70th Fighter Wing
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| 70th Fighter Wing | |
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United States Air Forces in Europe |
The 70th Fighter Wing (70th FW) is an inactive
United States Air Forces in Europe, based at Neubiberg Air Base
, Germany. It was inactivated on 25 September 1947.
History
Established and organized at Paine Field, Washington in 1943 as a command and control organization. Deployed to the
Normandy Invasion
in June 1944. Targets included bridges, roads, railroads and enemy interceptor aircraft both on the ground as well as in air-to-air combat.
After the
Advanced Landing Grounds in France, moved into north-central France, its groups attacking enemy targets near Paris then north-west into Belgium and the southern Netherlands. In December 1944/January 1945, engaged enemy targets on the north side of the Battle of the Bulge, then moved eastward into the Northern Rhineland as part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany
.
Supported First Army as it crossed the
Elbe River
in late April 1945, the wing engaging targets of opportunity in enemy-controlled areas until combat was ended on 5 May 1945.
Remained in Europe after the war as part of
American Zone of Occupation
. Inactivated in Germany on 25 September 1947.
Operations and decorations
- Combat Operations: Combat in European Theater of Operations (ETO), 29 November 1943-May 1945.
- Campaigns: Air Offensive, Europe; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe
- Decorations: Cited in the Order of the Day, Belgian Army: 6 Jun – 30 Sep 1944; 16 Dec 1944 – 25 Jan 1945. Belgian Fourragere.
Lineage
- Constituted as 70th Fighter Wing on 11 August 1943
- Activated on 15 August 1943
- Inactivated on 25 September 1947
Assignments
- IX Fighter Command, 29 November 1943 – 3 October 1944
- IX Tactical Air Command, 3 October 1944 – 2 December 1945
- United States Air Forces in Europe
- XII Tactical Air Command, 2 December 1945 – 25 September 1947
Units assigned
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Bases assigned
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References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
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