XX Bomber Command
The XX Bomber Command of the USAAF was established in November 1943 to oversee B-29 Superfortress training in the US. The XX, an operational unit under the Twentieth Air Force was then moved to India. Under the plan known as Operation Matterhorn the XX bombed Japan from forward bases in China, supported by supplies from India. Early in 1945 the XX moved to newly established bases in the Marianas.
Operational Command Structure
General Henry "Hap" Arnold became the Twentieth Air Force commander with Brigadier General Haywood S. Hansell as chief of staff. Arnold commanded the commanders of XX Bomber Command: Major General Kenneth B. Wolfe Brigadier General LaVern G. Saunders Major General Curtis E. LeMay Brigadier General Roger M. Ramey
Campaign
In April 1944, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved Operation Matterhorn. The XX Bomber Command was deployed to India and the first B–29 Superfortress combat mission was launched on June 5, 1944, against the Bankok railway system. On the June 15 the first air raid by the XX Bomber Command was undertaken against mainland Japan. From a staging airbase at Chengtu the bombers flew to the Japanese mainland and bombed the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata on Kyushu, more than 1,500 miles away. This was the first raid on the Japanese home islands since the Doolittle raid. XX Bomber Command stopped being an operational command at the end of March 1945 when the 58th Bomb Wing moved from India to the Marianas and control of the wing passed to the XXI Bomber Command.
External links The Superfortress Takes to the Skies Over the Hump to Matterhorn
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