Consolidated B-24D
Teggie Ann
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The 93rd Bombardment Group was one of those Eighth Air Force units that operated the B-24 Liberator through the Second World War. The group had been constituted in January 1942, after America's entry into the war, and was activated at Barksdale Field, Louisiana in March.
Two months later the group moved to Fort Myers, Florida, where for the next three months it flew anti-submarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
The 93rd then became one of the first bomber units to join the Eighth Air Force in Europe. It entered combat on 9 October 1942, taking part in the Eighth Air Force's fourteenth bombing mission, an attack on the steel and engineering works at Lille. For the rest of the year the group concentrated on attacks on German submarine pens.
Three times between December 1942 and October 1943 detachments from the 93rd were sent to the Mediterranean. The first detachment spent December 1942-February 1943 fighting in North Africa, winning a Distinguished Unit Citation for its efforts.
The second detachment spent June-August 1943 in the Mediterranean to support the invasion of Sicily. During this period it took part in Operation Tidalwave, the low level attack on the Ploesti oil installations on 1 August 1943. The Group's commander, Lt. Colonel Addison E. Baker, was killed during this raid, winning the Medal of Honor after he refused to make an early forced landing and flew on to Ploesti in a damaged aircraft to carry out his duty as pilot of the lead aircraft.
The third detachment spent September-October 1943 supporting the Allied landings at Salerno, where the Germans came close to push the Allies back into the sea for the only time during the war.
From October 1943 until April 1945 the 93rd remained together in England, taking part in the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign, attacking industrial targets and cities across Germany. The group took part in the operations to support the D-Day landings, attacking targets around Cherbourg in June 1944 and at St. Lo in July. It was also used to make supply drops to the Allied troops as they advanced east across France and made an attempt to drop supplies to the airborne forces at Arnhem.
The squadron flew its last missions in Europe in April 1945. It then returned to the United States, where it began to convert to the B-29, but the war in the Pacific ended before the Eighth Air Force could enter combat against Japan.
Consolidated B-24 Liberator (Crowood Aviation), Martin W. Bowman. A well balanced book that begins with a look at the development history of the B-24, before spending nine out of its ten chapters looking at the combat career of the aircraft in the USAAF, the US Navy and the RAF.
B-24 Liberator Units of the Eighth Air Force, Robert F. Dorr. Although the Eighth Air Force is famous for operating the B-17, even at the end of the Second World War the B-24 still equipped one third of all Eighth Army Bombardment Groups. Here Dorr looks at the role the Liberator played with the Eighth Army, from its tiny beginnings in 1942 to the final massive air armadas of 1944 and 1945. Dorr also looks at the sizable detachments sent to North Africa during 1943, and the famous Ploesti mission.
1942-April 1945: Consolidated B-24 Liberator
July 1945-: Boeing B-29 Super Fortress
| 28 January 1942 | Constituted as 93rd Bombardment Group |
| 1 March 1942 | Activated |
| May-July 1942 | Anti-submarine operations over the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea |
| August-September 1942 | Moved to England to join Eighth Air Force |
| 9 October 1942 | First combat mission with Eighth Air Force |
| December 1942-Febraury 1943 | Detachment to North Africa to fight in the desert |
| June-August 1943 | Detachment to Mediterranean to fight on Sicily, also takes part in Operation Tidal Wave |
| September-October 1943 | Detachment to Mediterranean to fight at Salerno |
| April 1945 | Last operation in Europe |
| May-June 1945 | Returns to United States |
First Lieutenant Robert M. Tate: 1 March 1942
Colonel Edward J. Timberlake Jr: 26 March 1942
Lt. Colonel Addison E. Baker (Killed in action): 17 March 1943
Colonel Leland G. Fiegel: 9 August 1943
Lt. Colonel Harvey P. Barnard Jr: 27 September 1944
Colonel William R. Robertson Jur: 5 December 1944
Lt. Colonel Therman D. Brown: 6 April 1945
Major Jacob A Herrmann: 29 July 1945
Lt. Colonel William W. Amorous: 6 August 1945
Barksdale Field, La: 1 March 1942
Ft. Myers, Florida: 15 May-2 August 1942
Alconbury, England: 7 September 1942
Hardwick, England: 6 December 1942-19 May 1945
Sioux Falls, DS: June 1945
Pratt Field, Kansas: 24 July 1945
328th Bombardment Squadron: 1942-1952
329th Bombardment Squadron: 1942-1952
330th Bombardment Squadron: 1942-1952
409th Bombardment Squadron: 1942-1946
Eighth Air Force: 1942-1945
1942-43: 2nd Bombardment Wing; Eight Air Force
1943-February 1944: 20th Bombardment Wing; VIII Bomber Command; Eighth Air Force
February 1944-45: 20th Bombardment Wing; 2nd Air Division; Eighth Air Force
1945: 96th Bombardment Wing; 2nd Air Division; Eighth Air Force
