Grenier Air Force Base - History - World War II

World War II

New Boston Air Force Station was established in 1940 at Manchester Airport in the build-up of the United States Army Air Corps prior to World War II. Grenier AAF's initial mission after the Pearl Harbor Attack was to support the squadrons of the First Air Force I Bomber Command and later Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command with a mission to patrol the Atlantic coast, locate and attack German U-boats. During the war, bombers and fighters practiced over the area now known as New Boston Air Force Station 12 miles (19 km) west in the town of New Boston.

On February 22, 1942, the base was dedicated as Grenier Army Airfield to honor 2nd Lt Jean Donat Grenier, born in Manchester on November 24, 1909, and killed on February 16, 1934, in the crash of Curtiss A-12 Shrike 33-244 in bad weather at Oakley, Utah, while flying an advance air mail route between Salt Lake City and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

In addition to the antisubmarine mission (which was transferred to the Navy in August 1943), Grenier became a First Air Force group training station, which provided group organizational training prior to the units' deployment to overseas combat theaters. Training P-47 Thunderbolt units, the following groups trained at Grenier:

• 52d Fighter Group, June 1942
• 359th Fighter Group, April–July 1943
• 356th Fighter Group, July–August 1943
• 58th Fighter Group, September–October 1943

With the reassignment of the 58th Fighter Group, the 1377th Army Air Forces Base Unit became the primary host unit at Grenier. Its mission changed from group training to replacement pilot training. P-39 Aircobras and P-40 Warhawks were used for this RTU mission, with the graduates being deployed overseas to combat groups after graduating.

In addition to the replacement training mission, on 1 January 1944 Grenier became the headquarters of the North Atlantic Division of Air Transport Command (ATC). Its primary mission was the ferrying of aircraft from the United States to Great Britain. Using airfields at Presque Isle, and Dow, Maine, ATC ferried thousands of combat and non-combat aircraft through airfields in Newfoundland and Labrador though Greenland and Iceland to Scotland. Long-range transports could also fly directly across the Atlantic to England or via the Azores Islands. The Air Weather Service established a detachment at Grenier which provided long-range weather reconnaissance over the North Atlantic convoy shipping lanes.

At the end of the war, jurisdiction of Grenier was transferred from First Air Force to ATC on 18 August 1945. Its new operational mission was to operate scheduled aircraft service between Grenier and bases of the ATC North Atlantic Division; primarily C-54 Skymasters and C-47 Skytrains.

On 1 July 1946 Grenier was phased down as part of the general demobilization of the armed forces. The 110th Army Air Force Base Unit became the host organization. It was placed on standby status on 30 October 1946.