43rd Bombardment Group Constituted as 43rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 20 Nov 1940. Activated on 15 Jan 1941. Trained with B-17, B-18, A-29, and LB-30 aircraft. Flew some antisubmarine patrols along the New England coast, Dec 1941-Feb 1942. Moved to the Southwest Pacific, via Capetown, Feb-Mar 1942. Became part of Fifth AF. Equipped first with B-17's, but converted to B-24's, May-Sep 1943. Operated from Australia, New Guinea, and Owi Island, Aug 1941-Nov 1944, making numerous attacks on Japanese shipping in the Netherlands East Indies and the Bismarck Archipelago. This is an excellent site for information on the 43rd BG 5th AAF stationed in the SWPA with a daily calender, pictures, and personal accounts. Unit History (click the back button to go to main page)
Thought I'd bump this as someone was looking for code words and this has a few. Also a good site for much more info with a day by day of all major actions and moves by Air Groups/Squadrons. Things like this tidbit; Lesson's Learned In Combat [h=3]Capt. Lindsey on skip bombing[/h] 29 January, 1943 1. The fuses used in skip bombing are 4 to 5 second delay - placed in the tail of the bomb. The nose plug replacing the nose fuse. The ship that is to do the skip bombing should be high enough to allow them to glide in on the target and attain an air speed of 200 mph or greater. The altitude at which you level out is between 175 ft. and 300 ft. The bombardier guides the pilot by talking to him such as left of right. This will insure leading for the target broad side. The ship should be level when bombs are released. 2. In dropping bombs, the bombardier should allow for at least a 60 ft.. bounce and skip. It has been found that most of the bomb fall short; so to insure a direct hit, three bombs should be released on one run. If the ship is moving, it should be headed at least 1/5 of length of ship. Throttles of airplanes should be opened directly over ship or just after the airplane has crossed over the ship. It has been found that the withdrawal should be straight out. The best time to skip bomb is when the moon is just above the horizon. 3. Result of skip bombing is hard to observe unless the bomb goes directly into the ship, thus causing fires. But when the bomb goes directly into the water, the only thing noticed is a gyzer of water which shoots up about 20 or 30 ft. The damage done is in the bottom of the ship.
