766th Bombardment Squadron
| 766th Bombardment Squadron | |
|---|---|
|
Emblem of the 766th Bombardment Squadron | |
| Active | 1943-1945 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Bombardment |
The 766th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 461st Bombardment Group. It was last stationed at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, and was inactivated on 18 August 1945.
History
Established in mid-1943 as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron; trained under Second Air Force. Deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) in February 1944, being assigned to Fifteenth Air Force in Southern Italy.
Engaged in very long range strategic bombardment missions against enemy strategic targets in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the Balkans until April 1945. Bombed aircraft factories, assembly plants, oil refineries, storage areas, marshalling yards, airdromes, and other objectives until the German Capitulation in May 1945.
Most of squadron was demobilized in Italy in May 1945; returning to United States with skeleton staff. Re-equipped and redesignated a B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomb squadron, and received new personnel. Began training under Second Air Force for planned deployment to the Western Pacific Area (WPA), however Japanese Capitulation in August led to inactivation of squadron in October.
Lineage
- Constituted 766th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 19 May 1943
- Activated on 1 Jul 1943
- Inactivated on 28 Aug 1945
Assignments
- 461st Bombardment Group, 1 Jul 1943-28 Aug 1945
Stations
- Wendover Field, Utah July 1, 1943
- Gowen Field, Idaho, July 29, 1943
- Kearns Center, Utah September 11, 1943
- Wendover Field, Utah, September 30, 1943
- Hammer Field, California, October 30, 1943 – January 1944
- Torretto Airfield, Italy c. February 20, 1944 – July 1945
- Sioux Falls AAF, South Dakota, July 22 – August 18, 1945
Aircraft
- B-24 Liberator, 1943-1945
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
- 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.