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The 8th Reconnaissance Group (USAAF) served in India from March 1944 until the end of the Second World War.
The group was formed in the United States in October 1943 and moved to India in the spring of 1944. It operated a wide range of aircraft, which allowed it to operate across vast areas of Burma, China, French Indochina and Thailand. Its main tasks included normal reconnaissance and photographic mapping (always an important task in these poorly-mapped areas). The group's photographs were used to produce terrain models of potential target areas.
The group also carried out some unusual tasks for a dedicated reconnaissance unit, including carrying out bombing and strafing attacks on Japanese targets (sometimes called 'tactical reconnaissance' in Western Europe - find it and attack it) and providing fighter escorts for dedicated bombardment units.
The group returned to the United States in October-November 1945 and was inactivated on 5 November.
Pending
Lockheed F-5 Lightning
North American F-6 Mustang
Consolidated F-7 (Liberator)
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
| 15 Sept 1943 | Constituted as 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Group |
| 1 Oct 1943 | Activated |
| Feb-Mar 1944 | To India |
| June 1945 | Redesignated 8th Reconnaissance Group |
| Oct-Nov 1945 | To US |
| 5 Nov 1945 | Inacticated |
| 6 Mar 1946 | Disbanded |
Lt Col Paul A Zartman: 1 Oct 1943
Col Charles P Hollstein: 12
Dec 1943
Col James W Anderson Jr: 24
Jan 1945
Lt Col John R Gee: Oct 1945-5 Nov 1945
Peterson Field, Colo: 1 Oct
1943
Gainesville AAFld, Tex: 26 Oct
1943-12 Feb 1944
Bally, India: 31 Mar
1944-7 Oct 1945
Camp Kilmer, NJ, 3-5 Nov 1945
9th Reconnaissance Squadron: 1944-1945
20th Reconnaissance Squadron: 1944-1945
24th Reconnaissance Squadron: 1944-1945
40th Reconnaissance Squadron: 1945
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