The group was formed in England in 1942 flying Bell P-39 Airacobras and participated in the Mediterranean and North African Campaigns of World War II.

It was equipped with export versions of the P-39 Airacobra originally ordered for the French Air Force in early 1940 which were diverted to England after the Fall of France.

At the same time, some of the American pilots who had just transferred from the RAF were ordered to the new 350th Fighter Group to make up the other half of the original aircrew roster.

As it turned out, the RAF depot responsible for supporting the operation was completely over committed and could not uncrate and assemble the Group’s P-39 aircraft in time to meet the invasion plan.

Airacobras did finally begin equipping the group in numbers by mid-December 1942, and two weeks later the pilots began flying to French Morocco.

Afterward, it operated primarily in support of Allied forces in Italy until the end of the war, bombing and strafing rail facilities, shipping docks, radar and transformer stations, power lines, bridges, motor transports, and military installations.

It received a DUC for action in western Italy on 6 April 1944 when, despite intense flak and attacks by numerous enemy interceptors, the group flew ten missions, hitting troops, bridges, vehicles, barracks, and air warning installations.

1st Lt Raymond L Knight was awarded the Medal of Honor for missions on 24 and 25 April 1945: voluntarily leading attacks through intense antiaircraft fire against enemy airdromes in northern Italy, Knight was responsible for eliminating more than 20 German planes intended for assaults on Allied forces; attempting to return his shattered plane to base after an attack on 25 April, he crashed in the Apennines.

The atomic bombs were dropped on Japan while the Group was en route and provisioning in Panama City on the Pacific Ocean side of the Canal Zone.