40th Combat Bomb Wing | American Air Museum in Britain

US Air Force Combat Units of World War II Description

Constituted as 40th Bombardment Wing on 15 Jan 1943 and activated on 21 Jan. Redesignated 40th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) in May 1943. Moved to England, May-Jun 1943, for duty with Eighth AF. Redesignated 40th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) in August 1943 and 40th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) in June 1945. Served in combat n the European theatre from Sep 1943 until Apr 1945, receiving a DUC for an attack on aircraft factories in central Germany on 11 Jan 1944. Remained in Europe after the war as part of United States Air Force in Europe. Inactivated in Germany on 25 Dec 1946.

Commanding officers

Anthony Mustoe

Military | Colonel | Commanding Officer | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Chief Weather Officer, 8th Air Force from April 1942 to December 1943. ...
Charles Normand

Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Command Pilot | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Prisoner of War (POW) Crashed at Hunteburg, Germany on 8/24/44 in B-17 #42-97533. Group Command Pilot.
Emil Kiel

Military | Brigadier General | Deputy Commanding Officer, Administration
AM
Howard Turner

Military | Major General | Commanding General
SS w/ Oak Leaf Cluster/ DFC/ AM w/ Oak Leaf Cluster

Structure

Part of

1st Air Division

Division
In December 1944, the 1st Bomb Division was redesginated the 1st Air Division.
1st Bomb Division

Division
The groups under the command of the 1st Bomb Wing came under the command of the 1st Bomb Division in August 1943. In December 1944, the Division was redesginated the 1st Air Division.

Encompassing

305th Bomb Group Can Do

Group
The 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy), nicknamed "Can Do" was activated 1-March-1942 at Salt Lake City Air Base, Utah which was their primary training base until 11-Jun-1942 when they relocated to Geiger Field, Washington until 29-Jun-1942, then on to...
306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers

Group
Constituted as 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. Activated on 1 Mar 1942. Trained for combat with B-17's. Moved to England, Aug-Sep 1942, and assigned to Eighth AF Eighth Air Force in September 1942 Station 111 Thurleigh. During combat,...
492nd Bomb Group (Heavy)

Group
The 492nd Bomb Group were assigned to the 8th Air Force in April 1944. They flew 60 missions over occupied Europe from 11 May 1944 until 7 August 1944. ...
92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few

Group
The 92nd Group sometime after arrivial in the UK converted to the role of in-theater combat crew indocrination and training. For this role, the Group traded its B-17F complement and obtained the B-17E, mostly from the 97th BG which was departing for...
492nd Bomb Group Carpetbaggers

Group
The 492nd Bomb Group, after flying similar missions to other heavy bomb groups until the late summer of 1944, took up 'Carpetbagger' missions, transporting agents, supplies and propaganda leaflets to southern France. The Group was taking on the role of...
2nd Station Complement Squadron

Squadron
32nd Station Complement Squadron

Squadron
4th Station Complement Squadron

Squadron
Headquarters (40th Combat Bomb Wing)

Headquarters
1059th Military Police Company

Company

Previously was

Not yet known

Became

Not yet known

Stations

Station	Location	Date
Based	Brampton Grange	June 1943
Based	Thurleigh	16 September 1943 – June 1945

Connections

People

Herman Bryan

Military | Sergeant
Killed in Action (KIA)
Delbert Mason

Military | Senior Master Sergeant | Photographer | 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group
Leon Musselwhite

Military | Major | Navigator/base engineer | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Leon S. Musselwhite was born and raised in Mississippi. He was an engineering student at Mississippi State University when the war in Europe started. He enlisted in the Mississippi National Guard in 1938 and became active duty 11 May 1939 thru 24 Nov...

Aircraft

42-107063

B-17 Flying Fortress
Assigned: 16 February 1944 - Continental Airlines / Boeing Modification Center - (Denver Municipal) ...

Citations

DUC for an attack on aircraft factories in central Germany on 11 Jan 1944

Date	Contributor	Update
03 September 2019 10:36:00	Emily	Changes to type, motto, insignia, us air force combat units of world war ii description, citations, unit part of associations, person associations, commanding officers associations and stations
Sources
Transferred information from duplicate record. Adding unit info from Air Force Combat Units of WWII
Date	Contributor	Update
27 September 2014 18:42:44	AAM	AAM ingest
Sources
Units in the UK from ETOUSA Station List, as transcribed by Lt. Col. Philip Grinton (US Army, Retired) and extracted by IWM; air division data from L.D. Underwood, based on the 8th Air Force Strength Report of 6th August 1944, as published in 'The 8th Air Force Yearbook' by Lt. Col. John H Woolnough (1980)