417th Bombardment Group The 417th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit . Its last assignment was with V Bomber Command at Itami Airfield , Japan , where it was inactivated on 5 November 1945 . During World War II , the group operated in the Southwest Pacific Theater as a light bombardment unit during the New Guinea and Philippines campaigns . It was awarded both the Distinguished Unit Citation and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for its combat service . History . Training in the United States . The 417th Bombardment Group was activated in the spring of 1943 at Will Rogers Field , Oklahoma with the 672d , 673d , 674th , and 675th Bombardment Squadron s assigned . The group drew its initial cadre from the 46th and 416th Bombardment Group s . Once assigned , the 417th ' s key personnel travelled to Orlando Army Air Base in mid - April where they received combat training from the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics . The first Douglas A - 20 Havoc s arrived to equip the group in mid - May along with some DB - 7 export models of the Havoc . Initial training of the group was conducted by the 46th Bombardment Group , the Operational Training Unit at Will Rogers Field . The group then moved to DeRidder Army Air Base , Louisiana for advanced training . From August to September the 417th operated with the II Tactical Air Division giving low level support to ground units on maneuvers . Once training was completed The 417th departed the San Francisco Port of Embarkation by ship on New Year ' s Day 1944 . Combat in the Southwest Pacific . The group arrived in New Guinea in late January 1944 , where it became part of Fifth Air Force . It began combat in March , operating in support of ground forces on New Guinea and striking airfields , bridges , personnel concentrations , installations , and shipping in the area . The group participated with other Fifth Air Force units in attacks on shipping and enemy airstrips near Hollandia on 16 April that resulted in the destruction of 298 enemy planes . Most sorties were flown at low level , since Japanese flak was not very intense . During these low level bombing operations , it was found that there was little need for a bombardier . Consequently , the bombardier was often replaced by additional forward - firing machine guns mounted in a faired - over nose . The A - 20 ' s heavy firepower , maneuverability , speed and bombload made it an appropriate weapon for pinpoint strikes against aircraft , hangars , and supply dumps . In formation , their heavy forward firepower could defeat shipboard anti - aircraft defenses and at low level the A - 20s could skip their bombs into the sides of transports and destroyer s with deadly effect . Some A - 20s had their heavy forward - firing armament supplemented by clusters of three Bazooka - type rocket tubes underneath each wing . These tubes each held an M8 , T - 30 spin - stabilized rocket . These rocket launcher tubes turned out to be heavy and complicated , and were generally more trouble than they were worth and were not often used . The unit operated from Noemfoor from September to December 1944 , attacking airfields and installations on Ceram , Halmahera , and western New Guinea . Noemfoor operations included attacks on oil installations . The 417th moved to the Philippines in December 1944 at the end of the New Guinea campaign . The group ' s ground crew s left Noemfoor by ship while the aircrew flew to the Phillipines once the advance party had prepared McGuire Field for use in late December . While enroute , the convoy transporting the ground echelon endured two Japanese air attacks . The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for attacking Japanese convoys at Lingayen between 30 December 1944 and 2 January 1945 , an action that not only impaired enemy shipping and supply strength , but also helped to clear the way for the American invasion of Luzon . Unfortunately , during the 2 January attack , the group commander , Lt . Col . Howard S . Ellmore , was lost to enemy fire . During these attacks the group sank 36 , 000 tons of shipping including a freighter , a destroyer escort and several transports . Until June 1945 the 417th supported ground forces and continued to attack enemy airfields , transportation , and installations on Luzon , Cebu , Negros , and Mindanao . The group flew its last missions in July , dropping propaganda leaflets to Japanese troops on Luzon . After the Philippines were secured , the group turned its attention to Japanese targets on Formosa in early 1945 . It moved to Okinawa in August 1945 and to Itami Air Base , Japan in November , where it was inactivated on 15 November 1945 .