7th Bombardment Group (Heavy)

     Formed in 1918, the 7th Bombardment Group bears the distinction, for good or ill, of being the only USAAF Heavy Bombardment Group involved in World War II right from the opening shots at Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese aircraft which attacked Pearl Harbor and surrounding installations on December 7, 1941, were first picked up on radar, they were identified as the B-17s of the 7th that were due to arrive early that morning enroute to bases in the Phillipines. The 12 B-17s of the 7th arrived during the attacks on Hickam field, with two being rendered unflyable during the attack, two ending up at a fighter strip at Haleiwa, 7 managing to land safely at Hickam, and one landing more or less safely on a golf course not far from Hickam.

     From the devastation at Hickam, the 7th made it's way across the Pacific, first to Australia, where they, along with the 19th Bombardment Group, would stage raids on targets in the Phillipines, Indonesia and New Guinea, then to Java where they would participate in the evacuation of American civilian and military personnel, then briefly, back to Australia in time to evacuate Gen. MacArthur from the Phillipines, and, finally, on to India where they remained for the duration of the war.

     As with any combat unit during wartime the 7th Bomb Group was called on to perform a variety of missions. In the China-Burma-India theater those duties included not only the level bombing of enemy targets for which the aircrews of the squadrons that made up the 7th were trained, but also flying supplies over the infamous "Hump" route to supply American and Chinese forces in China: "skip" bombing of bridges and other targets which required low level flights of heavy and medium bombers; the development of new tactics and weapons, notably the AZON guided bomb; and the evacuation of civilian personnel. That the 7th was at least moderately successful at all these tasks and more is a tribute to the men who made up the air and ground crews of the 7th Bomb Group.

SQUADRONS

9th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy)	436th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy)
492nd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy)	493rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy)

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