B-17s of the 483d Bombardment Group in formation during a combat mission[note 2]
The 483d deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, assigned to Fifteenth Air Force in Southern Italy.[1] It began operations in April 1944 and engaged in long-range strategic bombardment of enemy military, industrial and transport targets, including oil refineries and production oilfields in Italy, France. Southern Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and the Balkans.[1] The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for action on 18 July 1944 when, without cover from its fighter escort, the group engaged numerous enemy aircraft in the target area and bombed the objective, an airdrome and installations at Memmingen, despite losing 15 bombers.[1]
Assisting the strategic bombardment of enemy industry the group received another DUC for braving fighter assaults and antiaircraft fire to bomb tank factories at Berlin on 24 March 1945.[1] It struck targets in southern France in preparation for Operation Dragoon, the invasion in August 1944.[1] The group also operated in support of ground force in northern Italy during the Allied offensive in April 1945 and continued strategic bombardment until German capitulation in May 1945.[1]
After V-E Day, assisted with Air Transport Command's Green Project which was the movement of troops from Pisa Airfield to a staging area in Morocco in preparation for return to the United States.[1] The group's B-17s were disarmed with flooring and seats for 25 passengers installed. The flight crew for this operation consisted of a pilot, copilot, navigator and flight engineer. The 483d carried passengers from Pisa to Port Lyautey Airfield, French Morocco where ATC transports moved them across the Atlantic or to Dakar for movement via South Atlantic Transport Route. The group was inactivated in Italy on 25 September 1945. It flew 215 combat missions and 75 aircraft lost.
The group was once again activated at Ashiya Air Base, Japan as the 483d Troop Carrier Group on 1 January 1953 and replaced the 403d Troop Carrier Group and absorbed its mission, personnel and equipment. The group was assigned to the 483d Troop Carrier Wing and controlled the wing's operational squadrons.
It performed troop carrier and air transport operations in the Far East, including landing of troops and cargo in forward areas of the combat zone, air transportation of airborne troops and equipment, and air evacuation of casualties.[1] It received a Korean Presidential Unit Citation for these actions.[1] For its actions in transporting United Nations troops in Korea and training with airborne units, the group was one of the first units to earn an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Between April 1953 and September 1954, the wing aided the French Air Force in Indochina by training personnel and hauling supplies.[1] In 1956, the group became non-operational and its squadrons were attached to the 483d Troop Carrier Wing as Far East Air Forces began to convert to the dual-deputy organizational model. It was inactivated in 1958 as the conversion was complete and its squadrons reassigned to the wing.
The group was briefly reactivated in the early 1990s as the 483d Airlift Group of Military Airlift Command at Osan Air Base, Korea as VIP airlift units were being realigned.
Lineage
Constituted as the 483d Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 14 September 1943
Activated on 20 September 1943
Redesignated 483d Bombardment Group, Heavy on 25 January 1944
Inactivated 25 September 1945
Redesignated 483d Troop Carrier Group, Medium on 15 November 1952
Activated on 1 January 1953
Inactivated on 8 December 1958 (not operational after 15 March 1956)[6]
^Aircraft is Douglas Long Beach B-17G-50-DL Fortress serial 44-6405 "Big Yank". The crew of this plane were credited with 3 Messerschmitt Me 262 kills and one probable on 24 March 1945. The aircraft was salvaged at Walnut Ridge, Arkansas on 28 December 1945.
^Note the "Y" tail code, red painted rudder on the vertical stabilizers.
Grimm, Jacob L.; Cole, Verne H.; Barnes, Clyde M. (1997). Heroes of the 483d: Crew Histories of a Much Decorated B-17 Bomber Group During World War II With a Tribute to the Men Who Kept Them Flying. Ann Arbor, MI: 483d Bombardment Group Association.
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