World War II Training in the United States The
743d Bombardment Squadron was first activated at
Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico on 1 June 1943, one of the four
squadrons of the
455th Bombardment Group. The initial
cadre for the squadron was drawn from the
302d Bombardment Group. In July, a group cadre was given advanced tactical training by the
Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics at
Orlando Army Air Base and
Pinecastle Army Air Field, Florida. After organizing at Alamogordo, the squadron moved to Utah, where the ground echelon was stationed at
Kearns Army Air Base, although flying operations were based at
Salt Lake City Army Air Base. After completing training at
Langley Field, Virginia, the squadron departed the United States for the
Mediterranean Theater of Operations in December 1943. The ground echelon sailed on the
SS Charles Brantley Aycock.
Combat operations The air echelon of the squadron was delayed in Tunisia and was not entirely lodged at the squadron's combat station of
San Giovanni Airfield, Italy until 1 February 1944, and the squadron flew its first mission later that month. The squadron was engaged primarily in the
strategic bombing campaign against Germany, attacking targets like
airfields, factories, oil refineries, harbors,
marshalling yards in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia. On 26 June 1944, the squadron encountered
fighter opposition that was described as the strongest
Fifteenth Air Force had encountered to date, and which destroyed several Liberators of the 455th Group, which was leading the
304th Bombardment Wing on the raid. The squadron pressed its attack on the oil refinery at
Moosbierbaum, Austria, for which it received a second DUC. The squadron put nine bombers over the target, but was the only squadron of the group to bring all its planes home. The squadron provided
air support to ground forces in
Operation Shingle, the landings at
Anzio, and the
Battle of Monte Cassino in the spring of 1944. It knocked out
coastal defenses to clear the way for
Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, in September. As
Axis forces were withdrawing from the Balkan peninsula in the fall of 1944, the squadron bombed marshalling yards, troop concentrations and airfields to slow their retreat. It flew
air interdiction missions to support
Operation Grapeshot, the Spring 1945 offensive in Northern Italy. Following the
surrender of German forces in Italy, it flew some supply missions and transported personnel to ports and airfields for shipment back to the United States. Most of the air echelon returned to the United States, ferrying their aircraft in June. Many of the squadron's remaining personnel were transferred to other units in the 304th Bombardment Wing for shipment back to the United States, while the squadron remained in Italy, serving as a replacement depot. The last of the air echelon departed Italy in July and the squadron was inactivated on 9 September 1945.
Air Force reserve The squadron was reactivated as a
reserve unit under
Air Defense Command (ADC) at
Sheppard-Kell Municipal Airport, Texas in October 1947, although its parent 455th Group was located at
Hensley Field, Texas. It was nominally a very heavy bomber unit, but the squadron does not appear to have been fully manned or equipped with tactical aircraft while a reserve unit. In 1948
Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing reserve and
Air National Guard units from ADC. President
Truman's reduced 1949 defense budget required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force. As a result, the squadron was inactivated and reserve flying operations at Sheppard came to an end. ==Lineage==