The History of The 376th Heavy Bombardment
Group in World War II
Commanders of the 376th Bomb Group Founding Units
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Colonel Harry H. Halverson,
Halverson Detachment (HALPRO),
1 May, 1942 to 20 July, 1942
Ist Provisional Bombardment Group
20 July, 1942 to 7 August, 1942 |
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Colonel George F. McGuire,
Ist Provisional Bombardment Group
7 August, 1942 to 31 October, 1942 |
Commanders of the 376th
Bombardment Group (H)
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Colonel George F. McGuire,
31 October, 1942 to 19 February, 1943 |
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Lt. Col. Richard C. Sanders,
19 February, 1943 to 20 February, 1943 |
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Colonel Keith K. Compton,
20 February, 1943 to 9 January, 1944 |
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Lt. Col. Theodore Q. Graff,
9 January, 1944 to 10 July, 1944 |
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Lt. Col. Richard W. Fellows,
10 July, 1944 to 27 September, 1944 |
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Colonel Theodore Q. Graff,
27 September 1944 to 22 February, 1945 |
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Colonel Robert H. Warren,
22 February, 1945 to September, 1945 |
Group Firsts
- 1st Heavy Bomb Group to be based on European Continent
- Oldest Bomb Group operating overseas
- 1st Bomb Group to bomb European Continent
- 1st Bomb Group over Ploesti, High Altitude 6/12/42
- 1st USAAF Bombers to hit Italian Fleet, 6/15/42
- 1st over Naples, 12/4/42
- 1st Rome Raid, 7/19/43
- 1st over Ploesti Low Level, 8/1/43
- 1st over Wiener- Neustadt, 8/13/43
A Brief History
Following the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Army Air Forces to mount retaliatory
raids on the Japanese home islands. A task force, commanded by Colonel
Harry E. Halverson and composed of 231 officers and enlisted men and
23 B-24D Liberator bombers, was assembled at Fort Myers, Florida. The
unit was given the code name "HALPRO" for Halverson Project. This
organization, destined to be the parent unit of the 376th Bombardment
Group, departed the United States on 20 May 1942 to begin attacks on
Japanese targets from a base located in China. When HALPRO arrived
in the Middle East, the unit learned that its' proposed base had been
captured by Japanese forces. To make matters worse, the German Afrika
Korps under General Erwin Rommel was poised to attack Allied forces
in North Africa.
HALPRO was quickly diverted from its' original mission to a new
one: interdictory raids from airfields in Egypt against shipping and
North African ports supporting Axis operations. On 20 June 1942, the
Halverson Project was dissolved and the organization was renamed the
First Provisional Bombardment Group. In subsequent organizational change,
all First Provisional personnel and B-24s were transferred to the newly
activated 376th Heavy Bombardment Group. The order became effective
on 31 October 1942 and as a subsequent gesture of unit identity, members
of the 376th adopted the nickname "Liberandos". Rapid build-up of
personnel and aircraft in early 1943 resulted in the formation of
a fully formed group composed of the 512th, 513th, 514th and 515th
Squadrons.
Attacks by the fledgling 376th, the first heavy bombardment group
to operate in the Middle East Theater, were focused on Axis supply lines
between Italy and North Africa, airfields, and port facilities. Later,
longer range raids were made against oil refineries, marshalling yards,
and ordinance factories in Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
The Liberandos were also chosen to lead four other B-24 bombardment groups
on the daring 1 August 1943 low level raid against Romania's Ploesti Oil
Fields. After the liberation of North Africa late in 1943, the Group moved
to San Pancrazio, Italy where it participated in an accelerated campaign
against Axis targets in southern Europe and the Balkans. Group sorties
extended as far as Vienna, Austria and Regensburg, Germany.
During four years of operations, the 376th and its parent units became
integral elements of the 9th, 12th, and 15th Air Forces. The Group flew
451 missions, was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations and earned
15 campaign awards. The Liberandos destroyed 220 enemy aircraft in aerial
combat and suffered casualties totalling 1479 officers and enlisted
personnel and 169 aircraft.
Article courtesy of James W. Walker, Group Historian
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