380th Bomb Group Association World War II Veterans Group   WE WENT TO WAR PART V:  THE PLANES WE FLEW - AUSTRALIA/NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN

This compilation was drawn from a number of sources. The work was carried out in a largely sequential manner using the following sources in the order presented below:

1. The Mission Records of the 380th Bomb Group as carried by the National Archives of the United States, Annex II, College Park, Maryland. These records are complete except for initial missions carried out in New Guinea in June 1943 while serving with the 43rd and 90th Bomb Groups.


2. The Unit Histories of the 380th Bomb Group and its constituent squadrons as obtained in microfilm from the Air Force Historical Research Center at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama. The histories begin in January or February 1944 and continue until peace in September 1945. The earlier history is only summarized. The reports include copies of some selected orders by and to the 380th Bomb Group during the above period. These are quite incomplete but hopefully there has been enough overlap between the presentations of the several units involved to complete our work successfully.


3. The histories already published on the 380th Bomb Group (H):
4. THE FLYING CIRCUS - 380TH BOMB GROUP, by James E. Fain, Jr., Howard L. Bergman, Grant C. Cannon and Julian A. Riser, Intelligence Officers of the 380th Bomb Group, Commanday-Roth Co., New York, NY, 1946, 190 pp. Reprinted 1988.
5. KING OF THE HEAVIES - 380TH BOMB GROUP, 1942-1945, by Glenn R. Horton, Jr., and Gary L. Horton. Library of Congress Card Number 83-90348. Privately published, 1983, 184 pp.
6. THE BEST IN THE SOUTHWEST - THE 380TH BOMB GROUP IN WORLD WAR II, by Glenn R. Horton, Jr., Library of Congress Card Number 95-079703, ISBN 0-9645959-0-7. Mosie Publications, Savage, MN, 1995, 513 pp.

These publications have been particularly important, especially for aircraft nose art names and pictures, which are missing from the official records, and for narratives of events as they occurred.  NOTE:  All of these publications are no longer in print; please check military bookstores/libraries, eBay, and other resources for available copies.


7. The Membership Rosters of the 380th Bomb Group Association, Inc. (the organization of the veterans of World War II service in the 380th Bomb Group and their families) previously published by us or associated with our regular quarterly newsletters.

A separate section was kept for each aircraft collecting all available information from each of the above sources. Conflicting information was sorted out based on repetition of use and on its plausibility. In many cases several different values were presented for serial numbers, name spellings, and assignments, etc. It is hoped that the correct version has been chosen in each case.