abstract
| - The group's air echelon was activated in England under Eighth Air Force. It was equipped with export versions of the P-39 Aircobra originally ordered for the French Air Force. By the summer of 1942 the number of American pilot volunteers in the Royal Air Force serving in England had grown to a few hundred in number. In urgent need of additional fighters to support the forthcoming North African invasion, American planners decided to combine these two assets already in England and at the end of September 1942 a number of American pilots in the RAF were invited to transfer to the USAAF. Deployed from England to Port Lyautey Airfield, French Morocco, during the period 3 Jan to 28 Feb 1943. The Ground Echelon, finally joined each other at Oujda Airfield, French Morocco, a few days after their arrival in North Africa on 3 January 1943. The Ground Echelon had arrived off North Africa in the first week of November 1942 from the United States with the Operation Torch invasion fleet. The group operated with Twelfth Air Force from January 1943 until the end of the war, flying patrol and interception missions, protecting convoys, escorting aircraft, flying reconnaissance missions, engaging in interdiction operations, and providing close support for ground forces. It operated against targets in Tunisia until the end of that campaign. The Group flew air defense and fighter- bomber missions with its P-39 Aircobras and primarily fighter bomber missions with its P-47 Thunderbolts. The 350th FG moved to the port of embarkation at Naples, Italy, on 14 July 1945. On 1 August 1945, the group sailed for combat operations in the Pacific Theater. The atomic bombs were dropped on Japan while the Group was en route and provisioning in Panama City on the Pacific Ocean side of the Canal Zone. V-J day was declared, signaling the end of hostilities in World War II. The ship carrying the Group was directed to return to the US and the 350th Fighter Group and its American Squadrons were inactivated on 7 November 1945, at Seymour Johnson Field, Goldsboro, NC, after 3 years and one month of operations. The inactivation was to last less than a year.
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