31st Fighter Group

From 'Air Force Combat Units of World War II':

Constituted as 31st Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 22 December 1939. Activated on 1 February 1940.
Trained with P-39s (and P-40s, webmaster) and participated in maneuvers. Redesignated 31st Fighter
Group in May 1942. Moved to England, May-June 1942. Assigned to Eighth AF and equipped with Spitfires.
Entered combat in August 1942. Supported a raid made by Canadian, British, American, and French forces
at Dieppe on 19 August. Escorted bombers and flew patrol and diversionary missions until October.
Assigned to Twelfth AF for the invasion of North Africa, the pilots of the group flying Spitfires from
Gibralter to Algeria on 8 November 1942 and the ground echelon landing at Arzeu beach the same day.
Attacked motor transports, gun positions, and troop concentrations during the three-day campaign for
Algeria and French Morocco. Helped to defeat Axis forces in Tunisia by supporting ground troops and
providing cover for bomber and fighter aircraft. During May and June 1943, provided escort for bomb-
ers on raids to Pantelleria and cover for naval convoys in the Mediterranean. Supported the landings
on Sicily in July and took part in the conquest of that island. Covered the landings at Salerno early
in September 1943 and at Anzio in January 1944. Also operated in close support of Allied ground forces
in Italy and flew patrol and escort missions.

Assigned to Fifteenth AF in April 1944, converted to P-51s, and thereafter engaged primarily in escort
work. Received a DUC for a mission on 21 April 1944 when the group, despite the severe weather that was
encountered, provided cover for a force of heavy bombers during a raid on production centers in Rumania.
On numerous other occasions escorted bombers that attacked objectives in Italy, France, Germany, Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Rumania, Yugoslavia, and Greece. In addition provided escort
for reconnaissance aircraft and for C-47s engaged in the airborne operation connected with the invasion
of Southern France. Also flew strafing missions against airdromes and communications targets. Took part
in an operation in which a task force from Fifteenth AF attacked targets in Rumania while flying to Russia
on 22 July 1944 and while returning to Italy on 26 July; on 25 July, after escorting P-38s from a base in
Russia for a raid on an airdrome in Poland, the 31st group made attacks on a convoy of German trucks and
on a force of German fighter-bombers, being awarded a DUC for its performance. Strafed rail and highway
traffic in northern Italy in April 1945 when Allied forces were engaged in their final offensive in that
area. Returned to the US in August. Inactivated on 7 November 1945.

Squadrons

39th: 1940-1942
40th: 1940-1942
41st: 1940-1942
307th: 1942-1945
308th: 1942-1945
309th: 1942-1945

Stations

Selfridge Field, Michigan, 1 February 1940
Baer Field, Indiana, 6 December 1941
New Orleans AB, Louisiana, February - 19 May 1942
Atcham, England, 11 Jun 1942
Westhampnett, England, 1 August 1942
Tafaraoui, Algeria, 8 November 1942
La Senia, Algeria, circa 12 November 1942
Thelepte, Tunisia, circa 7 February 1943
Tebessa, Algeria, 17 February 1943
Youks-les-Bains, Algeria, 21 February 1943
Kalaa Djerda, Tunisia, circa 25 February 1943
Thelepte, Tunisia, 11 March 1943
Djilma, Tunisia, 7 April 1943
Le Sers, Tunisia 12 April 1943
Korba, Tunisia, 15 May 1943
Gozo (Malta, webmaster), circa 30 June 1943
Ponte Olivo, Sicily, circa 13 July 1943
Agrigento, Sicily, 21 July 1943
Termini, Sicily, 2 August 1943
Milazzo, Sicily, 2 September 1943
Montecorvino, Italy, 20 September 1943
Pomigliano, Italy, 14 October 1943
Castel Volturno, Italy, 19 January 1944
San Severo, Italy, 2 April 1944
Mondolfo, Italy, 3 March 1945
Triolo Airfield, Italy, 15 July - August 1945
Drew Field, Florida, 7 August - November 1945

Commanders

Lt.Col. Harold H. George, Feb 1940
Colonel John R. Hawkins, 1 July 1941
Colonel Fred M. Dean, 5 December 1942
Lt.Col. Frank A. Hill, circa July 1943
Colonel Charles M. McCorkle, circa September 1943
Colonel Yancey S. Tarrant, 4 July 1944
Colonel William A. Daniel, 4 December - unknown

Campaigns

Air Combat, EAME Theater
Air Offensive, Europe
Algeria-French Morocco
Tunisia
Sicily
Naples-Foggia
Anzio
Rome-Arno
Normandy
Northern France
Southern France
North Apennines
Rhineland
Central Europe
Po Valley

Decorations

DUC - Rumania, 21 April 1944
DUC - Poland, 25 July 1945

Note: All above information pertains to this unit's activities up to 1945.
Any subsequent activity from 1946 onward is not included.

P-40 #4 of the 31st Pursuit Group's HQ flight over Selfridge Field, 1940.