The 44th Air Division, Bombardment was redesignated as a division on 16 April 1948, when it was at Brooks Field (later, Brooks Air Force Base), Texas, under the 14th Air Force, then transferred to the 12th Air Force on 1 July 1948.
The unit started as the 44th Bombardment Wing, conducting medium bomber training in the United States. It deployed to the European Theater of Operations in the summer of 1943, but before it could being combat operations, was redesignated in November 1943 as the 99th Bombardment Wing and assigned to the new IX Bomber Command, the medium bombardment component of the revamped Ninth Air Force.
Its subordinate units attacked enemy airfields in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands between December 1943 and February 1944. Beginning in March 1944, they bombed rail road and highway bridges, oil tanks, and missile sites in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. Its subordinate units supported the Allied offensive at Caen, France, and the breakthrough at Saint-Lô, France, in July 1944. Between October and December 1944, they bombed bridges, road junctions, and ordnance depots in support of the assault on the Siegfried Line. On 16 December 1944, during a period of poor flying weather, the Germans launched a major offensive, known as the Battle of the Bulge, in the Ardennes Forest. When the weather cleared, 99th BW units bombed supply points, communication centres, bridges, marshalling yards, roads, and oil storage tanks.[2]
The 44th was inactivated when Continental Air Command reorganized in June 1949 in response to President Truman’s reduced 1949 defense budget that required reductions in the number of unit (groups – 48) in the Air Force.[2][4]
Performed bombing operations in Europe until V-E Day
Lineageedit
Established as the 44th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 15 February 1943
Activated on 1 March 1943
Redesignated 99th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) on 2 November 1943
Redesignated 99th Combat Bombardment Wing, Medium on 13 August 1944
Redesignated 99th Bombardment Wing, Medium on 16 June 1945
Inactivated on 4 October 1945
Redesignated 44th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 27 May 1947 and allotted to the reserve.
Activated on 26 June 1947
Redesignated 44th Air Division, Bombardment on 16 April 1948
^Aircraft is B-26 Serial 43-34181 of the 495th Bombardment Squadron at RAF Stansted
^ abcdefghij"Factsheet 44 Air Division, Bombardment". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
^"Abstract, Mission Project Closeup, Continental Air Command". Air Force History Index. 27 December 1961. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
Knaack, Marcelle Size (1988). Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems. Vol. 2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-59-5.