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The 375th Troop Carrier Group (USAAF) took part in the long campaign in New Guinea, then supported the liberation of the Philippines and the campaign on Okinawa.
The group was activated on 18 November 1942 and trained with the C-47. After a fairly short period of training the group moved to the Pacific in June-July 1943, where it joined the Fifth Air Force and took part in Operation Cartwheel, the series of operations designed to isolate the Japanese base at Rabaul.
The group flew a mix of aircraft. Its main transport aircraft was the C-47 Skytrain (Dakota) from 1942 until late in 1944, when it converted to the Curtiss C-46 Commando. In addition it used armed B-17s to fly supplies into the more dangerous combat zones.
The group's main role was to act as a regular transport unit, operating across the Solomon Islands, Admiralty Islands, New Guinea and New Britain. On many occasions it was operating very close to the advancing Allied troops.
On 5 September 1943 the group took part in the first airborne operation in the South-west Pacific, dropping paratroops at Nadzab on New Guinea, part of a wider attack on Japanese troops in the Huon Gulf.
On 1 March 1944 the group sent four of its armed B-17 transports to drop three tons of crucial supplies to the besieged troops on Los Negros Island in the Admiralty Islands, where the Japanese had launched an unexpectedly fierce counterattack.
In February 1945 the group moved from its bases near New Guinea to the Philippines. It then operated in support of the US army fighting on Luzon and nearby islands. In June-July 1945 it was used to fly supplies to the Ryukyus (including Okinawa). The group moved forward to Okinawa in August.
After the Japanese surrender the group was used to fly troops from Luzon to the Ryukyus, from where they moved to Japan. The group also flew liberated POWs in the opposite direction.
The group moved to Japan in September 1945 where it was soon inactivated.
Pending
1942-44: Douglas C-47 Skytrain
1944-46: Curtiss C-46 Commando
Also used armed Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress for missions into combat zones
| 12 Nov 1942 | Constituted as 375th Troop Carrier Group |
| 18 Nov 1942 | Activated |
| Jun-Jul 1943 | To Pacific and Fifth Air Force |
| Sep 1945 | To Japan |
| 25 March 1946 | Inactivated |
Col Joel G Pitts: 20 Nov 1942
Lt Col Maurice W. Wiley: 25 Dec 1944
Lt Col John L Ames Jr: Aug 1945
Lt Col Benjamin C King: Sep 1945l
Col Marshall S Roth, Oct 1945-unkn
Bowman Field, Ky: 18 Nov 1942
Sedalia AA Fld, Mo: 23 Jan 1843
Laurinburg-Maxton AAB, NC: 5 May 1943
Baer Field, Ind: 2-15 June 1943
Brisbane, Australia: 13 July 1943
Port Moresby, New Guinea: 31 July 1943
Dobodura, New Guinea: 19 August 1943
Port Moresby, New Guinea: 19 December 1943
Nadzab, New Guinea; 19 December 1943
Biak: 27 September 1944
San Jose, Mindoro: 17 February 1945
Porac, Luzon: 20 May 1945
Okinawa: August 1945
Tachikawa, Japan: September 1945-25 March 1946
55th: 1942-1946
56th: 1942-1946
57th: 1942-1946
58th: 1942-1946
1943-46: 54th Troop Carrier Wing; Fifth Air Force