847th Bombardment Squadron

847th Bombardment Squadron
Active 1942-1945
Country  United States
Branch United States Army Air Forces
Role Antisubmarine Warfare, Bombardment
Engagements European Theater of Operations

The 847th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with the 489th Bombardment Group at Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas where it was inactivated on 28 March 1945. The squadron performed antisubmarine patrols in 1942 and 1943. After reforming as a heavy bombardment squadron, it engaged in combat in the European Theater of Operations until returning to the United States in late 1944. The squadron was inactivated while its parent group was training as a very heavy bombardment unit.

History

The squadron was originally constituted as the 32d Reconnaissance Squadron, but was redesignated as the 421st Bombardment Squadron before being activated in mid-1942 as one of the 304th Bombardment Group's four Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber squadrons.[1] It was initially part of Second Air Force for training, however it also flew antisubmarine patrols over the Pacific Northwest coastline during the fall of 1942. The squadron was renamed the 20th Antisubmarine Squadron and moved to Newfoundland in late 1942 where it continued flying antisubmarine missions over the Northeast coastline from Newfoundland and Long Island, New York during 1943 with Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command.[1] In October 1943, when antisubmarine duty was taken over by the United States Navy, the squadron was redesignated the 847th Bombardment Squadron and moved to Wyoming where its personnel formed the cadre for the newly forming 489th Bombardment Group.

There the unit re-equipped with Consolidated B-24 Liberators and once again trained with Second Air Force until deploying to the European Theater of Operations where it was part of VIII Bomber Command in England.[1] The squadron entered combat on 30 May 1944, shortly before the D-Day landings.[2] It took part in the strategic bombing campaign over Europe. The squadron also supported the D-Day landings and the massive aerial attack that preceded the breakthrough at St. Lo. The unit was also used to carry food to liberated France and to the rapidly advancing Allied troops during August and September 1944 and to carry supplies to the Allied troops in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden.[2]

In November and December 1944 the squadron was returned to the United States, where it began to prepare to deploy to the Pacific.[2] The unit was inactivated on 28 March 1945[1] when the its parent 489th group became very heavy bombardment group, made up of three rather than four operational squadrons.[2]

Lineage

Redesignated: 421st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 22 April 1942
Activated on 15 July 1942
Redesignated: 20th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) On 8 February 1943
Redesignated: 847th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 5 October 1943
Inactivated on 28 March 1945.[1]

Assignments

Stations

Aircraft

Campaigns

Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
Antisubmarine [1]
Air Offensive, Europe [1]
Normandy [1]
Northern France [1]
Rhineland [1]

See also

List of B-29 units of the United States Air Force

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. pp. 789–790. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. pp. 389–390. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
  3. ↑ This squadron is not related to a 32d Reconnaissance Squadron (Fighter) which was activated as the 32d Observation Squadron on 1 April 1943 at DeRidder Army Air Base Louisiana and disbanded on 1 September 1943 without ever becoming operational. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 159
  4. ↑ Station number in Anderson, Capt. Barry (1985). Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Retrieved July 7, 2012.

Bibliography

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

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