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Official USAAF file photo taken
at Goxhill, England, Army Air Corp. Fighter Training and Replacement Squadron, Aug. 1944
Official USAF file photo taken at
Itazuki, AFB Japan: 8th Fighter Bomber Wing, 8th Airbase Group, C. 1954
When the United States entered World War II in 1941 there were hundreds of Americans serving in
His Majesties Royal Air Forces. These American Airman formed the nucleus of the first U.S. Fighter Air Groups formed in England in 1942. Goxhill near London was designated F345 where the Army Air Force (AAF) setup Fighter Training & Transition School for all U.S. Airman transferring from the RAF/RCAF to the USAAF and new arrivals from AAF Pilot Training Schools Stateside before assignment to front-line squadrons. F345 was Home to the 496th Fighter Training Wing.