301st Fighter Wing (World War II)

301st Fighter Wing
Active	1944 - 1949
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army Air Forces United States Air Force
Role	Strategic/Tactical Fighter Operations
Part of	Twentieth Air Force Far East Air Forces
Garrison/HQ	Ryukyu Islands
Engagements	World War II Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1944-1945)

The301st Fighter Wing was a United States Army Air Forces organization. It was a command and control organization primarily of Twentieth Air Force that fought in the Pacific Ocean Theater of World War II.

During the postwar era, the Wing performed an air defense mission over the Ryukyu Islands for the United States Air Force Far East Air Forces.

Lineage

• Constituted as 301st Fighter Wing on 5 October 1944 and activated on 15 October.

Inactivated on Okinawa on 20 January 1949.

Commands

• First Air Force (1944-1945)
• Twentieth Air Force (1945)
• Eighth Air Force (1945-1946)
• Far East Air Forces (1946-1949)

Stations

• Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, 15 Oct - 1 Nov 1944
• Mitchel Field, New York, 1 Nov 1944-30 May 1945
• Ie Shima, 31 Jul - 29 Nov 1945
• Kadena AB, Okinawa, 29 Nov 1945 - 14 Aug 1947
• Naha, Okinawa, 14 Aug 1947 - 20 Jan 1949

Units Assigned

• Groups

15th Fighter Group

Reassigned from Seventh Air Force, Feb 1945

21st Fighter Group

Reassigned from Seventh Air Force, Feb 1945

51st Fighter Group: 1946-1948

413th Fighter Group: 1944-1946

414th Fighter Group: 1944-1945

506th Fighter Group: 1944-1945

507th Fighter Group: 1944-1945

Operational History

The 301st Fighter Wing was organized in the United States initally at Seymour-Johnson Field, North Carolina in October 1944, then being assigned to Mitchel Field on Long Island in November. On Long Island, the wing coordinated the deliver of the Republic P-47N Thunderbolt from it's manufacturing plant at Farmingdale, with aircraft being flown to North Carolina where two of the newly-assigned groups of the 301st (413th and 414th) were training.

The war in the Pacific required fighter ranges even greater than did operations over Germany, and the mission of the 301st Fighter Wing was to provide bomber escort for Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortress bombers during their strategic bombing missions over Japan in 1945.

Soon after Saipan and Guam were taken with B-29 units being assigned there, the 318th Group formed on the Ryukyu Islands, consisting of six figher groups (15th and 21st (being transferred from Seventh Air Force) and the 413th, 414th, 506th and 507th, all being deployed from the United States. Being the first wing to be equipped with the P-47N, the groups operated as a long-range escort for B-29 Superfortress bombers attacking the Japanese mainland all the way from Saipan to Japan and on many other long, overwater flights.

In July 1945 the 301st was reassigned to the Eighth Air Force with the same mission for Eighth Air Force in the planned invasion of Japan. The atomic bombings of Japan led to the Japanese surrender before Eighth Air Force saw action in the Pacific theater.

The wing was reassigned to Far East Air Forces when Eighth Air Force was returned to the United States in 1946. It's four wartime fighter groups returned to the United States early in 1946, being replaced by the 51st Fighter Group as it's operational unit. The wing performed air defense role over the Ryukyu Islands until inactivated on 20 January 1949.

See Also

• Twentieth Air Force

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.