332d Fighter Group
| 332d Fighter Group | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the 332d Fighter Group |
|
| Active | 1942–1945; 1947–1948; 1948–1949 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Engagements |
 
|
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Colonel Benjamin O Davis Jr., 8 October 1943 – 3 November 1944; 24 December 1944–9 June 1945 |
The 332d Fighter Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the 332d Fighter Wing at Lockbourne AFB, Ohio. It was deactivated on 1 July 1949.
Formally, the 99th Pursuit Squadron established on 19 March 1941 and activated on 22 March 1941 was the beginning of the 332d. The 99th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine eventually expanded into the 332d Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps. In succession, the 99th Fighter Squadron was joined by the 100th Fighter Squadron, 301st Fighter Squadron and 302nd Fighter Squadron.
The 332d Fighter Group was also known as being a sizable component of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American military aviators in the United States armed forces.[1] During World War II the Tuskegee Airmen were subject to racial discrimination, both within and outside the army, and had to overcome it as part of their mission to serve their nation. They flew with distinction; the 332d Fighter Group, and most particularly the 99th Fighter Squadron, were particularly successful in their missions as bomber escorts in Europe. The fighter units were joined in service later in the war by African Americans constituting the 477th Bombardment Group.
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[edit] Operational history
After difficulty in establishing a core of African American pilots and ground crews and providing for training at Tuskegee Air Force Base in the United States, by April 1943, the 99th was cleared for combat in North Africa, where it would join the 33rd Fighter Group. The 99th's first combat assignment involved attacking enemy units on the strategic volcanic island of Pantelleria in the Mediterranean Sea, to clear the sea lanes for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The air assault on the island began on 30 May 1943. The assignment to a predominately ground attack role prevented the 99th from engaging in air-to-air combat.[2]
The unit was later criticized for not shooting down enemy aircraft; Congressional hearings were held on this perceived failure, with the aim of disbanding the squadron. However, the hearings did not shut down the unit and the 99th moved on to Sicily where it received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its performance in combat. Shortly after a Washington hearing on the feasibility of continuing to use African American pilots, three new fighter squadrons graduated from training at Tuskegee: the 100th, 301st and 302nd. The units then embarked for Africa and were combined to form the all-black 332d Fighter Group.[2]
The squadrons were moved to mainland Italy, where the 99th Fighter Squadron, assigned to the group on 1 May 1944, joined them on 6 June at Ramitelli Airfield, near Termoli, on the Adriatic coast. From Ramitelli, the 332d Fighter Group escorted Fifteenth Air Force heavy strategic bombing raids into Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Germany. Flying escort for heavy bombers, the 332d earned an impressive combat record. The Allies called these airmen "Red Tails" or "Red-Tail Angels," because of the distinctive crimson paint predominately applied on the tail section of the unit's aircraft.[3]
The Tuskegee Airmen initially were equipped with Curtiss P-40s, briefly with Bell P-39 Airacobras (March 1944), later with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts (June–July 1944), and finally with the aircraft with which they became most commonly identified, the North American P-51 Mustang (July 1944).[2]
On 27 and 28 January 1944, Luftwaffe Focke Wulf Fw 190 fighter-bombers raided Anzio, where the Allies had conducted amphibious landings on 22 January. Attached to the 79th Fighter Group, 11 of the 99th Fighter Squadron's pilots shot down enemy fighters. Captain Charles B. Hall claimed two shot down, bringing his aerial victory total to three. The eight fighter squadrons defending Anzio together claimed 32 German aircraft shot down, while the 99th claimed the highest score among them with 13.[4] They began operations with Twelfth Air Force on 5 February. They used P-39s to escort convoys, protect harbors, and fly armed reconnaissance missions, converted to P-47s during April–May, and changed to P-51s in June.[2]
They operated with the Fifteenth Air Force from May 1944 to April 1945, being engaged primarily in protecting bombers that struck such objectives as oil refineries, factories, airfields, and marshaling yards in Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Bulgaria, and Greece. They also made successful strafing attacks on airdromes, railroads, highways, bridges, river traffic, troop concentrations, radar facilities, power stations, and other targets.
The unit received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission on 24 March 1945 when the group escorted B-17s during a raid on the Daimler-Benz tank factory at Berlin, fought the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet interceptors that attacked the formation, and strafed transportation facilities while flying back to the base in Italy. During the action, its pilots were credited with destroying three Me 262s of the Luftwaffe's all-jet Jagdgeschwader 7 in aerial combat that day, despite the American unit initially claiming 11 Me 262s on that particular mission.[5] Upon examination of German records, JG 7 records, just four Me 262s were lost and all of the pilots survived.[5] In return, the 463rd Bomb Group, one of the many B-17 groups the 332d were escorting, lost two bombers,[5] and the 332d lost three P-51s during the mission.[5]
The unit returned to the US in October 1945 and was deactivated on 19 October 1945. Flying escort for heavy bombers, the 332d earned an impressive combat record. Reportedly, the Luftwaffe awarded these airmen the nickname, "Schwarze Vogelmenschen," or "Black Birdmen."[citation needed] The Allies called these airmen "Redtails" or "Redtail Angels," because of the distinctive crimson paint applied on the vertical stabilizers of the unit's aircraft.[N 1][3]
The unit was activated again in 1947 at Lockbourne Air Force Base as operational component of 332d Fighter Wing, with Col. Davis in command. The group was finally inactivated in 1949 as part of the Air Force plan to achieve racial integration.[6] Its operational squadrons were assigned directly to wing as part of Air Force Tri-Deputate unit reorganization.
[edit] Components
- 302nd Fighter Squadron: 13 October 1942 – 6 March 1945
- 100th Fighter Squadron: 13 October 1942 – 19 October 1945; 1 June 1947–1 July 1949
- 301st Fighter Squadron: 13 October 1942 – 19 October 1945; 1 June 1947–1 July 1949
- 99th Fighter Squadron: 1 May 1944 – 22 June 1945; 1 June 1947–1 July 1949
- Seconded to 86th Fighter Group, 11–30 June 1944
[edit] Assignments
- Third Air Force, 13 October 1942
- First Air Force, 29 March 1943
- XII Fighter Command, 3 February 1944
- 306th Fighter Wing, 28 May 1944
- Army Service Forces (for inactivation), 17–19 October 1945
- 332d Fighter Wing, 1 July 1947 – 26 August 1948; 26 August 1948–1 July 1949
[edit] Stations
- Tuskegee Airfield, Alabama, 13 October 1942
- Selfridge Field, Michigan, 29 March 1943
- Oscoda Army Air Field, Michigan, 12 April 1943
- Selfridge Field, Michigan, 9 July – 22 December 1943
- Montecorvino Airfield, Italy, 3 February 1944
- Capodichino Airfield, Italy, 15 April 1944
- Ramitelli Airfield, Italy, 28 May 1944
- Cattolica Airfield, Italy, c. 4 May 1945
- Lucera Airfield, Italy, c. 18 July–September 1945
- Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, 17–19 October 1945
- Lockbourne Army Air Base (later AFB), Ohio, 1 July 1947 – 1 July 1949.
[edit] Aircraft operated
- Bell P-39 Airacobra, 1942–1944
- Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, 1942–1944
- Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 1944
- North American P-51 Mustang, 1944–1945
[edit] See also
- Executive Order 9981
- List of African American Medal of Honor recipients
- Military history of African Americans
- Red Ball Express
- The Port Chicago 50
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ The red markings that distinguished the Tuskegee Airmen included red bands on the noses of P-47s as well as a red rudder, the P-51B and D Mustangs flew with similar color schemes, with red propeller spinners, red wing bands and all-red tail surfaces.
- Citations
- ^ Homan and Reilly 2001, pp. 36–37.
- ^ a b c d "Tuskegee Airmen History." tuskegeeairmen.org. Retrieved: 11 October 2010.
- ^ a b Rice, Markus. "The Men and Their Airplanes: The Fighters." Tuskegee Airmen, 1 March 2000.
- ^ Haulman, Dr. Daniel L. Air Force "Aerial Victory Credits of the Tuskegee Airmen". AFHRA Maxwell AFB. Retrieved: 16 February 2007.
- ^ a b c d Caldwell and Muller 2007, p. 276.
- ^ Alan L. Gropman (1985). The Air Force Integrates, 1945–1964. office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-24-2., 120.
- Bibliography
- Caldwell, Donald and Richard Muller. The Luftwaffe over Germany: Defense of the Reich. London: Greenhill Books, 2007. ISBN 978-1-85367-712-0.
- Cotter, Jarrod. "Red Tail Project." Flypast, No. 248, March 2002.
- Francis, Charles F. The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men Who Changed a Nation. Boston: Branden Books, 1997. ISBN 0-8283-2029-2.
- Homan, Lynn M. and Thomas Reilly. Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 2001. ISBN 978-1-56554-828-2.
- Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1984. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
[edit] External links
- Works by or about United States Army Air Forces Fighter Group, 332nd in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
