827th Bombardment Squadron

The 827th Bombardment Squadron is a former United States Army Air Forces unit. It was last assigned to the 484th Bombardment Group at Casablanca Airport, French Morocco, where it was inactivated on 25 July 1945.

827th Bombardment Squadron
Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators over a target in 1944
Active1941-1945
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
Roleheavy bomber
EngagementsAntisubmarine Campaign
Mediterranean Theater of Operations
DecorationsDistinguished Unit Citation
Insignia
827th Bombardment Squadron Emblem (approved 11 July 1942)[1]
Early 41st Bombardment Squadron emblem

The squadron was first activated as the 41st Bombardment Squadron as the United States expanded its military following the outbreak of World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the squadron performed antisubmarine warfare missions off the Atlantic coast of the United States, and was redesignated as the 5th Antisubmarine Squadron.

After the Army Air Forces antisubmarine mission was transferred to the Navy, the squadron acted as the cadre for a new Consolidated B-24 Liberator group as the 827th Bombardment Squadron. It served in combat in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. It earned two Distinguished Unit Citations for operations over Germany and Austria. Following V-E Day it operated with Air Transport Command, returning American troops to the United States until it was inactivated in theater in 1945.

History

Organization and antisubmarine warfare

The squadron was first activated at Langley Field, Virginia in January 1941 as the 41st Bombardment Squadron, one of the original squadrons of the 13th Bombardment Group. The squadron was equipped with a mix of Douglas B-18 Bolos and North American B-25 Mitchells. In June, the 41st and its parent group moved to Orlando Army Air Base, Florida.[1][2]

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the squadron was ordered to search for German U-boats off the southeast coast. Although the Navy was responsible for long range patrolling, it lacked the aircraft to perform the mission and the Army Air Forces (AAF) performed the mission, even though its crews lacked proper training.[3] As antisubmarine warfare assets were realigned to meet the growing threat in the North Atlantic, the 13th Group moved to Westover Field, Massachusetts.[1][2]

In October 1942, the AAF organized its antisubmarine forces into the single Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command, which established the 25th Antisubmarine Wing the following month to control its forces operating over the Atlantic.[4][5] Its bombardment group headquarters, including the 13th, were inactivated and the squadron, now designated the 5th Antisubmarine Squadron, was assigned directly to the 25th Wing.[1][2] In July 1943, the AAF and Navy reached an agreement to transfer the coastal antisubmarine mission to the Navy. This mission transfer also included an exchange of AAF long-range bombers equipped for antisubmarine warfare for Navy Consolidated B-24 Liberators without such equipment.[6]

Combat in the Mediterranean

After the Navy assumed full responsibility for the antisubmarine mission in August 1943, the squadron moved to Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska, where it was redesignated the 827th Bombardment Squadron,[1] and formed the cadre for the 484th Bombardment Group, a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment group. The squadron trained with Liberators until March 1944, when it moved to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Shortly before deploying, the squadron was redesignated as a Pathfinder unit, although it never performed pathfinder missions.[1][7][note 1]

In April 1944, the squadron began flying combat missions from Torretto Airfield, Italy in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. Until the end of the war, it acted primarily as a strategic bombing organization, attacking oil refineries and storage facilities, industrial facilities and lines of communication in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the Balkans. On 13 June 1944, the unit's target was marshalling yards near Munich, Germany. However, the Germans deployed a smoke screen that effectively hid the target, making the attack unfeasible. Despite losses from flak and interceptor aircraft, the squadron proceeded to its secondary target at Innsbruck, Austria. Its persistence in the face of opposition earned the unit a Distinguished Unit Citation.[7]

Two months later, on 21 August 1944, the squadron received a second DUC for an attack on underground oil storage facilities near Vienna, Austria. Without fighter escort, the squadron fought its way through intense opposition to strike the target.[7]

The squadron was sometimes diverted from strategic targets. It bombed bridges, viaducts, marshalling yards, and supply dumps to assist troops advancing on Rome between April and July 1944. In September 1944, the unit transported petroleum products to troops participating in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. At the end of the war it supported Operation Grapeshot, the final advances in northern Italy.[7]

Following V-E Day, The unit was assigned to Air Transport Command, It used its B-24s as transport aircraft, flying personnel from locations in France and Italy to Casablanca, French Morocco. It also engaged in transport operations from North Africa to the Azores or Dakar in French West Africa until it was inactivated on 25 July 1945.[1][7]

Lineage
  • Constituted as the 41st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 20 November 1940
Activated on 15 January 1941
Redesignated 5th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) on 29 November 1942
Redesignated 827th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 1 October 1943
Redesignated: 827th Bombardment Squadron (Pathfinder) on 14 February 1944
Redesignated: 827th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 11 November 1944
Inactivated on 25 July 1945[1]

Assignments
  • 13th Bombardment Group: 15 January 1941
  • 25th Antisubmarine Wing: c. 30 November 1942
  • 484th Bombardment Group: 1 October 1943 - 25 July 1945[1]

Stations

Aircraft
  • Douglas B-18 Bolo, 1941
  • North American B-25 Mitchell, 1941-1943
  • Lockheed A-29 Hudson, 1942-1943
  • Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945[1]

Awards and campaigns
Award streamerAwardDatesNotes
Distinguished Unit Citation13 June 1944Munich, Germany and Innsbruck, Austria 827th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Distinguished Unit Citation22 August 1944Vienna, Austria 827th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
Antisubmarine7 December 1941 – 1 August 194341st Bombardment Squadron (later 5th Antisubmarine Squadron)[1]
Air Offensive, EuropeApril 1944–5 June 1944827th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Central EuropeApril 1944–21 May 1945827th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Air Combat, EAME TheaterApril 1944–11 May 1945827th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Rome-ArnoApril 1944–9 September 1944827th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Normandy6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944827th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Northern France25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944827th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Southern France15 August 1944 – 14 September 1944827th Bombardment Squadron[1]
North Apennines10 September 1944 – 4 April 1945827th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Rhineland15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945827th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Po Valley3 April 1945 – 8 May 1945827th Bombardment Squadron[1]

See also

References

Notes
Explanatory notes
  1. Pathfinder units were equipped with early radar bombing equipment and were intended to be deployed to other bombardment groups to act as lead aircraft on bombing missions where cloud cover obscured the target. The Army Air Forces formed one group in England, but eventually elected to train selected crews in each of its groups for this mission. Freeman, pp. 117-118.
Citations
  1. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 771–772
  2. Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 56-57
  3. Ferguson, p. 4
  4. Maurer, Combat Units, p. 437
  5. Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 388–389
  6. Ferguson, pp. 82–83
  7. Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 355-356

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  • Ferguson, Arthur B. (April 1945). "The Antisubmarine Command, USAF Historical Study No. 107" (PDF). Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Intelligence Historical Division. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  • Freeman, Roger A. (1970). The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company. ISBN 978-0-87938-638-2.
  • Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
  • Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
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