Organization and antisubmarine warfare The
squadron was first activated at
Lantana Airport, Florida in October 1942 as the
522nd Bombardment Squadron, where it took over the
antisubmarine warfare mission, personnel and equipment of the
112th Observation Squadron, a federalized
Ohio National Guard unit that had been
mobilized in 1940, and which was simultaneously inactivated. It was briefly assigned directly to
Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command, but soon became part of the
378th Bombardment Group, whose headquarters were located at
Langley Field, Virginia, but had squadrons dispersed along the southern Atlantic coast. The squadron was equipped with a mix of
Douglas B-18 Bolos,
Lockheed B-34s and
North American B-25 Mitchells. The squadron mission was to search for German
U-boats off the southeast Atlantic coast. Although the
Navy was responsible for long range
antisubmarine 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. In November 1942, Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command had established the
26th Antisubmarine Wing to control its forces operating over the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Its
bombardment group headquarters, including the 378th, were inactivated and the squadron, redesignated the
17th Antisubmarine Squadron in November, was assigned directly to the 26th Wing in December.
Retraining and reorganization The squadron moved to
Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico in late September 1943 and was redesignated the
855th Bombardment Squadron. On 1 October 1943 it formed the
cadre for the
491st Bombardment Group, which was activated at
Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona. The following month, the squadron moved to
El Paso Army Air Field, Texas and began training with
Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. In January, most of the ground echelon of the squadron was withdrawn and reassigned to
Boeing B-29 Superfortress units being organized by
Second Air Force, with the largest group moving to
Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas. Many of the unit's remaining personnel were transferred to other B-24 groups as well, and by the end of December, the squadron had no assigned aircraft. While the air echelon continued training in the United States,
Eighth Air Force began organizing a new ground echelon in England, directing each of the four groups assigned to its
2d Bombardment Division to form a squadron ground echelon. The air echelon moved to
Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado to complete its training with the
471st Bombardment Group. It began operations starting on 2 June, with an attack on
Bretigny Airfield. It initially attacked
airfields,
coastal defenses and
lines of communication to support
Operation Overlord, the invasion of France. After the
D-Day landings, the squadron concentrated on the
strategic bombing missions. Its targets included
communications centers,
oil refineries,
shipyards, depots and other industrial targets. While targets included
Berlin,
Bielefeld,
Cologne,
Gelsenkirchen,
Hamburg,
Hanover,
Kassel and
Magdeburg. On one occasion, the squadron was tasked with attacking
German General Staff headquarters at
Zossen, south of Berlin. On 26 November 1944, the group raided an oil refinery at Misburg. It was attacked by large numbers of enemy
interceptors, which shot down approximately half of the aircraft in the 491st Group formation. The remaining aircraft fought off the enemy planes and successfully bombed the target, earning the unit a
Distinguished Unit Citation. The squadron was occasionally diverted from the strategic bombing campaign: It supported ground forces during
Operation Cobra, the breakout at
Saint Lo; dropped supplies to beleaguered paratroopers during
Operation Market Garden, the attempt to seize a bridgehead across the
Rhine River; and attacked supply lines and fortifications during the
Battle of the Bulge. It supported
Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine and
Allied forces driving across Germany. The squadron's final combat mission was flown on 25 April 1945. Following
V-E Day, the squadron began flying its aircraft back to the United States on 17 June 1945. The ground echelon sailed on the on 6 July, arriving in
New York City five days later. The squadron reassembled at
McChord Field, Washington later that month and was inactivated there on 8 September. ==Lineage==