page_title: 91st Operations Group
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: 91st Operations Group / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Emblem of the USAAF 91st Bombardment Group
context_page_description: The 91st Operations Group is the operational component of the 91st Missile Wing, assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command Twentieth Air Force. It is stationed at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.
  The 91 OG is one of three USAF operational missile units, equipped with the LGM-30G Minuteman-III. Its mission is to defend the United States with safe and secure Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles; ready to immediately put bombs on target.
  Activated as the World War II 91st Bombardment Group, an Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress unit assigned to England, it was one of the first USAAF heavy bomb groups deployed to Europe in 1942. The 91st Bomb Group was stationed at RAF Bassingbourn and is most noted as the unit in which the bomber Memphis Belle flew, and for having suffered the greatest number of losses of any heavy bomb group in World War II.
  As part of Strategic Air Command in the early years of the Cold War, the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Group provided worldwide surveillance. Inactivated in 1952, the group was reactivated as the 91 OG in 1991.
context_section_description: Trained with B-17s before moving to England, August–October 1942. Entered combat in November 1942, bombing such targets as submarine pens, airdromes, factories, communication targets, shipbuilding yards, harbors, and dock facilities until mid-1943. When Eighth Air Force heavy bombers first penetrated Germany on 27 January 1943, the group attacked the navy yard at Wilhelmshaven. Earned a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for bombing marshalling yards at Hamm on 4 March 1943, despite adverse weather and heavy opposition. From the middle of 1943 until the war ended, attacked aircraft factories, airfields, oil facilities, chemical industries and ball-bearing factories. Earned a second DUC for attacking vital aircraft factories in central Germany on 11 January 1944 despite inadequate fighter cover, heavy enemy opposition, and bad weather. In June 1944, contributed to the Allied invasion of Normandy by bombing gun emplacements and troop concentrations near the beachhead area. Supported the St. Lo breakthrough by attacking enemy troop positions, 24–25 July 1944. In December 1944 – January 1945, participated in the Battle of the Bulge by attacking enemy communication targets. The group supported the Allied crossing of the Rhine River in the spring of 1945 by striking airfields, bridges, and railroads near the front lines.
  After the war ended, evacuated prisoners from German camps. Returned to the United States, June–July 1945
caption: Emblem of the 91st Bombardment Group
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