17 of the 385th BG was struck by enemy ground fire while on Operation Chowhound but returned safely to base. This was the last credited combat mission of the war.
After V-E Day, the 385th Bomb Group hauled displaced French slave laborers from Austria to France. It redeployed to the United States in June and August 1945. The aircraft left between 19 June, and 29 June 1945. the ground unit left on 4 August 1945, and sailed on the Queen Elizabeth from Greenock on 5 August 1945. They arrived in New York on 11 August 1945. Group was then established at Sioux Falls AAF, South Dakota and inactivated on 28 August 1945.[4]
The wing's missiles were maintained on alert and ready for combat. The 4321st (and later the 385th) continued to maintain an alert commitment until inactivating. In August 1962, the 4321st was reassigned to the 818th Strategic Aerospace Division. However, SAC Strategic Wings could not carry a permanent history or lineage[11] and SAC looked for a way to make its Strategic Wings permanent.
In 1962, in order to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled (MAJCON) strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate Air Force controlled (AFCON) units, most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history.[note 1]
As a result the 4321st SW was replaced by the newly constituted 385th Strategic Aerospace Wing (SAW),[12] which assumed its mission, personnel, and equipment on 1 January 1963.[note 2]
In the same way the 549th Strategic Missile Squadron, one of the unit's World War II historical bomb squadrons, replaced the 566th SMS.[6][note 3] The 34th Air Refueling Squadron was reassigned to the 385th.[2] Because the new organization controlled a combination of aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles it added "Aerospace" to the 4321st's designation.
The 385th SAW continued to conduct strategic air refueling operations and maintain ICBM readiness to meet SAC commitments. The wing served as a deterrent force and also supported SAC's global air refueling mission. It was inactivated on 15 December 1964.[12]
34th Air Refueling Squadron, 1 January – 15 December 1964 (detached 10–15 December 1964)
548th Bombardment Squadron, 1 December 1942 – 19 June 1945
549th Bombardment (later Strategic Missile) Squadron, 1 December 1942 – 19 June 1945; 1 January 1963 – 15 December 1964 (not operational, 1–15 December 1964)
550th Bombardment Squadron, 1 December 1942 – 19 June 1945
551st Bombardment Squadron, 1 December 1942 – 19 June 1945
^MAJCON units could not carry a permanent history or lineage. Ravenstein, Guide to Air Force Lineage and Honors, p. 12
^Although the 385th Wing was a new organization, it continued, through temporary bestowal, the history, and honors of the World War II 385th Bombardment Group. It was also entitled to retain the honors (but not the history or lineage) of the 4321st. This temporary bestowal ended in January 1984, when the wing and group were consolidated into a single unit.
^This was a paper swap of unit designations. The 549th SMS was active at Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming. It moved to Offutt and assumed the mission, personnel and equipment of the 566th SMS, which moved to Warren and took over that of the 549th
Watkins, Robert (2008). Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force in World War II. Vol. I (VIII) Bomber Command. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-1987-7.
Further reading
Leonard, Lt Col. Marston S. History of the 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and its affiliated units 424th Air Service Group, 877th Chemical Company (AO), Detachment 155, 18th Weather Squadron, 1 February 1943 – 14 August 1945. San Angelo, Texas: Newsfoto Publishing Company, 1974.
Varnedoe, W.W. (Ed.). A New History of the 385th Bomb Group (H). St. Petersburg, Florida: Southern Heritage Press/385th Bombardment Group Memorial Association, 1995. ISBN0-941072-17-7.
Varnedoe, W. W. The Story of Van's Valiants, A History of the 385th Bomb Group Colonial Graphics, 2005, 6th Edition 2009.
