91st Bombardment Group

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91st Bombardment Group (Heavy)
Schweinfurt, 17 August 1943 DUC: Oschersleben , 11 January 1944 340 combat missions
Commanders
Notable commanders	Stanley T. Wray

The 91st Bomb Group (Heavy) was an air combat unit of the

flew (in the 324th Bomb Squadron), and for having suffered the greatest number of losses of any heavy bomb group in World War II.

The 91st Bomb Group conducted 340 bombing missions with the Eighth Air Force over Europe, operating out of RAF Bassingbourn. Inactivated at the end of the war, the group was brought back in 1947 as a reconnaissance group of the United States Air Force, and then had its lineage and honors bestowed on like-numbered wings of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), the Air Force Space Command and the Air Force Global Strike Command.

From 1 July 1947, until its drawdown in February 1952, the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Group provided worldwide surveillance, flying

. The group was inactivated on 28 May 1952, as part of an SAC-wide termination of groups as an organizational echelon, while the wing and all subordinate units remained active until 8 November 1957.

The group was activated in 1991 as the 91st Operations Group. Between 1991 and 1994, and since 1996, the 91st Operations Group, initially as part of the 91st Space Wing, and since renamed the

. Its three missile squadrons, however, have no traditional link to the 91st Bomb Group and were previously part of the 455th Strategic Missile Wing and 455th Bomb Group.

Organization of the 91st Bomb Group (H)

The 91st Bomb Group, (Heavy) was activated on 14 April 1942, by General Order 31 of the Third Air Force.

Wartime command staff

Group Commanders	Dates of command	Notes
1st Lt. Edward R. Akert	15 April 1942 – 15 May 1942
Col. Stanley T. Wray	15 May 1942 – 22 May 1943
Lt. Col. William M. Reid	22 May 1943 – 25 June 1943
Lt. Col. Clemens L. Wurzbach	25 June 1943 – 12 December 1943
Col. Claude E. Putnam	12 December 1943 – 16 May 1944
Col. Henry W. Terry¹	17 May 1944 – 30 May 1945
Col. Donald E. Sheeler	30 May 1945 – 23 June 1945
Deputy Group Commanders	Dates of service	Notes
Lt. Col. Baskin R. Lawrence, Jr.	16 May 1942 – 1 May 1943
Lt. Col. William M. Reid	1 May 1943 – 22 May 1943
unknown	23 May 1943 – 13 September 1943
Lt. Col. Theodore R. Milton	13 September 1943 – 23 October 1944
Lt. Col.Donald E. Sheeler	23 October 1944 – 30 May 1945
Lt. Col. Immanuel J. Klette	30 May 1945—July 1945
Operations officers (S-3's)	Dates of service	Notes
Major Edward P. Myers	15 October 1942 – 30 December 1942	Killed in action
Lt. Col. Baskin R. Lawrence	January 1943 – 1 May 1943
Lt. Col. David G. Alford	23 May 1943 – 4 February 1944	Prisoner of war
Major Charles D. Lee, Jr.	5 February 1944 – 22 April 1944	Prisoner of war
Lt. Col. Donald E. Sheeler[a]	26 April 1944 – 1 December 1944
Lt. Col. Marvin D. Lord	1 December 1944 – 3 February 1945	Killed in action
Major Karl W. Thompson	4 February 1945—June 1945

Squadron commanders

Four heavy bomb squadrons were constituted 16 May 1942, and assigned to the group.

322d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy)	Dates of command	Notes
Major Victor Zienowicz	16 May 1942 – 23 November 1942	Killed in action
Major Paul Fishburne	24 November 1942 – 19 May 1943
Major Robert B. Campbell	20 May 1943 – 16 July 1943
Lt. Col. Donald E. Sheeler	16 July 1943 – 25 April 1944
Major Leroy B. Everett	25 April 1944 – 26 August 1944
Major Karl W. Thompson	26 August 1944 – 5 February 1945
Major Edwin F. Close	5 February 1945—June 1945
323d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy)	Dates of command	Notes
Major Paul Brown	16 May 1942 – 22 April 1943
Major John C. Bishop	25 May 1943 – 22 January 1944
Lt. Col. James F. Berry	22 January 1944 – 3 October 1944
Major Willis J. Taylor	3 October 1944—June 1945
324th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy)	Dates of command	Casualty Status
Major Harold Smelser	16 May 1942 – 23 November 1942	Killed in action
Major Claude E. Putnam	29 November 1942 – 17 February 1943
Major Haley Aycock	17 February 1943—unknown 1943
Major Richard W. Wietzenfeld	unknown 1943 – 30 July 1944
Major Immanuel J. Klette	30 July 1944 – 30 May 1945
401st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy)	Dates of command	Casualty Status
Major Edward P. Myers	16 May 1942 – 15 October 1942
Captain Haley W. Aycock	15 October 1942 – 8 November 1942	Wounded in action
Major Edward P. Myers[b]	9 November 1942 – 30 December 1942	Killed in action
Lt. Col. Clyde G. Gillespie	31 December 1942 – 25 April 1944
Major James H. McPartlin	25 April 1944 – 1 July 1944
LtCol. Marvin D. Lord	1 July 1944 – 1 December 1944
Major John D. Davis	1 December 1944—June 1945

Component support organizations

• Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron (Lt. Col. Louis H. Magee, Adjutant)
• 364th Service Squadron
• 39th Service & Support Group (detachment)
• 161st Quartermaster Company (detachment)
• 863rd Chemical Company
• 982d Military Police Company
• 1076th Ordnance Company
• 1204th Quartermaster Company (detachment)
• 1696th Ordnance Company

History

Establishment

Established 28 January 1942, and activated on 14 April 1942 at

.

The 91st received orders to deploy overseas and on 24 August 1942, the ground echelon entrained for

English Midlands

.

Part of the air echelon moved on 24 August 1942, to

Denver

, Colorado, and conducted phase three training.

The 91st Bomb Group moved by squadrons to the United Kingdom, beginning with the 324th Bomb Squadron on 25 September, flying to

.

The 324th Bomb Squadron flew as a unit from Prestwick to Kimbolton on 1 October, followed by the 322nd on 2 October and the 401st on 6 October. On 10 October, the remaining squadron, the 323rd, flew to Gander from Dow. It did not reach Prestwick until 14 October, by which time the 91st had changed bases.

), to see if it might be suitable.

Wray traveled to RAF Bassingbourn, located four miles (6 km) north of Royston. Not only was the base more appealing from its closer proximity to London, but it had been constructed in 1938 and was considerably more comfortable, with permanent brick buildings, including barracks for enlisted personnel (in contrast to the Nissen huts at Kimbolton), landscaped grounds with curbed roadways (Kimbolton, like many war-time fields, was noted for muddy conditions); and had already been re-constructed to a Class A airfield.

Wray contacted his staff and ordered them to prepare for immediate relocation. On 14 October, without prior approval, the 91st moved itself and all of its equipment to Bassingbourn in one day and took possession of the station.

Start of combat operations

The 91st Bomb Group began combat operations on 4 November 1942, when it received a field order for a mission to bomb the submarine pens at Brest, France, later changed to an attack on the Luftwaffe airfield at Abbeville. Thirty minutes before takeoff the mission was cancelled ("scrubbed" in the parlance of that time) because of poor weather. These circumstances were typical of those encountered daily by all the heavy bomber groups in the autumn of 1942 as they pioneered the concept of strategic bombing by daylight.

On 4 November the Eighth Air Force consisted of just nine groups. Four (91st, 97th, 301st and 303d) had been earmarked for the

were operational, and the 306th had flown only two missions. As late as 15 December the impending transfer of the 91st BG to Algeria was postponed because of logistics difficulties and a shortage of airdromes in North Africa.

The group's first mission was to Brest, France, on 7 November. The target was the Kriegsmarine submarine base, and was the first of 28 missions against the U-boat force in the following eight months. In all, eight missions were flown in November 1942, seven of them against the sub pens. The last of these, on 23 November, resulted in the disastrous loss of two squadron commanders, the group navigator, the group bombardier, and three of the five airplanes attacking.

In December 1942 VIII Bomber Command issued two-letter squadron identification codes to be painted on the fuselages of the bombers:

• 322nd BS – LG
• 323rd BS – OR
• 324th BS – DF
• 401st BS – LL

The 91st was made a part of the 101st Provisional Bomb Wing on 3 January 1943. Its first mission to a target in Germany occurred 27 January, and it earned the first of two

. German fighter reaction was intense and sustained, and the Eighth lost twice as many bombers as on any previous mission. The 91st had six B-17s shot down, all from the 401st Bomb Squadron.

During this phase the group received a substantial number of aircraft to replace those lost or written off. However replacements for lost crewmen were few and made by transfer of individuals. The influx of replacement crews from the Combat Crew Replacement Center at Bovingdon did not begin until March 1943 when the personnel requirements of Operation Torch were largely fulfilled. As the 91st developed combat experience, it experienced a decrease in aircraft commanders, apart from missing aircraft and wounds, from moving pilots into command and staff positions. Without an adequate pool of replacements, many co-pilots were upgraded to aircraft commanders.

Pointblank

The second phase of combat operations, coinciding with the implementation of the

to target German airpower, began in May 1943. The Eighth developed in the next three months into a force of sixteen B-17 groups and began attacking industrial targets deep inside Germany beginning at the end of July. Col. Wray left the 91st on 22 May to become commander of a new wing, the 103rd Provisional Combat Bomb Wing. He was replaced by the group deputy commander, Lt. Col. William Reid, formerly of the 92nd Bomb Group. Lt. Col. Baskin Lawrence, who had been the deputy commander of the 91st from its date of activation, had left the group 1 May to command the 92nd.

On 25 June 1943, a wholesale shifting of command officers between the two groups occurred. Col. Lawrence departed the 92nd to become commander of a new "Pathfinder" group drawn from a squadron of the 92nd, and was replaced by Col. Reid, who left the 91st to command his old group. The 91st received its third commander, Lt. Col. Clemens Wurzbach, who had been Lawrence's deputy commander.

During this transition period the 91st also had its first crews finish their required combat tours and return to the United States, including the crew of the

often used in films about B-17s.

On 17 August 1943, the 91st Bomb Group led a

mission to bomb the ball-bearing factories at Schweinfurt

, Germany, losing 10 aircraft. This was the first of several missions between then and 14 October 1943, in which the Eighth Air Force, flying beyond the range of its fighter escorts, suffered severe losses of aircraft and crews. The 91st had 28 aircraft shot down during this period, the most of any group in the Eighth. The remainder of the second phase of operations saw a suspension of deep penetration missions until long-range escort fighters became available.

Until 22 September 1943, the 91st BG had been equipped entirely with

B-17G

, which would become the standard bomber of the Eighth Air Force in 1944–1945. It continued to receive B-17F replacement aircraft, along with the B-17G's, until 24 December 1943.

Col. Wurzbach completed his tour of duty on 12 December 1943, and was replaced by Col. Claude E. Putnam, a former commander of the 324th Bomb Squadron, who returned to his old group from duty as the commander of the 306th Bomb Group, where he had been pilot of the lead aircraft on the first mission to Germany nearly a year before. Wurzbach had commanded the group for 44 missions; Putnam would command it for 63.

1944-1945

Nine-O-Nine

, 323rd BS B-17G, displaying 1st Combat Bomb Wing tail markings

The 91st Bomb Group won its second DUC as part of the six-group task force attacking the

P-51 Mustangs

was part of the escort force.

From 20 to 25 February 1944, known as "

United States Strategic Air Forces

conducted Operation Argument, a campaign against the German aircraft industry with the goal of achieving air superiority over Europe by drawing the German fighter force into combat. 800 to 1000 bombers, escorted by 700 to 900 fighters, struck multiple targets daily from both England and Italy. The 91st flew all five days, losing ten aircraft, and on 24 February attacked Schweinfurt for the third time.

The first attack by the 91st on Berlin came on 6 March, when it led the entire Eighth Air Force at a loss of 69 bombers (6 of them from the 91st), followed by half a dozen more to the German capital in the next two months. On 12 May the Eighth Air Force began a costly campaign against oil and synthetic oil production facilities that continued to the end of the war. On 17 May, Col. Putnam completed his tour as commanding officer of the 91st Bomb Group and Col. Henry W. Terry took command, which he would retain for 185 missions to the end of hostilities in Europe. Aided by the use of

bombers, the 91st BG averaged a mission every other day for the remainder of the war.

In addition to bombing strategic targets, often at great loss in aircraft and crews, the 91st also made tactical strikes in support of the

.

Beginning 16 March 1944, the 91st began receiving replacement B-17's that were by a change in USAAF policy no longer painted

empennage

and wingtips in June 1944 to more easily identify its groups during assembly for missions. The 91st retained its "Triangle A" tail marking as well.

The intensity of operations during this phase is reflected by the 100 B-17's lost by the 91st Bomb Group during 1944, compared to 84 in 1943, despite the diminution of the Luftwaffe during the spring and summer. Radar-directed

flak

became very proficient in defending critical targets and the fighter force hoarded its pilots and fuel for occasional mass interceptions of the bombers.

The 91st BG experienced its worst loss of the war during this period on 2 November 1944, when it attacked the

The 91st Bomb Group experienced its final aircraft loss on 17 April 1945, and flew its last mission, to

Barth

, Germany, as part of Operation Revival, bringing out 2,032 prisoners.

Casualties

91st BG losses^[c]

197	B-17s lost in combat
10	B-17s lost in accidents
887	Air crew killed in action
33	Air crew killed in accidents
123	Air crew missing in action
959	Air crew captured

The 91st Bomb Group had at least 392 B-17s assigned to it at some point of the war. Of these, 40 were transferred to other commands, 37 were retired as unsuitable for further operations, and 71 were on hand at the end of hostilities. The rest were lost: 197 in combat, 37 written off, and 10 in training crashes. Of the combat losses, the 401st and 323rd Squadrons each lost 55, the 322nd Squadron lost 49, and the 324th Squadron 38.

Approximately 5,200 crewmen flew combat missions for the 91st from 1942 to 1945. 19% were killed or missing (887 Killed in actio and 123 Missing in action (MIA) and 18% (959) became prisoners of war. 33 others were killed in flying accidents. Of the 35 original crews to arrive at Bassingbourn, 17 were lost in combat (47%). Daily records indicate that for the first six months of operations, 22 of 46 listed crews were lost (48%).

The fatalities in the 91st Bomb Group, equivalent to an infantry regiment in numbers of combat personnel, exceeded the killed-in-action of more than half (47) of the Army's ground force divisions, and equalled or exceeded the rate of killed-in-action in the infantry regiments of 35 others. Only seven divisions (all infantry) had killed-in-action rates higher than the 91st BG.^[5]

Honors and campaigns

Distinguished Unit Citation Hamm, 4 March 1943 Oschersleben, 11 January 1944

World War II: Air Offensive, Europe Normandy Northern France Rhineland Ardennes-Alsace Central Europe

Post-war and USAF history

91st Operations Group
Minot AFB, North Dakota

The air echelon left Bassingbourn on 27 May 1945, and moved to

, but many members had been transferred to other units and no further training was conducted before the war ended. The group was inactivated on 7 November 1945.

Following the war the group was redesignated the 91st Reconnaissance Group, assigned to the

RB-45C

. The group was removed from operations on 10 February 1952, when its squadrons were assigned directly to the wing, and inactivated on 28 May 1952.

The organization was redesignated as the 91st Operations Group on 29 August 1991, and activated at

ICBMs

and 15 alert facilities spread across 8,500 square miles (22,000 km²) of territory. The squadrons of the 91st OG are:

• 740th Missile Squadron – "Vulgar Vultures"
• 741st Missile Squadron – "Gravelhaulers"
• 742d Missile Squadron
  – "Wolf Pack"
• 91st Operations Support Squadron – "Pathfinders"
• 54th Helicopter Squadron

USAF group commanders^{[citation needed]}

Date of command	Name
1948	Col. Frank L. Dunn
10 November 1948	Lt. Col. Robert S. Kittel
24 June 1949	Col. Charles R. Greening
23 August 1949	Major James I. Cox
1 October 1949	Col. Jean R. Byerly
25 November 1950	Col. Lewis E. Lyle
August 1951	Col. Joseph A. Preston
1 September 1991	Col. Kenneth R. Beeck
20 February 1992	Col. Wayne E. DeReu
15 June 1993 – 1 July 1994	Lt. Col. Jeffrey A. Kwallek
1 February 1996	Col. Michael M. Evans
28 June 1996	Col. Roosevelt Mercer, Jr.
20 January 1998	Col. Stephen G. Cullen
7 May 1999	Col. Evan J. Hoapili

Notable members of the 91st Bomb Group

• 1st Lt (later Maj Gen USAF)
  B-52 bombers on 6 July 1967, returning from a mission to South Vietnam
  .
• MSgt Rollin L. Davis, 323rd Bomb Squadron. A maintenance line chief in charge of B-17 42-31909, nicknamed
  Nine-O-Nine (pictured above), which completed 140 missions between 25 February 1944 and the end of the war, at least 126 in a row without turning back because of mechanical failure, for which MSgt Davis received the Bronze Star
  .
• Lt Col (later Col USAF) Immanuel J. Klette, 324th Bomb Squadron. Flew 91 bomber missions as a co-pilot and pilot with the 306th Bomb Group, and as a command pilot with the 91st. Over 30 of his missions were as group, wing, division, or air force mission commander while serving with the 91st BG. His 91 sorties are the most by any Eighth Air Force pilot in World War II.
• Capt (later Col USAF)
  Memphis Belle
  in combat and returned it to the United States.
• Bert Stiles, an author who joined 401st Bomb Squadron in 1944 and completed tour. Converted to fighters and killed in action November 26, 1944.

91st Bomb Group in film and literature

• Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, a 1944 documentary film
• Memphis Belle, a 1990 film
• Bert Stiles, Serenade to the Big Bird, a 1944 memoir
• John Hersey, The War Lover, a 1959 novel and film (the novel uses the fictional base "Pike Rilling" as its locale and an unnamed group, but all details of the novel are taken directly from 91st BG daily records)
• The tail markings of the 91st were used as those of the fictional 918th Bomb Group in the film and television series Twelve O'Clock High. At least one incident, a mission to Hamm on 4 March 1943 in which all the other groups except the 91st turned back for bad weather, was also portrayed in the film.
• Sam Halpert, A Real Good War, a semi-autobiographical account of a 35 mission tour with the 91st Bomb Group.
• Ray Bowden, Plane Names & Fancy Noses – 91st Bomb Group, nose art and named planes of the 91BG with brief histories. See www.usaaf-noseart.co.uk for fuller details.

91st Bomb Group B-17's on exhibit

Two 91st

, Ohio.

• B-17F serial 41-24485-10-BO, 324th BS, marked DF A,
  Mud Island in 1987, but was still exposed to the elements. Disassembled and taken to Naval Air Station Memphis in 2003 for restoration. Acquired by the National Museum of the United States Air Force
  in mid-October 2005. There it underwent full restoration and was unveiled at the museum on 17 May 2018. It appears as it did shortly after completing its 25th mission.
• B-17G serial 42-32076-35-BO, 401st BS, marked LL E,
  Shoo Shoo Baby, in combat 24 March 1944 to 29 May 1944, crash-landed Malmö Airport, Sweden. Repaired in Sweden, it had been used as a civilian transport and recovered in 1972, where it was dismantled, taken to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware
  , for restoration, and turned over to the museum on 13 October 1988. Due to the amount of skin work required to restore its wartime appearance, it is finished in olive drab and grey, instead of bare-metal as it was during its USAAF service, and has been restored to its original name, Shoo Shoo Baby. It was replaced by Memphis Belle in 2018, and is now in storage.

References

Notes

1. ^ Lt. Col. Sheeler, while Operations Officer, was also acting group commander from 15 November 1944, to 30 December 1944, in the absence of Col. Terry.
2. ^ Major Myers, the Group's S-3, was also acting 401st BS commander because of casualties.
3. ^ Aircraft losses from Havelaar, total from USAAF via Freeman. Personnel losses from both. Crew losses from 91st BG daily logs.

1. ISBN 978-0-88740-810-6
2. ^ thisdayinaviation.com 8 April 1945
3. ^ MERSEBURG: Blood, Flak & Oil [1]
4. ^ Havelaar, Chapter 16 "Massacre at Merseburg", pp. 161–169
5. ^ The seven divisions were the 3rd, 4th, 9th, 29th, 1st, 45th, and 29th Infantry Divisions.

Bibliography

• Bishop, Cliff T. Fortresses of the Big Triangle First. 1986.
  ISBN 978-1-869987-00-8
• Bowman, Martin W. USAAF Handbook 1939–1945.
  ISBN 978-0-8117-1822-6
• Freeman, Roger A. The Mighty Eighth (1993 ed.). Motorbooks Internationa.
  ISBN 978-0-87938-638-2
  ..
• Freeman, Roger A. The Mighty Eighth War Diary. 1990.
  ISBN 978-0-87938-495-1
  .
• Freeman, Roger A. (1991) [1981]. The Mighty Eighth War Manual. Motorbooks International.
  ISBN 978-0-87938-513-2
  ..
• Havelaar, Marion H. and William N. Hess. The Ragged Irregulars of Bassingbourn: The 91st Bombardment Group in World War II. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 1995.
  ISBN 978-0-88740-810-6
  .
• Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings, 1947–1977. Office of Air Force History, 1984.
  ISBN 978-0-912799-12-4
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 91st Bombardment Group (United States Army Air Forces).

• Getz, Lowell L. "Mary Ruth" Memories of Mobile... We Still Remember: Stories from the 91st Bomb Group (2001).
• 91st Bomb Group Association website
• Holder, William G. "The Return of Shoo-Shoo Baby" Air University Review Archived 4 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
• Heroes of Freedom – 91st Bomb Group
• 91st Bombardment Group (H) - Re-enactments in Flight Simulation - Website
• USAAF Nose Art Research Project website
• 401st Squadron/91st Bomb Group