World War II MacDill Air Force Base

the thunderbird, magazine printed quarterly @ macdill army air field, summer 1944 edition



a southern-oriented image of macdill airfield taken during world war ii (note image inverted)



martin b-26b marauder, aaf ser. no. 42-92142, of 596th bomb squadron, 397th bomb group, on europe in 1944. 397th bomb group stationed @ macdill field in 1943.



lockheed-vega b-17f-40-ve fortress, aaf ser. no. 42-6001, in maintenance hangar @ macdill field, florida, 1944



b-17g flying fortresses taxiing @ macdill aaf, florida, 1944



b-17 tail position maintenance – macdill aaf florida – 1944

with united states s entry world war ii, primary mission of macdill field became training of bombardment units under iii bomber command. in june 1942, 21st bombardment group assigned b-26 marauder medium bombers operational training unit (otu). main training unit, group flew antisubmarine patrols on gulf of mexico.

it b-26 earned slogan 1 day in tampa bay due number of model b-26 aircraft ditched or crashed tampa bay waters surrounding macdill field. models of b-26 aircraft proved hard fly , land many pilots due short wings, high landing speeds, , fighter plane maneuverability. improvements block 10 version of aircraft, known b-26b-10, added 6 feet of additional wingspan , upgraded engines eliminated of these problems. 9 of twelve combat groups flew b-26 in europe activated , trained @ macdill , in combat b-26 enjoyed lowest loss rate of allied bomber.

in addition, macdill field provided transitional training in b-17 flying fortress. first eighth air force flying fortress groups trained @ macdill prior deployment england in summer of 1942. also, command , control organizations eighth air force organized , equipped @ macdill in 1942. heavy bomber training ended in july 1942 b-17 group training mission reassigned ii bomber command , moved midwest , western states.

estimates of number of crew members trained @ base during war vary 50,000 120,000, many 15,000 troops stationed @ macdill field @ 1 time. contingent of women s army corps (wac) troops arrived in 1943. base provided various forms of entertainment including band concerts, live performers, , movie theater.

two films made in tampa during world war ii wartime themes: guy called joe (1943) starred spencer tracy , had scenes shot @ macdill; air force (1943) starred john garfield , had scenes shot @ drew field. in latter film, macdill-based b-26s painted japanese bombers, , although entire tampa bay area defenses alerted this, u.s. coast guard still shot @ planes flew on gulf.

in late 1943, when second air force began transitioning b-29 superfortress training, b-17 mission returned macdill, continued through end of world war ii. result, 21st bombardment group disbanded on 10 october 1943 , operational training unit (otu) performed b-17 training, 488th bombardment group (heavy), activated in november 1943 4 bombardment training squadrons.

in administrative reorganization hq army air force on 1 may 1944, numbered training units in zone of interior (zi) (continental united states) re-designated army air force base units . @ macdill, 488th bomb group redesignated 326th army air forces base unit (heavy bombardment) , b-17 training squadron tail codes designated h, j, k, , l .

beginning in january 1944, 11th photographic group used macdill mission of photographic mapping in , sent detachments carry out similar operations in africa, cbi theater, near , middle east, mexico, canada, alaska, , caribbean. unit flew mixture of b-17, b-24, b-25, b-29, f-2, f-9, f-10, , a-20 aircraft equipped cartographic cameras. 11th pg inactivated in october 1944, being replaced several intelligence , mapping training units @ airfield 1945 through 1948.

several bases in florida, including macdill, aso served detention centers german prisoners-of-war (pows) in latter part of 1944 , 1945. @ apex, 488 german pows interned @ macdill.

in february 1945, 323d combat crew training wing (very heavy bomber) established @ base mission of training b-29 superfortress aircrews. first training class began @ end of february , b-29 superfortress arrived @ macdill field on 26 january 1945, additional aircraft arriving during spring , summer , first b-29 aircrew graduating in may. on 16 april 1945, macdill assigned continental air command , became primary training facility aircrew assigned b-29 superfortress.

on 24 june 1945 hurricane hit tampa bay area, , b-17 aircraft evacuated vichy army airfield, missouri. @ end of june 1945, b-17 replacement crew training ended @ base. end of war in europe , b-17 being used exclusively in europe, need replacement personnel eighth , fifteenth air force ended.

the 326th army air forces base unit reorganized army air forces separation (326th aafbu (separation station) ) unit process military demobilizations. demobilization , separation functions became major mission @ macdill in fall of 1945, however, lack of personnel main inhibiting factor. on 1 january 1946, closure of drew army airfield, demobilization , separation activities performed 301st army air forces base unit (separation station) @ drew transferred macdill field, separation station remaining open until december 1949.

with end of hostilities in september 1945, training b-29 aircrew training program began scale down , base became reception facility returning twentieth air force bomb groups marianas. these groups were:

462d bombardment group (very heavy) (november 1945)
497th bombardment group (very heavy) (january 1946)
498th bombardment group (very heavy) (january 1946)

the rapid demobilization after war led these units inactivated during 1946. headquarters, iii fighter command moved drew field in december 1945 , both iii bomber , iii fighter commands inactivated on 8 april 1946.