91st Bombardment Group - Training History and Movement Overseas

Training History and Movement Overseas

Established 28 January 1942, and activated on 14 April 1942 at Harding A.A.B., Louisiana, the 91st Bomb Group consisted of a small administrative cadre without subordinate units until 13 May 1942, when it was moved to MacDill A.A.B., Florida. There Lt. Col. Stanley T. Wray took command of the group, and the four flying squadrons assigned to the group were activated. The 91st received air crews and began phase one training with just three B-17's available. On 26 June 1942, the group (now consisting of 83 officers and 78 enlisted men) was transferred to the Second Air Force and moved to Walla Walla A.A.B., Washington to complete phase two training, with two squadrons operating from satellite fields at Pendleton and Baker Army Air Bases, Oregon.

The 91st received orders to deploy overseas and on 24 August 1942, the ground echelon entrained for Fort Dix, New Jersey, where it remained until 5 September, embarking on the RMS Queen Mary. Arriving at Greenock, Scotland, on 11 September, the ground echelon moved by train to Kimbolton, a war expansion airfield in the English Midlands.

Part of the air echelon moved on 24 August 1942, to Gowan A.A.B., Idaho, where it received six new B-17F aircraft. From there it flew by pairs, making frequent stops, to Dow A.A.B., Maine. The remainder of the air crews relocated to Dow by train, arriving 1 September. Between 4 and 24 September the group flew training missions while it received 29 additional B-17's from air depots in Middletown, Pennsylvania; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Denver, Colorado, and conducted phase three training.

The 91st Bomb Group moved by squadrons to the United Kingdom, beginning with the 324th Bomb Squadron on 25 September, flying to Gander, Newfoundland. The 324th made a non-stop flight along the North Ferry Route on 30 September, landing at Prestwick, Scotland. The 322d Bomb Squadron moved to Gander on 30 September, and Prestwick on 1 October, followed by one day by the 401st Bomb Squadron. The group lost one of its 35 bombers during transit when a 401st B-17 crashed in fog into a hillside near Cushendall, Northern Ireland, killing 8 of the crew and a flight surgeon.

The 324th Bomb Squadron flew as a unit from Prestwick to Kimbolton on 1 October, followed by the 322nd on 2 October and the 401st on 6 October. On 10 October, the remaining squadron, the 323rd, flew to Gander from Dow. It did not reach Prestwick until 14 October, by which time the 91st had changed bases.

VIII Bomber Command had assigned the 91st to Kimbolton intending it to be its permanent base. The base was of war-time construction and had not yet been reconstructed to Class A airfield specifications. Intended as a light or medium bomber field, its runways were not suitable for the combat weights of B-17s fully loaded with bombs and fuel. Three practice missions in as many days indicated to the staff of the 91st that the runway would quickly deteriorate and Colonel Wray immediately consulted Col. Newton Longfellow, VIII BC commander, who suggested Wray inspect the RAF Bomber Command OTU base at RAF Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire (52°06′N 00°03′W / 52.1°N 0.05°W / 52.1; -0.05), to see if it might be suitable.

Wray traveled to Bassingbourn, located four miles (6 km) north of Royston. Not only was the base more appealing from its closer proximity to London, but it had been constructed in 1938 and was considerably more comfortable, with permanent brick buildings, including barracks for enlisted personnel (in contrast to the Nissen huts at Kimbolton), landscaped grounds with curbed roadways (Kimbolton, like many war-time fields, was noted for muddy conditions); and had already been re-constructed to a Class A airfield.

Wray contacted his staff and ordered them to prepare for immediate relocation. On 14 October, without prior approval, the 91st moved itself and all of its equipment to Bassingbourn in one day and took possession of the station.