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3rd Combat Cargo Group / 513th Troop Carrier Group

  June 1944 to April 1946

  United States of America

TYPE: USAAF unit

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: Sylhet, Bengal, India (1944-1945), Myitkyina, Burma (1945), Kiangwan, Shanghai, China (1945-1946)

OTHER NAMES: 3rd Combat Cargo Group (June 1944 to September 1945), 513th Troop Carrier Group (September 1945 to April 1946)

SUBSEQUENT NAME: 513th Troop Carrier Group (Special) (when reactivated November 1948)

Commandos operated, squadron or station unknown:

  • Curtiss C-46D-5-CU Commando:

The 3rd Combat Cargo Group was constituted in Sylhet, Bengal, India on 1 June 1944 and activated on 5 June. The group was initially equipped with 96 C-47s freshly ferried from the USA (100 departed, 4 lost enroute but crews safe). Its initial objective was to relieve the besieged British Garrison at Imphal, Manipur, India, and when this job was done it would be rotated back to the USA for proper training and redeployment to combat. In order to bring the unit up to speed quickly, its Commanding Officer along with the ones of its squadrons and many pilots came from the 443rd Troop Carrier Group, which had been flying in the theatre since February 1944.

The Group was the first unit of the war to fly a combat cargo mission when it started operations in June 1944 in Bengal. Once Imphal was secured, the plan changed and the 3rd Combat Cargo Group remained on theatre, where its services were badly needed. It supported ground forces during the battle for Northern Burma and the subsequent allied drive southward. It flew allied troops and material to the front, transporting gasoline, oil, vehicles, engineering and signal equipment. These items were either landed or dropped in Burma. The Group also evacuated wounded personnel to India. It moved to Myitkyina, Burma on 3 June 1945. From there, it hauled gasoline and other supplies to bases in Western China.

After V-J Day, the Group's combat task was over and it was redesignated 513th Troop Carrier Group on 19 September 1945. All of its squadrons were subsequently redesignated.

The 3rd Combat Cargo Group was composed of four squadrons: