The 373rd Fighter Group is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with First Air Force stationed at Mitchel Field, New York. It was inactivated on 7 November 1945.
During World War II the group was assigned to Ninth Air Force in Western Europe. It was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission on 20 March 1945, that greatly facilitated the crossing of the Rhine River by Allied ground forces: without losing any planes, the group repeatedly dived through barrages of antiaircraft fire to bomb vital airfields east of the river; they also attacked rail lines and highways leading to the Rhine, hitting rolling stock, motor transports, and other objectives.
The 373rd was redesignated as the 146th Fighter Group, and allotted to the California Air National Guard on 24 May 1946.
History
During World War II, the 373rd Fighter Group participated in the aerial operations which made possible the establishment of the Normandy beachhead and the rapid advance of the Allied ground forces into Germany. Although in combat for only 12 months, the Group took part in six campaigns and was awarded one Distinguished Unit Citation for outstanding performance of duty in action.
The unit was constituted as the 373rd Fighter Group on 25 May 1943. The unit, consisting of the 410th, 411th, and 412th Fighter Squadrons, was activated at Westover Field, Massachusetts, on 15 August 1943. The original personnel for the 373rd were supplied by the 326th Fighter Group. Training for the 373rd Fighter Group began at Westover Field in September 1943 and was continued at Norfolk Army Airfield, Virginia, where the unit moved on 22 October.
On 12 February 1944 the group's training was brought to a halt and the organization prepared for its departure overseas. The group moved to Camp Shanks, New York, on 15 March. One week later the unit's personnel moved to the New York Port of Embarkation, boarded HMS Duchess of Bedford, and on the following day sailed for Great Britain. The ship reached Greenock, Scotland, on 3 April, and the men disembarked and moved to their new station at RAF Woodchurch, Kent, England. During the remainder of the month the group prepared for combat operations by flying training missions. Some of the pilots, in order to gain experience, participated in missions with the 358th Fighter Group.
The 373rd Fighter Group flew its first combat mission—a fighter sweep over the coast of France—on 8 May 1944. No aerial opposition or flak was encountered. All planes returned safely to their base. Three days later the unit escorted a group of Martin B-26 Marauder bombers to France. Then, on 21 May, the unit participated in its first strike into Germany, when 50 of its Republic P-47 Thunderbolts conducted a fighter sweep over the lower Ruhr Valley.
The unit met its first enemy air opposition on the mission of 24 May, when it was attacked by seven Focke-Wulf Fw 190s while escorting bombers to Belgium. Three days later the group completed its first dive-bombing mission—a strike against a railway bridge in the vicinity of Rouen. During another strike on that same target later in the day, the unit's pilots scored three direct hits.
The mission accomplished by the 373rd Fighter Group in May 1944 prepared the unit for the tremendous tasks it was to undertake during the month of June. In all, the 373rd completed 54 missions, consisting of 1,532 sorties, during the month. Fourteen of its missions were flown on D-Day (6 June), when it patrolled the beaches and provided top cover for other outfits in dive-bombing attacks against enemy targets.
In the days succeeding the successful establishment of the Normandy beachhead the 373rd Group swept behind enemy lines, attacking motor convoys, troops, transportation facilities, and other tactical and interdictory targets, in an effort to isolate the battlefield. Often the pilots directed their strikes against any target of opportunity which would hamper the movement of enemy supplies, hinder communications, and check the flow of German reinforcements to the front.
On 25 June, the 411th Squadron became the first component of the 373rd Fighter Group to land in France. On that day the squadron was sent out to patrol the area between Le Havre and Cap de Barfleur. When their fuel supply was nearly exhausted the squadron's P-47s were relieved by aircraft from one of the other squadrons, and the pilots landed Azeville Airfield (A-7) on the Cotentin Peninsula. At that landing strip the planes were refueled and the pilots took off to patrol the same area. Later they returned to their base at Woodchurch.