 In addition to strategic operations, missions of the 96th BG included bombing coastal defences, railway bridges, gun emplacements, and field batteries in the battle area prior to and during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944; attacking enemy positions in support of the breakthrough at Saint-Lô in July 1944; aiding the campaign in France in August by striking roads and road junctions, and by dropping supplies to the Maquis; and attacking, during the early months of 1945, the communications supplying German armies on the western front.After V-E Day, the group was scheduled for occupation duties in Germany however plans were revised and the 96th BG flew food to the Netherlands and hauled redeployed personnel to French Morocco, Ireland, France, and Germany.In November 1945 its aircraft were flown back to the United States, and its squadrons were inactivated.