1st Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group

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1st Provisional AAA Group
Anti-aircraft fire from Marine AAA Battalions in the vicinity of Yontan Airfield lace the sky during the Battle of Okinawa.
Active
  • 1 Nov 1944 – 5 Dec 1945[1][2]
Country United States of America
Branch United States Marine Corps
TypeAnti-aircraft warfare
Size~5400 personnel
EngagementsBattle of Okinawa
Commanders
Current
commander
N/A
Notable
commanders
Henry R. Paige
Kenneth W. Benner

The 1st Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group was a provisional unit that served as the headquarters for all United States Marine Corps antiaircraft battalions that participated in the Battle of Okinawa. The group was formed on Kauai, Territory of Hawaii in November 1944 under the command of the III Marine Amphibious Corps. For the Battle of Okinawa, the group was under the command of the 53d Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade of the Tenth United States Army and was responsible for air defense of the area surrounding Yontan & Kadena Airfields. Following the end of the war, the group returned to the United States and was decommissioned on December 5, 1945.[2] To date, no other Marine Corps unit has carried the group's lineage and honors

History

Organization

The 1st Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group was commissioned on November 1, 1944, in

III Amphibious Corps. On November 11 the group assumed tactical control of the 2d, 5th, 8th, 10th, and 16th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalions.[1] The 10th AAA Battalion was detached from the group on November 25, 1944, when it was decommissioned by authority of FMFPAC, Special Order Number 104-44.[1]

Training, embarkation, and movement west

Prior to the group forming, the

On January 17, 1945, the group headquarters boarded the

Saipan. The group's equipment departed Pearl Harbor on January 28 on board the SS Donald M. Dickinson while the group's personnel departed a day later on the SS Typhoon from Honolulu Harbor.[5] The group's personnel arrived off the coast of Eniwetok Atoll on February 6 and they remained there until February 12. The convoy arrived at Saipan on February 16.[6] On March 14, the group's headquarters began loading USS LST-641 in Tanapag Harbor.[7]

Battle of Okinawa

For the Battle of Okinawa the 1st Provisional Antiaircraft Group was tasked with providing antiaircraft defenses for Yontan Airfield and the III Marine Amphibious Corps beaches in the Yontan Area, Southern Okinawa.[9]

On D-Day, April 1, the assault echelons of the Group Headquarters and the 2d and 16th Antiaircraft Battalions were loaded onto seven

variable time fuses for 90mm antiaircraft ammunition.[12]

Some of the heaviest air raids of the battle occurred on the evening of 24-25 May during the Giretsu Kuteitai raid on Yontan Airfield. That evening, five Imperial Japanese Army Mitsubishi Ki-21 (Allied reporting name "Sally") bombers headed for the Yontan-Kadena area. Four of these planes were shot down by the guns of the 1st Provisional AAA Group. One of the Japanese planes crash landed on Yontan Airfield and 10-12 Japanese commandos escaped. Before they were all killed, the commandoes were able to destroy or damage thirty eight aircraft.[13]

From April to July 1945 the Group was credited with destroying 31.5 Japanese aircraft, probably destroying 6 more and damaging 23.[14]

Post war and decommissioning

On October 1, the 1st Provisional AAA Group was transferred under the command of the Commanding General, Service, Command, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific.[15] On October 4, the group received FMFPac Special Order 334-5 authorizing the group and its subordinate battalions to return to the United States. On October 9, Typhoon Louise struck Okinawa causing extensive damage to deployed American Forces. There were three Marines from the Group that sustained minor injuries while the group and its battalions lost 50-75% of tents and buildings.[15]

The Group Headquarters began embarking on the USS Meriwether (APA-203) on October 22 and set sail the next day for the United States. The Group arrived in San Diego on November 8, 1945, and reported to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.[16] The 1st Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group as officially decommissioned on December 5, 1945, by the authority of Area Special Order Number 354-45.[2]

Commanding Officers

The following officers served as Commanding Officer of the 1st Provisional Antiaircraft Group:

Notable members

Unit awards

A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation. The 1st Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group has been presented with the following awards:

Streamer Award Year(s) Additional Info
A streamer with red, gold, and blue horizontal stripes with a bronze star in the center Presidential Unit Citation Streamer 1945 Okinawa
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Streamer

Okinawa
World War II Victory Streamer
1941–1945 Pacific War

See also

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g War Diary, 1 - 30 November 1944 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. December 1, 1944.
  2. ^ a b c d War Diary, 1 - 5 December 1945 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. December 5, 1945.
  3. ^ Rottman 2002, pp. 206.
  4. ^ a b c LtCol Hincke, John I (August 1949). "Activities of the Tenth Army AAA" (PDF). Antiaircraft Journal. 92 (4). Archived (PDF) from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  5. ^ a b War Diary, 1 - 31 January 1945 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. February 1, 1945.
  6. ^ War Diary, 1 - 28 February 1945 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. March 1, 1945.
  7. ^ a b War Diary, 1 - 31 March 1945 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. April 1, 1945.
  8. ^ Rottman 2002, pp. 360.
  9. ^ a b c d e War Diary, 1 - 30 April 1945 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. May 9, 1945.
  10. ^ 1st Provisional AAA Group Operations Order 1-45 (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. February 24, 1945.
  11. ^ Melson 1996, pp. 27.
  12. ^ War Diary, 1 - 31 May1945 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. June 10, 1945.
  13. ^ Nichols Jr., Charles S.; Shaw Jr., Henry I. (1955). "Okinawa:Victory in the Pacific". Washington D.C.: United States Marine Corps. p. 200.
  14. ^ War Diary, 1 - 31 July 1945 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. August 8, 1945.
  15. ^ a b c d War Diary, 1 - 31 October 1945 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. November 10, 1945.
  16. ^ War Diary, 1 - 30 November 1945 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. December 1, 1945.
  17. ^ a b War Diary, 1 - 31 December 1944 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. January 3, 1945.
  18. ^ a b War Diary, 1 - 31 August 1945 (PDF) (Report). First Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group. September 13, 1945.

References

Bibliography

  • Rottman, Gordon L. (2002). U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle: Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939–1945. Greenwood Press. .

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