The
825th Bombardment Squadron was first activated at
Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska on 20 September 1943 as one of the four
squadrons of the
484th Bombardment Group. The squadron trained with
Consolidated B-24 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. 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 (DUC). 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. 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. 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 as part of the Green Project. 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. ==Lineage==