Trying to get info on my brother's unit in New Guinea - 432nd Sq. 475th Wing 5th Aircorps 42-44.

Is there an archive that has this info?

Google and Bing no help.

Is there an archive in Huntsvill, Ala.? Can't find anything on it.

Any help appreciated .

Check with the unit if it still exists.

I've been reading some books about the 29th Infantry Division, the division has a historian and many of the reports are incorporated into the series of books.

Search "5th Air Force"..... there's lots of good info out there.

http://www.armyaircorpsmuseum.org/wwii_5th_air_force.cfm

http://www.kensmen.com/chronology.html

http://www.aafha.org/airforces.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Air_Force

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/475th_Fighter_Group

The 475th Fighter Group was made up of the 431st, 432nd, and 433rd Fighter Squadrons. They were a P-38 equipped unit operating in the Pacific. Two of the top aces of WW2, Majors Thomas McGuire and Richard Bong flew with the 475th. Lots of good info in those links.



[This message has been edited by JR69 (edited 6/13/2013 6:24p).]

Here is a cool website for DDAY activity

The mission of the IX Troop Carrier Command is to drop in the Cotentin Peninsula the paratroopers of the two U.S. Airborne Divisions, the 82nd and 101st. The aircraft used for this task are the C-47 and the gliders Waco CG4-A and Horsa

http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/aeropus/en_9tcc.php

I'm just trying to help BigJim find info on his brother's unit that flew in the Pacific during WW2, as asked in the OP.

http://www.ozatwar.com/475fg.htm

475th Fighter Group
"Satans Angels"

432nd Fighter Squadron "Clover"

http://planesoffame.org/index.php?page=475-sup-th-sup-fighter-group

http://www.475th.org/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peacelovescoobie/galleries/72157626463328851/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/475th-Fighter-Group-in-WWII/131402180260453#!/pages/475th-Fighter-Group-in-WWII/131402180260453

There are several books shown in this pages photos.

http://www.amazon.com/Possum-Clover-Hades-Schiffer-Military/dp/0887405185

http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!228900!0#focus






[This message has been edited by Rabid Cougar (edited 6/14/2013 9:38p).]

[This message has been edited by Rabid Cougar (edited 6/14/2013 9:50p).]

Thanks everybody ! I will be checking out the references.

I have the two books on the 475th and know a lot about the overall history but am most interested in the day to day flights such as their escorting bombers over Guadalcanal and Rabaul.

My brother was Capt.E.I. McGuire not Thomas the more famous McGuire who was in the 431st Sq.

Will post results later.

[This message has been edited by BigJim49 AustinNowDallas (edited 6/15/2013 1:43p).]

You can search the National Archives military section....I did some in person for a friend on his uncle who died in WWII in an aircraft training accident.
You can begin by searching online
at http://www.archives.gov/research/search/
If that doesn't help, then write them directly...the military archives are located in the Maryland address as follows:

The National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
1-866-272-6272
Or fax to
301-837-0483

Be sure to give them as much info as you have and what you are specifically looking for.

Hope this helps.

Thanks again everybody. Havn't had time to check out all the sites mentioned.

The kensmen site about daily raids by 5th AirCorps is great for anybody to see what our men and women went through every day to pound the Japs. Constant bombings.

Big Jim - just an aside, it was officially the 5th Air Force, even then. The US Army Air Corps was merged into a new command structure called the US Army Air Forces in June, 1941. Prior to that, the Philippine Department Air Force was renamed the 5th Air Force in March, 1941. It was the first numbered Air Force outside the continental United States.

Thanks, JR. I've been wanting to say AF but didn't remember which from way back so i used 5ACorps. I was in the 12th Air Force in Germany in 1955.

No problem BigJim - I think it's great you are doing this.

I am fortunate to have my father's log book and personal diary from his 8th AF days in 1943-45. I also have a stack of documents that he kept - movement orders, promotion orders, awards and decorations orders and citations, etc, and his letters home to his parents and siblings. His letters to my mom were private and were cremated with her when she passed.

I'm in the midst of a project to meld it all together - diary, log book, orders, and letters - into a single document with photographs. I doubt it will be a book, but it will all go on cds and eventually be a Christmas gift to my sisters. It's a big task, but well worth it.

Incidentally, is the 49 in your handle your class year? My dad would have been '46 but for the war, and ended up graduating with the Class of '49 - it's of course on his diplomas but also his ring. He was an Aero Engr.

JR69 - Great you are compiling the records of your Father !

I'm 49 got out in 50 after Navy tour (Marshall Islands). Back in Corps, Lt Statistical Services 12 th AF HQ, Ramstein, Germany.

Went thru my brother's logbook but for some reason covered his pilot training ( mostly in Texas ) and hardly any on his 110 missions in New Guinea.

Several diaries have been put on Texags which have been very interesting ! Hope you can do the same with your Father's service. Where was he - assume Europe ?

Yes my father was 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th AF stationed in Bodney, England and forward deployed to Belgium right before the Battle of the Bulge. He was a P-51 pilot and spent his 21st birthday freezing his arse off there.

If you're interested, google "the legend of Y-29". It tells of the 352nd's defense of their airfield on Jan 1, 1945 when the Luftwaffe launched Operation Bodenplatte - an effort to cripple the US air arm in Europe. My dad had control tower duty that day and watched it all from the ground.

Or, you can just follow this link and use the menu. http://352ndfg.com/Y-29/

I've always been somewhat of an amateur AF historian and have just recently begun to look into air operations in the Pacific. Mostly you hear of Navy operations, but there were significant USAAF operations as well. I'm glad you posted your OP - it got me looking again and I've bookmarked the urls I posted for you so that I can use them as well.

[This message has been edited by JR69 (edited 6/20/2013 1:46p).]

JR and ABatt

ABatt- a lot of troop carriers were trained at Bergstrom Field in Austin ( now Austin's airport ) and gliders. One of their planes dive bombed us on our football field !

Ag46 owner where I worked in Dallas was on a glider DDay ! Not injured.

JR - Air ops in the Pacific were softpedalled along with Army ops while the main action was in Europe. Plus newspapers were censored .

Th WIKI references have a lot of info on the AirCorps in the Pacific. In 41 Our planes at Clark Field Manila were destroyed partly because they were waiting for orders to bomb Formosa. Jap planes from Formosa did the dirty work !

Our guys from Clark Field joined the Bataan Death March - my daughter in law's grandfather
was one who was captured and died in prison. Buried in Manila- In 2011 his two daughters first visited his grave.

JR -just occured to me that my brother to his chagrin was called JR by most of my family. are you a real JR?

I am pretty sure the Galveston AF museum has or had a working P51. The hurricane recently forced some of the planes to be moved. It was cranked up while I was there - loud and strong!

BigJim - JR is my initials....

I've spent a lot of time in the Philippines during the last two years and have a return trip planned for August. Toured Corregidor twice, and traced the Bataan Death March from both points of origin all the way to Camp O'Donnell in Tarlac. Been to Cabanatuan, the camp in the movie "The Great Raid". My mother's first cousin was on Bataan when it fell, swam to Corregidor, and was captured there. He survived the war.

Spent some R&R time at Clark way back in the early 70s.

Some historians aren't so generous when talking about the loss of our aircraft at Clark Dec 1941. According to some, they were all lined up nice and neatly because McArthur didn't believe the Japanese would attack and he felt no urgency to disburse them. Various descriptions I've read on the attacks on Clark and another airfield on Luzon, the name of which escapes me, were brutal to say the least.

If you've ever in your life heard a Merlin powered P-51 fly by, you will never forget it. The only thing I've ever heard that was anywhere near as awesome sounding is the F-4 Phantom.

[This message has been edited by JR69 (edited 6/21/2013 5:24p).]

JR - great that you've had the interest and time to study the Bataan Death March - one of the sad events of WW2.

Havn't studied the reasons for the debacle but the General who surrendered our forces has gotten a lot of criticsm.

The 475th went from New Guinea to the Phillipines in 44 . The other McGuire - Thomas a leading ace was killed there in a crash. My brother had already been sent back to the States.

[This message has been edited by BigJim49 AustinNowDallas (edited 6/22/2013 9:59a).]

That would be MGen Edward P King. King had no choice unless he wanted to see everyone dead. Orders to hold on at all costs were coming from MacArthur who was safely in Australia, and LtGen Matthew Wainwright, safely (for the time being) ensconced on Corregidor. Neither were on the scene to see what was happening.

Wainwright faced the exact same decision on Corregidor a month later, and made the same decision.

Many of those men died in captivity, but many survived, a few escaped, some became pretty darn effective guerilla leaders and fighters.

I believe all the criticism leveled at King at the time and since is unjustified. As hard as it is to accept surrender, it was the only choice.

Thanks JR.

There is a good discussion on the surrender at ibiblio.org .