1120

RARE WW2 ARMY AIR CORPS 56TH AIR DEPOT GROUP, GUAM

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 400.00 USD
RARE WW2 ARMY AIR CORPS 56TH AIR DEPOT GROUP, GUAM
1944. 3' x 4' double applique machine and hand embroidery on aquamarine field, orange fringe, Philadelphia depot label dated April 26, 1944. The 56th Air Depot Group was formed in February 1942 at Patterson Field, now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. They remained in Ohio until March 1943 before moving to McClellan Filed in California and remained there until November when they transferred to Tinker Field in Oklahoma City. They arrived on Guam on November 9, 1944. In January 1945, the command was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation per Army Air Forces General Order 115. When combat aviation was part of the U.S. Army first as the U.S. Army Air Corps and then as World War Two progressed, the U.S. Army Air Forces, Air Depot Groups were created for base support of logistics and maintenance of a base's aircraft. As these groups deployed overseas to both main theaters of the war, the intention for each depot base command was one Service Group for every two combat groups and one Air Depot Group for every two Service Groups. As the chart above details the main functions were supply and maintenance with operations and other support part of the mix. For the Army Air Forces in the Pacific Theater a large Air Depot was placed on Guam after the capture of that island from the Japanese on August 10, 1944. After being secured, Navy Seabees and black Army Engineer battalions turned the island into a massive air base consisting of five large airfields. Two of these would soon host B-29 bombers who could then carry the air war to Japan and other Japanese held islands in the region. Assigned to Guam's Air Depot were the 23rd, 24th, 25th, 55th and 56th Air Depot Groups. The Air Force still uses the ultramarine blue field, the colors for Army aviation and now the U.S. Air Force flags. CONDITION: good overall, a few small holes in field. (02-19982-18/JS). $200-400.