VII Bomber Command
{{use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{use American English|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= VII Bomber Command
|image=431st Bombardment Squadron - B-24 Liberator.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption=VII Bomber Command B-24 Liberator in the Marianas
|dates=1942–1946
|country={{USA}}
|branch={{air force|USA}}
|type=
|role=Command of bomber units
|size=
|command_structure= Seventh Air Force
|current_commander=
|garrison=
|nickname=
|motto=
|colors=
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=China-Burma-India Theater
Pacific Theater of OperationsMaurer, Combat Units, pp. 444-445
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries=
}}
The VII Bomber Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Seventh Air Force, based on Okinawa. It was inactivated on 31 March 1946.
It engaged in patrol operations from Hawaii from January 1942. On the night of 22-23 December 1942, twenty-six Consolidated B-24D Liberators of the 307th Bombardment Group staged through Midway Island for a strike on Wake Island with 135 500-pound general purpose bombs and 21 incendiaries. The attack may have taken the Japanese by surprise, as neither searchlights nor antiaircraft fire were encountered until after the bombing had begun. All planes returned safely, with only slight damage to two.Olson, p. 283.
After late 1943, VII Bomber Command served in combat in the Central and Western Pacific.
Lineage
- Constituted as the 7th Bomber Command on 23 January 1942Maurer indicates that the unit was constituted as the "VII" Bomber Command. However, the unit was constituted and activated with an arabic number in its name. The use of roman numerals to designate Army Air Forces combat commands did not begin until September 1942. {{cite web |url= https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/433913/types-of-usaf-organizations/ |title=Air Force Historical Research Agency Organizational Reconds: Types of USAF Organizations|date=9 January 2008|publisher=Air Force History Index|access-date=19 September 2016}}
: Activated on 29 January 1942
- Redesignated VII Bomber Command c. 18 September 1942
: Inactivated on 31 March 1946
=Commanders=
- Brig Gen Willis H. Hale (29 January 1942 – 19 June 1942)
- Col Albert F. Hegenberger (20 June 1942 – 25 June 1942)
- Brig Gen William E. Lynd (25 June 1942 – November 1942)
- Brig Gen LaVerne G. Saunders (8 January 1943 – January 1943)
- Brig Gen Truman H. Landon (January 1943 – 10 December 1944)
- Brig Gen Lawrence J. Carr (11 December 1944 – October 1945)
=Assignments=
- Hawaiian Air Force (later 7th Air Force, Seventh Air Force) (attached to Patrol Wing 2, 1942; Task Force 59, May 1944-unknown), 23 January 1942{{cite web |url= https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/433174/seventh-air-force-air-forces-korea-pacaf/ |last1=Kane|first1=Robert B.|title=Factsheet Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (PACAF) (USAFE)|date=July 6, 2009|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=December 17, 2021}}
- not confirmed, 1 January – 31 March 1946.
=Stations=
- Hickam Field, Hawaii, 29 January 1942
- Funafuti Airfield, Nanumea, Gilbert Islands, November 1943
- Hawkins Field, Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, January 1944{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
: Bairiki (Mullinix) Airfield, January–March 1944{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
- Kwajalein Airfield, Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, March 1944
- East Field (Saipan),{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} Mariana Islands, August 1944
- Yontan Airfield,{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} Okinawa, July 1945 – March 1946
=Components=
; Groups
{{div col|colwidth=40em}}
- 5th Bombardment Group: 29 January 1942 – 4 January 1943{{cite web |url= https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/434139/5-operations-group-acc/ |last1=Bailey|first1=Carl E.|title=Factsheet 5 Operations Group (ACC)|date=May 8, 2018|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=December 27, 2021}}
- 11th Bombardment Group: 29 January 1942 – 5 January 1943; 8 April 1943 – 23 November 1945
- 30th Bombardment Group: 17 October 1943 – 17 March 1945{{cite web |url= https://www.afhra.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/433620/30-operations-group-afspc/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161124234020/http://www.afhra.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/433620/30-operations-group-afspc/ |url-status= dead |archive-date= 24 November 2016 |last1=Robertson|first1=Patsy|title=Factsheet 30 Operations Group (AFSPC)|date=June 27, 2017|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=January 10, 2022}}
- 41st Bombardment Group: 16 October 1943 – 27 January 1945
- 90th Bombardment Group: 12 September – November 1942{{cite web |url= https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/432760/90-operations-group-afspc/ |last1=Robertson|first1=Patsy|title=Factsheet 90 Operations Group (AFSPC)|date=May 27, 2010|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=January 10, 2022}}
- 307th Bombardment Group: 1 November 1942– 9 February 1943{{cite web |url= https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/432336/307-operations-group-afrc/ |last1=Robertson|first1=Patsy|title=Factsheet 307 Operations Group (AFRC)|date=May 24, 2011|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=January 11, 2022}}
- 319th Bombardment Group: c. 2 July – 18 December 1945{{cite web |url= https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/2482000/319-operations-group-acc/ |last1=Ream|first1=Margaret|title=Factsheet 319 Operations Group (ACC)|date=January 25, 2021|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=January 11, 2022}}
- 494th Bombardment Group: c. 24 June 1944 – c. 8 December 1945 (under operational control of Combined Task Group 95.6 3 November 1944, Fifth Air Force 13 December 1944, V Bomber Command 15 December 1944, Thirteenth Air Force 28 January 1945, XIII Bomber Command 20 March 1945, Thirteenth Air Force 18 March – 14 April 1945)Bailey, Carl E., Lineage & Honors History of the 494 Air Expeditionary Group (AMC), 28 April 2003, Air Force Historical Research Agancy
{{div col end}}
; Squadrons
{{div col|colwidth=40em}}
- 1st Reconnaissance Squadron: attached 10 December 1945 – March 1946Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 8-9
- 163d Liaison Squadron: 1–25 December 1945Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 363
- 305th Fighter Control Squadron: 1 December 1945 – 1 January 1946{{cite web |url= http://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/862202/623-air-control-squadron-pacaf |last1=Haulman|first1=Daniel|title=Factsheet 623 Air Control Squadron (PACAF)|date=November 2, 2016|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=December 27, 2021}}
- 437th Bombardment Squadron: 18 December 1945 – 4 January 1946Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 541
- 439th Bombardment Squadron: 18 December 1945 – 4 January 1946Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 543
- 440th Bombardment Squadron: 18 December 1945 – 4 January 1946Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 544
- 868th Bombardment Squadron: 1–December 1945Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 790
{{div col end}}
References
=Notes=
; Explanatory notes
{{reflist|group=note}}
; Citations
{{reflist|40em}}
=Bibliography=
{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}
- {{cite book|editor=Craven, Wesley F|editor2=Cate, James L|url=http://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329889/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-010.pdf|access-date=December 17, 2016 | title=The Army Air Forces in World War II|volume=IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan |year=1950|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|oclc=704158|lccn=48003657}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
:: {{cite book|last=Olson|first=James C.|editor=Craven, Wesley F|editor2=Cate, James L|url= https://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329890/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-012.pdf|access-date=December 17, 2016 | title=The Army Air Forces in World War II|volume=IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan: August 1942 to July 1944 |year=1950|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|oclc=704158|lccn=48003657|chapter=Target Rabaul, Chapter 9, The Giberts and Marshalls}}
- {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|orig-year= 1961|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf |archive-url= https://archive.today/20210115181723/https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 15 January 2021 |edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979}}
- {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 December 2016 |edition= reprint|access-date= December 17, 2016|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
{{USAAF 7th Air Force World War II}}