Activated 3-February-1942 at Geiger Field, Washington and equipped with B-17s. On 27-May-1942 the ground unit moved to Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, and the aircraft went to Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base), California for intensive flight training until the middle of June, 1942 when they moved to Alamogordo. In early July 1942, the ground unit moved to Richmond, Virginia on on 19-Jul-1942 to Fort Dix, New Jersey in preparation for overseas movement. The air unit went to Brained Field, Connecticut then on to Westover Field, Massachusetts. The air unit began transferring to the United Kingdom on 23-July-1942 flying the northern ferry route to Prestwick, UK.

The 301st Bomb Group flew 8 missions of 104 sorties, dropped 186 tons of bombs and had 1 aircraft MIA between 5-Sep-42 and 8-Nov-42 during their tenure in the UK. The Group was assigned to the Twelfth Air Force and on 20-23 November 1942 they moved to North Africa to take up a role in the Mediterranean theater.

A year later the Group joined the Fifteenth Air Force, flying bombing missions over southern Germany from Italian bases. The Group also supported the ground invasion of southern France as part of Operation Dragoon, which commenced on 15 August 1944.

MARKINGS

After June 1943 the group would adopt the Square as a group marking along with a circle / number combination indicating the squadron. These code were:

20 Nov 42 - 1 Nov 43

12th AF / 5th BW / 301st BG / 32nd BS ( Square )( Circle-1 )
12th AF / 5th BW / 301st BG / 352nd BS ( Square )( Circle-2 )
12th AF / 5th BW / 301st BG / 353rd BS ( Square )( Circle-3 )
12th AF / 5th BW / 301st BG / 419th BS ( Square )( Circle-4 )

note: after 1 November 1943, assigned to the 15th AF

After 1 August 1944 the 301st BG identification would change. The group code would still be a Square, but now beneath the serial number, the number 4 (sometimes in a circle). the squadron codes would change to a single letter on the dorsal fillet:

After August 1944: ( Square-Y 4) ( A ) 32nd BS
After August 1944: ( Square-Y 4) ( B ) 352nd BS
After August 1944: ( Square-Y 4) ( C ) 332nd BS
After August 1944: ( Square-Y 4) ( D ) 419nd BS

The final code change would be on 1 February 1945 where the rudders and elevators would be painted green