68th Composite Wing explained

Unit Name:	68th Composite Wing
Dates:	1943–1945
Country:	United States
Branch:	United States Army Air Forces
Role:	Fighter
Command Structure:	Fourteenth Air Force
Garrison:	China Burma India Theater of World War II
Battles:	World War II Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1944–1945)
Notable Commanders:	Clinton D. Vincent

The 68th Composite Wing was a United States Army Air Forces organization. It was a command and control organization of Fourteenth Air Force that fought in the China Burma India Theater of World War II.

The wing was formed as an expansion of the Fourteenth Air Force Forward Echelon in 1943, becoming the command and control organization for the 23d Fighter Group and 308th Bomb Group. It served in combat from December 1943 until August 1945. The mixed unit was composed of fighters, fighter bombers and heavy bombers, flown by both American and Chinese airmen.

History

Lineage

• Constituted as 68th Fighter Wing on 9 August 1943.

Activated on 3 September 1943.

Redesignated 68th Composite Wing in December 1943.

Inactivated on 10 October 1945.

Assignments

• Fourteenth Air Force, 3 September 1943 – 10 October 1945

Stations

• Kunming Airport, China, 3 September 1943
• Kweilin Airfield, China, c. 23 December 1943
• Liuzhou Airfield, China, c. 15 September 1944
• Luliang Airfield, China, c. 7 November 1944
• Peishiyi Airfield, China, c. 19 September-10 October 1945

Components

• 23d Fighter Group August 1943 – October 1945 (P-40, P-51)
• 308th Bombardment Group March 1943 – February 1945 (B-24)

References

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .