29th Flying Training Wing

The 29th Bombardment Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It served conducting anti-submarine warfare over the Caribbean during the early years of the war as part of Air Defense Command, later in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II.

The group tail code was a "Square O"

History

Operational Units

• 6th Bombardment Squadron 1940-1944, 1944-1946
• 43d Bombardment Squadron 1940-1944, 1944-1946
• 52d Bombardment Squadron 1940-1944, 1944-1946
• 411th Bombardment Squadron 1942-1944
• 761st Bombardment Squadron 1945-1946

Aircraft Flown

• Douglas B-18 Bolo
• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
• Consolodated B-24 Liberator
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Stations Assigned

• MacDill Field, FL 21 May 1940
• Gowen Field, ID 25 Jun 1942-1 Apr 1944
• Pratt AAFld, KS 1 Apr-7 Dec 1944
• North Field, Guam 17 Jan 1945-20 May 1946
• Langley Field, VA 1 Feb 1940

Operational History

Constituted as 29th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 22 Dec 1939. Activated on 1 Feb 1940. Equipped with B-17's and B-18's. Trained and took part in aerial reviews. Flew patrol missions in the Caribbean area, Dec 1941-Jun 1942. Equipped with B-24's in 1942. Functioned as an operational training and later as a replacement training unit. Inactivated on 1 Apr 1944.

Redesignated 29th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy). Activated on 1 Apr 1944. Prepared for overseas duty with B-29's. Moved to Guam, Dec 1944-Feb 1945, and assigned to Twentieth AF.

Flew its first mission against Japan with an attack on Tokyo on 25 Feb 1945. Conducted a number of missions against strategic targets in Japan, operating in daylight and at high altitude to bomb factories, refineries, and other objectives. Beginning in Mar 1945, carried out incendiary raids on area targets, flying at night and at low altitude to complete the assignments.

S/Sgt Henry E Erwin was awarded the Medal of Honor for action that saved his B-29 during a mission over Koriyama, Japan, on 12 Apr 1945. When a phosphorus smoke bomb exploded in the launching chute and shot back into the plane, Sgt Erwin picked up the burning bomb, carried it to a window, and threw it out. During the Allied assault on Okinawa, the group bombed airfields from which the enemy was sending out suicide planes against the invasion force. Received a DUC for an attack on an airfield at Omura, Japan, on 31 Mar 1945. Received second DUC for strikes on the industrial area of Shizuoka, the Mitsubishi aircraft plant at Tamashima, and the Chigusa arsenal at Nagoya,

in Jun 1945. After the war, dropped food and supplies to Allied prisoners and participated in several show-of-force missions over Japan. Inactivated on Guam on 20 May 1946.

See Also

• Third Air Force
• Twentieth Air Force

References

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.