Description

The 365th Fighter-Bomber Group, otherwise known as the Hell Hawks, was activated May 15, 1943 and assigned to fly P-47 Thunderbolts. They trained in Dover, Delaware and flew their gunnery training missions out of Millville, New Jersey. They departed Richmond Army Air Base in December 4, 1943 and sailed on the Queen Elizabeth along with 15,000 troops. They arrived at Gosfield, Essex on December 23, 1943. Their first combat air field training resumed for two months. On February 22, 1944, the Hell Hawks flew their first combat mission and over the next one to two months gradually converted from escorting 8th Air Force heavy bombers to their fighter-bomber mode that continued to the war’s end.