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THE COMMANDERS OF THE 56TH FIGHTER GROUP
Constituted by Headquarters USAAF as 56th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on November 20, 1940, the group was activated on January 15, 1941, at Savannah Army Air Base, Georgia. The 56th PG was assigned three fighter squadrons:
61st Pursuit Squadron
62d Pursuit Squadron
63d Pursuit Squadron
Staffed by a cadre drawn from other units at nearby Hunter AAB the 56th PG organized as a combat unit with a high turnover in personnel. On May 26, 1941, the group relocated to Morris AAF, Charlotte, North Carolina, where it received 3 P-39's and 10 P-36's, and trained, participated in training maneuvers, served as an air defense organization, and functioned as an operational training unit (OTU). During maneuvers in October 1941 it received 10 new P-39s and performed well in an air defense role.[5]
On December 10, 1941, in the immediate aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the 56th FG moved to Wilmington AAB, North Carolina for air defense duties, with its 61st FS based at Charleston AAB, South Carolina. It received 24 newly-commissioned 2nd lieutenant pilots in December and set up a makeshift assessment school using fiv types of obsolete fighter aircraft, including P-35s and P-43s.[6]
In mid-January 1942 the 56th FG shifted to air defense of New York City, with its headquarters based at Bendix AAF, New Jersey, and its squadrons assigned respectively to Bridgeport, Connecticut; Bendix; and Farmingdale, New York. In April 1942 it received a full complement of new P-40F Warhawks to replace its makeshift equipment.
In May 1942 it was redesignated the 56th Fighter Group and its component squadrons were redesignated as fighter squadrons. The 56th FG received its first operational P-47B's from nearby Republic Aviation in June, in which it began training for combat. One of its most notable pilots, Major Robert S. Johnson, noted that during this "break-in" phase, in addition to numerous non-fatal training accidents 18 pilots of the 56th FG were killed and 41 aircraft destroyed in crashes, many as a result of the wholly inadequate airfield at nearby Stratford, on Long Island Sound.[7] Group headquarters shifted to Bridgeport in July, joined by the 63rd FS in September, and the 62nd FS received its P-47s in July at Bradley Field, Connecticut.
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