From History of 30th BG (URL LINK BELOW)

History

The 30th Bombardment Group was activated in January 1941 at Clark Field, California. After training with B-18s and A-29s the group began operations in 1942 using the B-24 Liberator. For the first two years of the war the group conducted maritime patrols off the west coast of America, as part of the Fourth Air Force.

38th Bombardment Squadron
briefing for raid on Ponape

In October 1943 the group was transferred to the Seventh Air Force. At the beginning of the war that force had been largely restricted to patrol duties around Hawaii, but as the Americans began to advance across the central Pacific the Seventh gained a new combat role. The 30th BG spend a very short time on Hawaii before moving further west.

In November the group began operations from the Ellice Islands, attacking targets in the Gilberts and Marshalls. In January 1944 the group moved forward again, this time to the Gilbert Islands, from where it acted in support of the invasion of the Marshall Islands.

In March 1944 the group moved to Kwajalein, taking part in operations designed to neutralise the strong Japanese forces being bypassed in the Truk Islands. From that base the group also took part in attacks on Wake Island, Guam and Saipan, before moving on to Saipan in August 1944, remaining there until it was withdrawn back to Hawaii in March 1945 (not all of the aircraft or crew followed the group back to Hawaii - others joined the 494th Bombardment Group or the 11th Bombardment Group, the two B-24 groups remaining in the Seventh Air Force). From Saipan the group attacked targets in the Bonin and Volcano Islands and continued to neutralise Japan bases in the Carolines and Marianas.

Aircraft

B-18 and A-29 for training: 1941-1942
Consolidated B-24 Liberator: 1942-1945

Timeline

20 November 1940 Constituted 15 January 1941 Activated. Training with B-18 and A-29 1942-1943 Carried out operational patrols off US west coast with B-24s October 1943 Move to Hawaii with Seventh Air Force November 1943 Began operations from Ellice Islands January 1944 Moved to Gilbert Islands March 1944 Moved to Marshall Islands August 1944 Moved to Saipan March 1945 Return to Hawaii 24 June 1945 Inactivated

Commanders (with date of appointment)

Officers of 30th Bombardment Group

Captain Budd J. Peaslee: 15 January 1941
Major Thomas W Steed: 10 February 1941
Lt. Colonel Newton Longfellow: 1941
Major Thomas W Steed: December 1941
Lt. Colonel Jack Wood: 21 August 1942
Colonel Robert O Cork: May 1943
Colonel Edwin B. Miller Jr: 30 August 1943
Colonel John J. Morrow: 2 November 1944
Lt. Colonel Elliot T. Pardee: March 1945
Colonel Elder Patteson: 1 July 1945

Main Bases

March Field, Califonia: 15 January 1941
New Orleans: June 1941
Muroc, California: 24 December 1941
March Field, California: 7 February 1941
Hickam Field, Hawaii: 20 October 1943
Nanumea, Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu): 12 November 1943
Abemama: 4 January 1944
Kwajalein: 20 March 1944
Saipan: 4 August 1944
Wheeler Field: March 1945

Component Units

21st Bombardment Squadron: 1941-1943
27th Bombardment Squadron: 1941-1946
38th Bombardment Squadron: 1941-1948
392nd Bombardment Squadron: 1942-1945
819th Bombardment Squadron: 1943-1945

Assigned To

Fourth Air Force, US West Coast: 1942-October 1943
VII Bomber Command; Seventh Air Force, Central Pacific: October 1943-June 1945
7th Fighter Wing; Seventh Air Force; Hawaii: 1945-46

How to cite this article: Rickard, J (15 December 2007), 30th Bombardment Group, http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/USAAF/30th_Bombardment_Group.html

Jack R Busch