453rd Bombardment Group

453rd Bombardment Group
(later 453d Expeditionary Air Refueling Group)
453rd Bombardment Group; (later 453d Expeditionary Air Refueling Group)
	European Theater of Operations
Insignia
453d Bombardment Group emblem
Early 453d Bombardment Group tail marking	Circle J
Later 453d Bombardment Group tail marking	Black, diagonal white stripe

The 453rd Bombardment Group is an inactive

Japanese surrender

cancelled these plans and the group was inactivated in September 1945.

The

92nd Bomb Wing at Fairchild became an air refueling unit and transferred from Air Combat Command

to AMC.

It was converted to provisional status as the 453d Expeditionary Air Refueling Group in 2002.

History

World War II

Training in the United States

The 453rd Bombardment Group was activated at

European Theater of Operations, with the ground echelon embarking on 2 December.^[4]^[5]

Combat in Europe

The ground echelon arrived at the group's combat station,

marshalling yards at Paderborn.^[4]

The group also engaged in

lines of communication during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945.^[4]

James "Jimmy" Stewart

, right, 1943

On two occasions, the squadron carried out airlift missions. In September 1944, it flew rations, gasoline and blankets to advancing troops in France. During Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine near Wesel, it dropped medical supplies, food and ammunition to troops at the bridgehead. The squadron flew its last mission on 12 April 1945, and was withdrawn from combat to prepare for possible redeployment to the Pacific.^[4]^[5]

James "Jimmy" Stewart, the Hollywood movie star, was group operations officer at Old Buckenham during the spring of 1944.^[5] The actor Walter Matthau also served in the group as a radioman-gunner, rising to the rank of staff sergeant.^[6] The group's 733rd Bombardment Squadron flew 82 consecutive missions without a loss, which was a record for Eighth Air Force bomber units. The group flew 259 combat missions, during which it lost 58 Liberators, against the claim of 42 enemy aircraft destroyed.^[5]

Return and inactivation

The 453rd Group was withdrawn from combat operations on 12 April 1945 to prepare for possible redeployment to the Pacific Theate. Personnel departed Old Buckenham for the port of embarkation on 9 May 1945, apparently leaving their aircraft behind. The squadron assembled at

Japanese surrender in August 1945, after which the unit was inactivated on 12 September.^[4]^[5]

Tanker operations

When

92d Air Refueling Squadron, which was assigned to it, along with the 453rd Operations Support Squadron.^[8]

However, with the drawdown of the manned bomber force, it was decided that Fairchild would become an AMC tanker base. In anticipation of the increase of the refueling mission at Fairchild, the

325th Bomb Squadron inactivated.^[12] The four refueling squadrons of the 453d transferred to the 92nd Operations Group^[8]^[10]^[9]^[11] and the 453d Group^[13]

and its support squadron inactivated.

Expeditionary unit

In February 2001, the group was converted to provisional status as the 453rd Expeditionary Air Refueling Group and assigned to

United States Air Forces in Europe to activate or inactivate as needed for contingency operations.^[13]

453rd Bomb Group Museum

In February 2015, it was announced that Old Buckenham Airport the modern civilian name for RAF Old Buckenham applied for permission to build a museum dedicated to the 453rd at their former base in England. The plans are for the erection of two Nissen huts, one of which will house an items described as having the potential to be the largest collection of 453rd Bomb Group memorabilia in existence.^[14]

Lineage

Constituted as the 453rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 14 May 1943

Activated on 1 June 1943

Redesignated 453rd Bombardment Group, Heavy c.January 1944

Inactivated on 12 September 1945^[15]

Redesignated 453rd Operations Group and activated on 1 June 1992

Inactivated 1 July 1994^[13]

Converted to provisional status and redesignated 453d Expeditionary Air Refueling Group on 5 February 2001^[13]

Assignments

II Bomber Command, 1 June – 2 December 1943^{[citation needed]}
20th Combat Bombardment Wing, 23 December 1943^[16]

2d Combat Bombardment Wing, 8 January 1944 – 9 May 1945^[17]

I Bomber Command, 18 June – 12 September 1945^{[citation needed]}
43d Air Refueling Wing, 1 June 1992 – 1 July 1994^{[citation needed}
]

United States Air Forces in Europe to activate or inactivate as needed after 5 February 2001 [13]

Components

92d Air Refueling Squadron, 1 June 1992 – 1 July 1994^[8]
96th Air Refueling Squadron, 1 April – 1 July 1994^[10]
97th Air Refueling Squadron, 1 April – 1 July 1994^[9]
98th Air Refueling Squadron, 1 April – 1 July 1994^[11]
453rd Operations Support Squadron, 1 June 1992 – 1 July 1994
732d Bombardment Squadron, 1 June 1943 – 12 September 1945^[2]
733d Bombardment Squadron, 1 June 1943 – 12 September 1945^[3]
734th Bombardment Squadron, 1 June 1943 – 12 September 1945^[3]
735th Bombardment Squadron, 1 June 1943 – 12 September 1945^[3]

Stations

Wendover Field, Utah, 1 June 1943
Pocatello Army Air Field, Idaho, 29 July 1943
March Field, California, 30 September-2 December 1943
RAF Old Buckenham (AAF-114),^[18] England, 23 December 1943 – 9 May 1945 144
New Castle Army Air Field, Delaware, 25 May 1945
Fort Dix Army Air Base, New Jersey, 18 June-12 September 1945^[19]
Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, 1 June 1992 – 1 July 1994

Aircraft

Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, 1992–1994

Campaigns

Campaign	Dates	Notes
Air Offensive, Europe	23 December 1943 – 5 June 1944	453rd Bombardment Group^[4]
Normandy	6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944	453rd Bombardment Group^[4]
Northern France	25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944	453rd Bombardment Group^[4]
Rhineland	15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945	453rd Bombardment Group^[4]
Ardennes-Alsace	16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945	453rd Bombardment Group^[4]
Central Europe	22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945	453rd Bombardment Group^[4]

References

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Watkins, pp. 98-99
^ ^a ^b Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 726-727
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 727
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 328–329
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Freeman, p. 258
^ "Walter Matthau". The Telegraph. 3 July 2000. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
^ ^a ^b Kane, Robert B. (22 June 2017). "Factsheet 92 Air Refueling Wing (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kane, Robert B. (21 July 2010). "Factsheet 92 Air Refueling Squadron (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Endicott, p. 703
^ ^a ^b ^c Endicott, p. 699
^ ^a ^b ^c Endicott, p. 705
^ Haulman, Daniel L. (13 March 2008). "Factsheet 325 Bomb Squadron (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Department of the Air Force/XPM Letter 201s, Subject: United States Air Forces in Europe Expeditionary Units, 5 February 2001
^ Cope, Lauren (4 February 2015). "Old Buckenham Airfield submits plans to house collection of 453rd bomb group memorabilia". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
^ Lineage through 1945 in Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 328-329.
^ Maurer does not show the group assigned to the 20th Wing. Maurer, Combat Units, p. 387.
^ Maurer, Combat Units, p. 375 (years only) Freeman dates this assignment from 23 December 1944 [sic]. Freeman, p. 258.
^ Station number in Anderson, p. 21.
^ Station information through 1945 in Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 328-329, except as noted.