RAF High Halden - History - USAAF Use - 358th Fighter Group

358th Fighter Group

An advance party of the 358th Fighter Group moved into High Halden airfield in on 13 April 1944 from RAF Raydon. Operational squadrons of the 358th were:

• 365th Fighter Squadron (CH)
• 366th Fighter Squadron (IA)
• 367th Fighter Squadron (CP)

The group was assigned to the XIX Tactical Air Command, 100th Fighter Wing.

After the comparative domestic comfort of the Eighth Air Force bomber base at RAF Raydon, High Halden's tents were not well received. Three requisitioned houses afforded shelter for a lucky few and the house at Gate's Farm served as the group headquarters. American engineers extended the main runway with Pierced Steel Planking to approximately 5,400 ft by taking it across the minor road that skirted the south side of the landing ground. In addition, there was much innovation during the 358th FG's stay, with extensions to hardstands, and numerous wooden shelters for ground crews made from the crates in which P-47 drop-tanks were received.

From High Halden the group dive-bombed marshalling yards and airfields to help prepare for the invasion of Normandy. Continued attacks on enemy communications and flew escort missions during May. Escorted troop carriers over the Cotentin Peninsula on 6 and 7 June, and attacked bridges, rail lines and trains, vehicles, and troop concentrations during the remainder of the month.

The intensity of the group's operations increased with the D-Day invasion ground-attack missions predominating. Compared with many Ninth Air Force fighter groups, the 358th had relatively light losses during this period. There was little contact with enemy fighters and only four were claimed as shot down while flying from High Halden.

A few days after the group arrived at the airfield, there was an unexpected visitor in the form of a battle-damaged 303rd Bomb Group B-17 Flying Fortress from RAF Molesworth which 'bellied in' on 24 April. In June, High Halden found itself in the V-1 flying bomb corridor, and there were more lethal arrivals when, on the 18th and again on 23 June, a V-1 exploded on the base. There is no record of the damage sustained.

The 358th began movement to the ALG at Cretteville France (ALG A-14) on 29 June, however the group continued to operate from High Halden until 16 July with the remainder of the ground support personnel leaving on the 18th.

Legacy

After moving to the Continent in July the group took part in operations that resulted in the Allied breakthrough at Saint-Lô. Continued to fly escort, interdictory, and close-support missions during the allied drive across France and into Germany, earning four citations before the end of the war.

The 358th Fighter Group received its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for operations from 24 December 1944 to 2 January 1945 when the group not only supported Seventh Army by attacking rail lines and rolling stock, vehicles, buildings, and artillery, but also destroyed numerous fighter planes during a major assault by the German Air Force against Allied airfields.

The group received a second DUC for 19–20 March 1945, a period in which the 358th destroyed and damaged large numbers of motor transports and thus hampered the evacuation of German forces that were withdrawing from the area west of the Rhine.

A third DUC was received for performance between 8 and 25 April 1945 when the group attacked enemy airfields in the region of Munich and Ingolstadt, engaged the enemy in aerial combat, and supported advancing ground forces by attacking such targets as motor transports, tanks, locomotives, guns, and buildings.

The 358th received a fourth citation, the French Croix de guerre with Palm, for assisting in the liberation of France.

The group returned to La Junta AAF, Colorado during July and was inactivated on 7 November 1945. In 1945, the group was redesignated as the 122d Fighter Group and allocated to the Indiana Air National Guard. The United States Air Force Air National Guard 122d Fighter Wing still stands on duty today.