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54th Troop Carrier Wing

  March 1943 to May 1946

  United States of America

TYPE: USAAF unit

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: Brisbane Archerfield, Queensland, Australia (1943), Port Moresby, New Guinea (1943-1944), Nadzab Field, New Guinea (1944), Biak AAF, Papua, Dutch East Indies (1944), Bayug Airfield, Philippines (1944-1945), Clark Field, Philippines (1945), Tachikawa AB, Japan (1945-1946), Manila, Philippines (1946)

FORMER NAME: Nil

SUBSEQUENT NAME: 54th Fighter Wing (when reconstituted in June 1946)

Commandos operated, group, squadron or station unknown:

The 54th Troop Carrier Wing commenced air transport and medical air evacuation operations in support of the 5th Air Force on 26 May 1943, advancing as battle lines permitted. The wing initially employed exclusively C-47s. The 54th supported every major advance made by the allies in the Southwest Pacific Theater, operating from primitive airstrips carved from jungles and air-dropping cargo where airstrips unavailable.

Some Commandos began operating within the wing in late 1944, and during 1945 large numbers of Commandos were used along with the C-47s. By late 1944 and during the early months of 1945, most wing missions were flown to the Philippines. In February 1945, the wing flew three more airborne operations, all in the Philippines, to help encircle Japanese concentrations.

When hostilities ended, the wing moved the entire 11th Airborne Division (11,300 personnel) from the Philippines to Okinawa on short notice, and then began transporting occupation forces into Japan. During September 1945, the wing also evacuated over 17,000 former prisoners of war from Japan to the Philippines. The wing served as part of the occupation forces in Japan from 25 September 1945 to about 26 January 1946, while continuing routine air transport operations and a scheduled courier service. Beginning in December 1945 and continuing into mid-1946, most of the wing's components were reassigned to other units or inactivated, and on 15 January 1946 the wing became a component of the Far East Air Service Command.

Moving to the Philippines, the wing gained new components and flew scheduled routes between Japan, the Philippines, Australia, and the Hawaiian Islands. It was replaced by the 403nd Troop Carrier Group on 31 May 1946 and inactivated.

The 54th Troop Carrier Wing was composed of several units that operated Commandos: [and 374th TCG (1945-1946)]

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