45th Air Division

45th Air Division

A 509th Bombardment Wing FB-111A dropping Mark 82 high drag practice bombs
Active 1943–1945; 1954–1958; 1958–1989
Country  United States
Branch  United States Air Force
Role Command of strategic strike forces
Part of Strategic Air Command
Engagements European Theater of World War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Gen Archie J. Old Jr., Gen John C. Meyer
Insignia
45th Air Division emblem (Approved 12 May 1960)[1]

The 45th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Eighth Air Force at Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire. It was inactivated on 14 June 1989.

History

As the 45th Bombardment Wing, the unit was one of the primary Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy strategic bombardment wings of the Eighth Air Force 3d Bombardment Division in World War II. Groups from "the wing began bombing operations against German occupied Europe on 14 September 1943. Its bombers attacked targets in such German cities as Bremen, Emden, Kiel, Ludwigshafen, Munster, Saarbrücken, Schweinfurt, and Wilhelmshaven. In June 1944 the 45th supported the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, with tactical missions, against enemy airdromes, airfields, bridges, coastal defenses, field batteries, gun positions, and railway junctions."[1]

On 21 June 1944, Colonel Archie J. Old Jr., commanding officer of the 45th Combat Bombardment Wing, served as the task force commander of a shuttle bombing mission to the Soviet Union. The task force raided a synthetic oil plant just south of Berlin, and then proceeded to Poltava in the Soviet Union, where a large number of the 45th's bombers were destroyed on the ground during a raid by German bomber and fighter aircraft. The surviving bombers bombed "an oil plant at Drohobycz, Poland, while returning from Poltava to Foggia, Italy. Shortly before the German surrender, in late April 1945, the wing flew five 'Chow Hound' mercy missions, dropping food and other supplies to the people in [the still occupied western part of the Netherlands]. After the German surrender on 8 May 1945, it helped transport displaced Europeans back to their respective native countries."[1]

Reactivated an intermediate command echelon of Strategic Air Command in October 1954, the 45th Air Division "assumed responsibility for the training and combat readiness of its assigned units. It achieved this goal through staff assistance visits and supervising or participating in exercises such as Golden Hour Tango, Rubber Ball, and Sky Shield."[1]

Inactivated in June 1989[1] due to budget constraints and the reduction of forces after the end of the Cold War.

Lineage

Activated on 1 April 1943
Redesignated: 45th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 6 April 1943
Redesignated: 45th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 30 August 1943
Redesignated: 45th Combat Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 24 August 1944
Disbanded on 18 June 1945
Activated on 8 October 1954
Inactivated on 18 January 1958
Inactivated on 15 June 1989[1]

Assignments

Components

Wings

Groups

Stations

Aircraft and Missiles

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Factsheet 45 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2014.

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

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