509th Composite Group

E70653

United States Army Air Forces unit World War II military unit bomber group

The 509th Composite Group was the U.S. Army Air Forces unit specially formed during World War II to conduct atomic bomb missions, including the deployment of the "Fat Man" bomb over Nagasaki.

Aliases (2)

393d Bombardment Squadron ×2
509th Bombardment Group ×1

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Army Air Forces unit → World War II military unit → bomber group →
activePeriod	1944–1946 →
aircraft	Bockscar → Enola Gay →
aircraftUsed	B-29 Superfortress →
aircraftVariant	Silverplate B-29 →
bombTypeUsed	Fat Man → Little Boy →
branch	United States Army Air Forces →
commander	Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr. →
component	1027th Materiel Squadron → 1st Ordnance Squadron (Special) → 320th Troop Carrier Squadron → 390th Air Service Group → 393d Bombardment Squadron → 603d Air Engineering Squadron →
conflict	World War II →
country	United States of America →
dateFormed	1944-12-17 →
formedFor	conducting atomic bomb missions → operational deployment of nuclear weapons →
garrison	Tinian → Wendover Army Air Field →
historicalSignificance	conducted first nuclear attacks in history →
mission	Operation Centerboard I → Operation Centerboard II →
nickname	The Atomic Bomb Group →
notableCommander	Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr. →
notableFor	atomic bombing of Hiroshima → atomic bombing of Nagasaki →
operationalBase	North Field, Tinian →
oversight	Manhattan Project →
partOf	Twentieth Air Force →
planningAuthority	United States Army Strategic Air Forces →
role	atomic bombing operations → strategic bombing →
securityLevel	highly classified →
subsequentDesignation	509th Bombardment Group →
successorUnit	509th Bomb Wing →
targetCity	Hiroshima → Nagasaki →
theater	Pacific Theater of Operations →
trainingLocation	Wendover Army Air Field, Utah →
unitSize	approximately 1,800 personnel →

Referenced by (17)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Bockscar → Bockscar ("393d Bombardment Squadron") → Enola Gay →	operatedByUnit
Circle R → Tinian →	usedBy
Project Alberta →	associatedWithUnit
Little Boy →	deliveredBy
Thomas Ferebee →	memberOf
Theodore Van Kirk →	militaryUnit
Enola Gay ("393d Bombardment Squadron") →	operatedBySquadron
Fat Man →	operator
Theodore Van Kirk →	partOf
Circle R →	relatedTo
509th Composite Group ("509th Bombardment Group") →	subsequentDesignation
Paul W. Tibbets Jr. →	unit
44-86292 →	unitAssignment
Victor 82 →	usedByUnit