James Sharp was in the 329th Bomb Squadron of the 93rd BG, the Mighty 8th Air Force !

HISTORY:

Constituted as 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. Activated on 1 Mar 1942. Prepared for combat with B-24's. Engaged in antisubmarine operations over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, May-Jul 1942.

Moved to England, Aug-Sep 1942, and assigned to Eighth AF. Entered combat on 9 Oct 1942 by attacking steel and engineering works at Lille. Until Dec 1942, operated primarily against submarine pens in the Bay of Biscay. A large detachment was sent to North Africa in Dec 1942, the group receiving a DUC for operations in that theater, Dec 1941-Feb 1943, when, with inadequate supplies and under the most difficult desert conditions, the detachment struck heavy blows at enemy shipping and communications. The detachment returned to England, Feb-Mar 1943, and until the end of Jun the group bombed engine repair works, harbors, power plants, and other targets in France, the Low Countries, and Germany. A detachment returned to the Mediterranean theater, Jun-Jul 1943, to support the invasion of Sicily and to participate in the famous low-level attack on enemy oil installations at Ploesti on 1 Aug. Having followed another element of the formation along the wrong course to Ploesti, the 93rd hit targets that had been assigned to other groups, but it carried out its bombing of the vital oil installations despite heavy losses inflicted by attacks from the fully-alerted enemy and was awarded a DUC for the operation. Lt Col Addison E Baker, group commander, and Maj John L Jerstad, a former member of the group who had volunteered for this mission, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for action in the Ploesti raid: refusing to make a forced landing in their damaged B-24, these men, as pilot and co-pilot of the lead plane, led the group to bomb the oil facilities before their plane crashed in the target area. After the detachment returned to England in Aug 1943, the group flew only two missions before the detachment was sent back to the Mediterranean to support Fifth Army at Salerno during the invasion of Italy in Sep 1943. The detachment rejoined the group in Oct 1943, and until Apr 1945 the 93rd concentrated on bombardment of strategic targets such as marshalling yards, aircraft factories, oil refineries, chemical plants, and cities in Germany. In addition it bombed gun emplacements, choke points, and bridges near Cherbourg during the Normandy invasion in Jun 1944; attacked troop concentrations in northern France during the St Lo breakthrough in Jul 1944; transported food, gasoline, water, and other supplies to the Allies advancing across France, Aug-Sep 1944; dropped supplies to airborne troops in Holland on 18 Sep 1944; struck enemy transportation and other targets during the Battle of the Bulge, Dec 1944-Jan 1945; and flew two missions on 24 Mar 1945 during the airborne assault across the Rhine, dropping supplies to troops near Wesel and bombing a night-fighter base at Stormede. Ceased operations in Apr 1945. Returned to the US, May-Jun 1945.

Main Bases

Barksdale Field, La: 1 March 1942
Ft. Myers, Florida: 15 May-2 August 1942
Alconbury, England: 7 September 1942
Hardwick, England: 6 December 1942-19 May 1945
Sioux Falls, DS: June 1945
Pratt Field, Kansas: 24 July 1945

Component Units

328th Bombardment Squadron: 1942-1952
329th Bombardment Squadron: 1942-1952
330th Bombardment Squadron: 1942-1952
409th Bombardment Squadron: 1942-1946

Assigned To

Eighth Air Force: 1942-1945

James H Sharp