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The 507th Fighter Group (USAAF) was a P-47 group that operated as a ground attack unit during the last few months of the war against Japan.
The group was constituted as the 507th Fighter Group on 5 October 1944 and activated on 12 October. It moved to the Pacific theatre in April-June 1945, where it joined the Twentieth Air Force. The long term plan was for it to join XXI Bomber Command to act as a long range escort unit, but this was never really implemented. When the group first entered service it came under the operational control of the Seventh Air Force.
The group flew its first combat mission on 1 July 1945. It attacked a mix of military and transport targets across Japan, Korea and occupied China.
The group didn't encounter many Japanese fighters until 8 August 1945, when it flew its only B-29 escort mission of the war and the formation was attacked by large numbers of Japanese fighters over Yawata, Japan.
The group didn't have to wait long for its next encounter, and on 13 August it ran into a large number of Japanese interceptors while engaged in a long range sweep over Korea. The group was awarded a distinguished unit citation for defeating this attack.
The group was assigned to the Eighth Air Force in August 1945. It moved to Okinawa in January 1946, and was inactivated on 27 May 1946.
Pending
1944-1946: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
5 October 1944 | Constituted as 507th Fighter Group |
12 October 1944 | Activated |
April-June 1945 | To Asiatic-Pacific Theatre and Twentieth Air Force |
1 July 1945 | Combat Debut |
August 1945 | To Eighth Air Force |
January 1946 | To Okinawa |
27 May 1946 | Inactivated |
Col Loring F Stetson Jr:
27 Oct 1944
Lt Col Woodrow W Korges:
12 Sep 1945
Maj Byron H Foreman: 2
Nov 1945
Capt Franklin L Fisher: 20 Nov
1945-unkn.
Peterson Field, Colo: 12 Oct
1944
Bruning AAFld, Neb: 20 Oct 1944
Dalhart AAFld, Tex: 15 Dec 1944-24 Apr
1945
Ie Shima: 24 Jun 1945
Yontan, Okinawa:
29 Jan-27 May 1946
463rd: 1944-1946
464th: 1944-1946
465th: 1944-1946
1944-45: 72nd Fighter Wing (training organisation) or 301st Fighter Wing; Twentieth Air Force