| Sierra Bombardment Group | |
|---|---|
| Active | December 1941-February 1942 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Army Air Corps |
The Sierra Bombardment Group was a provisional United States Army Air Corps organization. It was established on 8 December 1941 at Minter Field, California. It consisted of air crews and ten B-17E Flying Fortresses formerly assigned to the 7th Bombardment Group 32d Bombardment Squadron and 427th Bombardment Squadron. In addition, thirty five B-25 Mitchell medium bombers of the 17th Bombardment Group, Second Air Force, Pendleton Army Airfield, Oregon, were also assigned.
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service of the United States of America between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical rift developed between more traditional ground-based army personnel and those who felt that aircraft were being underutilized and that air operations were being stifled for political reasons unrelated to their effectiveness. The USAAC was renamed from the earlier United States Army Air Service on 2 July 1926, and was part of the larger United States Army. The Air Corps became the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 20 June 1941, giving it greater autonomy from the Army's middle-level command structure. During World War II, although not an administrative echelon, the Air Corps (AC) remained as one of the combat arms of the Army until 1947, when it was legally abolished by legislation establishing the Department of the Air Force.
California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 8.8 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second most populous, after New York. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.
The 17th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The group was last stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida.
The squadrons were located in the Western United States and were awaiting transfer to the Philippines in early December 1941. After the Pearl Harbor Attack, the provisional unit was formed. It performed coastal patrols for a short time stationed at Muroc Army Airfield, California, but as the conditions in the Philippines worsened, the B-17s departed via Hawaii on 17 December. However upon arrival at Hickam Field, the aircraft were pressed into service for defensive reconnaissance patrols. Three B-17s were released and were allowed to depart for Mindanao, but were diverted to Java, Netherlands East Indies, where they were assigned to evacuated 19th BG components that were operating from Singosari Airfield. The remainder stayed at Hickam until 10 January when they flew to Australia via Christmas Island; Kanton Island and Fiji where the aircraft were held for almost a week while Vichy French guerrilla activity was put down. Upon arrival at Townville, Queensland, unit was assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group as replacements.
Hawaii is the 50th and most recent state to have joined the United States, having received statehood on August 21, 1959. Hawaii is the only U.S. state located in Oceania, the only U.S. state located outside North America, and the only one composed entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean.
Mindanao or still commonly known as Southern Philippines, is the second largest island in the Philippines. Mindanao and the smaller islands surrounding it make up the island group of the same name. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, as of the 2010 census, the main island was inhabited by 20,281,545 people, while the entire Mindanao island group had an estimated total of 25,537,691 (2018) residents.
Java is an island of Indonesia, bordered by the Indian Ocean on the south and the Java Sea on the north. With a population of over 141 million or 145 million, Java is the home to 56.7 percent of the Indonesian population and is the world's most populous island. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is located on its northwestern coast. Much of Indonesian history took place on Java. It was the center of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, the Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies. Java was also the center of the Indonesian struggle for independence during the 1930s and 1940s. Java dominates Indonesia politically, economically and culturally. Four of Indonesia's eight UNESCO world heritage sites are located in Java: Ujung Kulon National Park, Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temple, and Sangiran Early Man Site.
The B-25 Mitchells remained in Oregon and continued to provide coastal antisubmarine patrols along the Northwest Pacific Coast. However, the available aircraft were not equipped with radar or other devices, and detection of enemy submarines depended solely on eyesight. The antisubmarine aircrews occasionally mistook whales and floating logs for Japanese submarines, They frequently reported and attacked enemy submarines, but rarely confirmed results. A B-25 crew claimed they bombed a submarine near the mouth of the Columbia River on December 24, 1941. They claimed it sank, but in fact no Japanese submarine was sunk off the West Coast during World War II.
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. It flows northwest and then south into the US state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state of Oregon before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The river is 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, and its largest tributary is the Snake River. Its drainage basin is roughly the size of France and extends into seven US states and a Canadian province. The fourth-largest river in the United States by volume, the Columbia has the greatest flow of any North American river entering the Pacific.
The unit was discontinued in early February 1942
