The 19th Bomb Group
In October, 1941, the 19th Bomb Group, Heavy (H), equipment with B-17s, was moved to Clark Field in the Philippine Islands. The group suffered numerous casualties and lost many aircraft during the Japanese attack on 7 December, 1941. When General Douglas MacArthur evacuated the Philippines, via one of the B-17s, he vowed, “I shall return.” Unfortunately, most of the troops were left behind as POWs for the duration of the war. The group deployed to Mindanao from the Philippines on 24 December, 1941. The group returned to the United States and moved to Pyote Army Airfield, Pyote, Texas, where it performed training missions. On 1 April, 1944, the unit was re-designated a B-29 bombardment group, Very Heavy (VH). They were reassigned to Great Bend Army Airfield, Great Bend, Kansas, for training as a B-29 unit. On 26 May, the group was reassigned to Dalhart Army Airfield, Texas, where the ground echelon was formed and the squadrons training in B-17s. In August, the unit returned to Great Bend, where limited B-29 training began while waiting for the 498th Bomb Group to complete training and deploy to the Pacific. Full-time training was finally initiated in October, 1944 and ground school instruction began for all crews in the unit.
On 11 December, 1944, the group moved to North Field, Guam and began work on their encampment area. The air echelon was in the last stages of preparations for the ferrying of personnel and the new operational B-29s received from Boeing-Wichita. The group formed at North Field in mid-January, 1945. The group was assigned to the 314th Bomb Wing, which had just arrived from Colorado. The group’s aircraft were identified with a large 96-inch black square on the tail fin with the letter M in the center. Upon arrival, the group’s personnel were engaged in Quonset hut construction for their new home. By mid-March, most personnel were able to move into the huts from the tents, which they were assigned on arrival. After some familiarity and training missions, the 19th Bomb Group conducted its first bombing raid over Japan on 25 February, 1945, attacking northeast Tokyo on a high-altitude bombing mission. Low-altitude night missions started on 9 March. From 17 April to 5 May, the group supported the allied invasion of Okinawa by attacking airfields that served as bases for kamikaze pilots. They bombed military and industrial targets in Japan and participated in incendiary raids on urban areas from min-May until the end of the war.
The group completed 79 combat missions from Guam with the wing.
The 19th Bomb Group flew their last group mission on 14 August, when Japan surrendered. They flew missions to drop food, clothing and medical supplies to POW camps and flew in the ‘Show of Force’ mission, on 2 September, 1945.
The 19th Bomb Group received a distinguished unit citation for missions to Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe from 9 to 19 March, 1945. They received their second citation for a mission to Koba on 5 June, 1945.
Commanders: Col. John Roberts – 16 Jul 1944; Maj Joseph Selliken - 28 Apr 1944; Col John Fowler - 20 May 1944; LtCol. John Wilson - 29 May 1944; LtCol. Philip Mathewson - 30 Jun 1944; Col John Roberts Jr - 16 Jul 1944