The group was activated as the 364th Fighter Group on 1 June 1943 at Glendale Airport, with the 383rd, 384th and 385th Fighter Squadrons assigned. The group trained with Lockheed P-38 Lightnings in California through 1943 with each squadron flying from a different station. The group assembled at Santa Maria Army Air Field, California in December, and departed for the European Theater of Operations in January 1944.

It arrived at its combat station, RAF Honington, England in February 1944, where it became part of VIII Fighter Command. The group flew its first mission with its Lightnings on 3 March 1944. However, during that month, engine problems plagued the group's P-38s, with 16 of them failing to return from missions during the month, including the group commander, Colonel Frederick C. Grambo, while he was flying an orientation mission with the 20th Fighter Group. While the group flew dive bombing, strafing and patrol missions in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, it initially operated primarily as an escort for Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers.

It patrolled the English Channel during the D-Day landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944. While it continued flying bomber escort missions, it supported ground forces in France after the invasion by strafing and bombing locomotives, marshalling yards, bridges, barges and other targets. In July, it began to convert from its Lightnings to North American P-51 Mustangs, completing the switch in late July. The 364th Group had lost almost as many Lightnings as its claims of enemy aircraft destroyed, with the majority of the losses due to accidents and engine failure, not enemy action.

In the summer of 1944, and from then until the end of the war it flew many long-range missions with its Mustangs, escorting heavy bombers that attacked oil refineries, industries and other strategic objectives in Berlin, Regensburg, Merseburg, Stuttgart, Brussels and elsewhere. During a raid on Frankfurt on 27 December 1944, the group dispersed a large group of Luftwaffe interceptors attacking the Martin B-26 Marauder formation the group was escorting. For this action, the unit was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation.

In addition to its escort duties, the group also flew air sea rescue missions and carried out patrols. It continued to support ground forces as the battle line moved through France and into Germany. It participated in Operation Market Garden, the effort to secure a bridgehead across the Rhine, in September 1944; the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945; and Operation Lumberjack, the assault across the Rhine in Germany in March 1945. The group was credited with the destruction of 263 enemy aircraft during the war. On 27 December Capt Ernest E. Bankey, Jr. became and "ace in a day' when he destroyed five German aircraft.

The squadron flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945. Following V-E Day, the squadron remained at Honington, although many squadron members transferred to other units. In September, its remaining aircraft were transferred to depots. Its remaining personnel sailed for the United States on the RMS Queen Elizabeth, departing on 4 November. It arrived at the port of embarkation, Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 9 November 1945 and was inactivated the following day.

Available in two sizes with an elastic stretch band, this hat is a sure winner in comfort! It has an athletic shape with a curved visor. 

• 63% polyester, 34% cotton, 3% spandex twill
• Structured, 6-panel, mid-profile (with a low-profile embroidery area)
• 6 embroidered eyelets
• Stretch band
• Silver undervisor
• Head circumference: 22”–23⅞” (55.9 cm–60.6 cm)
• Blank product sourced from Vietnam or Bangladesh

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