The squadron was activated as the 458th Operations Group in 1992, when the air refueling mission was transferred from Strategic Air Command to Air Mobility Command in 1992. It was inactivated on-ce its assets were reassigned to air mobility units in 1994. In 2001, the group was converted to provisional status.
At Wendover, most of the initial combat crews were assigned to the group.[2] By the end of the year, the 458th completed its training and began moving to the European Theater of Operations.[1][3] The ground echelon departed its final training base, Tonopah Army Air Field, Nevada, where it had been the first heavy bomber group to train, for the port of embarkation at Camp Shanks, New York, on 1 January 1944,[a] sailing for England on the USS Florence Nightingale (AP-70) while the air echelon assembled at Hamilton Field, then ferried its Liberators to England via the southern ferry route.[2][5]
Combat in Europe
B-24 Liberators of the 458th Bombardment Group over the North Sea[b]
The group arrived at its combat station, RAF Horsham St. Faith near Norwich in eastern England on 1 February 1944, although aircrews had begun arriving on 24 January and the last bombers of the 458th did not arrive until 16 February.[1][5] It entered the strategic bombing campaign against Germany during Big Week, but its first missions, flown on 24 and 25 February 1944, were diversionary missions, not strikes against the German aircraft manufacturing industry. On 2 March it began flying strategic bombardment missions. Its targets included an aircraft manufacturing plant at Brandenburg an der Havel, an airfield near Braunschweig, a fuel depot at Dulmen, oil refineries near Hamburg, marshalling yards at Hamm, an aircraft engine manufacturing factory at Magdeburg, the shipping canal at Minden, aircraft factories at Oschersleben and the industrial area of Saarbrücken.[1]
458th Group B-24J Liberator on the bomb run over Bielefeld, Germany on 24 February 1945[c]
The group was occasionally diverted from the strategic bombing campaign to conduct air interdiction and close air support missions. It helped prepare for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, by striking artillery batteries, V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket launching sites, and airfields in France. On D-Day, it attacked coastal defenses to support the amphibious landings. Afterward, it attacked lines of communication to prevent the movement of enemy personnel and materiel from reaching the battlefield. It attacked enemy troops during Operation Cobra, the breakout from the beachhead through Saint Lo in late July. It also flew support missions during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945 and during Operation Varsity, the airborne attacks across the Rhine in April 1945. In addition, The group stopped its bombing during September 1944 to transport gasoline to airfields in France to supply Third Army, which had outrun its supply lines (called Operation Truckin'). Although the group flew more than 450 Truckin' sorties to advanced landing grounds in France and lost two aircraft, these were not considered combat missions. The group flew its last combat mission on 24 April 1945.[1] The group flew 240 combat missions, claiming the destruction of 28 enemy aircraft, while losing 47 Liberators.[5][6]
The group also had the distinction of being the test squadron for the Army Air Forces' first guided bomb project.[5] In May 1944, ten modified B-24s capable of launching Azon bombs were delivered to the 458th Group. On 31 May 1944, the group conducted a raid against several bridges in Normandy.[7]
Return and inactivation
During May 1945, the group flew 105 "Trolley" missions. These missions transported ground personnel of the group over target areas on the continent to permit them to see the results of their contributions to the group mission.[8] The group returned to the United States in June 1945, with aircraft beginning to depart for Bradley Field, Connecticut on 14 June. The ground echelon sailed on the RMS Queen Mary on 6 July.[5] The group assembled at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota in July. At Sioux Falls, all personnel who had not been discharged were transferred to other units.[9]
The group reformed at Walker Army Air Field, Kansas, moving to March Field, California in August, once it had achieved 20% manning. At March, it trained with the Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber, but never approached 60% of its manning. It was inactivated there in October 1945.[1][9]
C-130 Hercules assigned to the 458th Air Expeditionary Group taxis onto the parking ramp at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base
United States Air Forces in Europe expeditionary operations
The unit was converted to provisional status in February 2001 and assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe. In September 2002 the group deployed to Air Force Base Waterkloof, South Africa to participate in the first bilateral exercise between the air forces of South Africa and the United States. More than 200 airmen from Royal Air Force Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath in England, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., and the Oklahoma Air National Guard participated in the exercise.
The group was again brought briefly to life in 2003, when it was active at Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport, 26 km northwest of Constanța, Romania. The group was active from about March to June 2003, charged with maintaining an airbridge at the base to transport supplies and people to the United States Central Command area of responsibility at the beginning of the U.S. Iraq War - Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan War - Operation Enduring Freedom.
Lineage
Constituted as the 458th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 19 May 1943, activated on 1 July 1943
Redesignated 458th Bombardment Group, Heavy on 16 August 1944
Redesignated 458th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy 5 August 1945, inactivated on 17 October 1945
Redesignated 458th Operations Group on 1 July 1992 and activated. Inactivated on 1 July 1995
Redesignated as 458th Air Expeditionary Group and converted to provisional status on 5 February 2001
Activated on 27 May 2004, Inactivated on 11 June 2004
Activated on 5 May 2006, Inactivated on 6 June 2006
Activated on 3 September 2006, Inactivated on 20 September 2006
Activated on 26 July 2007, Inactivated on 20 September 2007
Activated on 11 October 2007, Inactivated on 13 November 2007
Activated on 26 November 2007, Inactivated on 25 July 2011[10]
^Freeman says the ground echelon left on 29 December.[4] Maurer says 1 January,[citation needed] while the group's history gives the 29th as the date the group's advance party left, while the rest of the group's ground echelon departed Wendover by troop train on 1 January.[citation needed]
Freeman, Roger A. (1970). The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company. ISBN978-0-87938-638-2.
Watkins, Robert (2008). Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force in World War II. Vol. I (VIII) Bomber Command. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-1987-7.
Further reading
Freeman, Roger A. (1978) Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now. After the Battle ISBN0-900913-09-6
Freeman, Roger A. (2001) The Mighty Eighth: The Colour Record. Cassell ISBN0-304-35708-1
United States
United States Air Force
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