The 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron was a part of the Eighth Air Force

7th Photographic Group The United States Air Force's 373d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group is a Twenty-Fifth Air Force unit located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Mission The 373 ISRG is the Department of Defense host service organizati ...

that was activated in 1942 and based at Mount Farm England between 1943 and 1945.

Peterson Field

The unit was constituted by general orders on 14 July 1942 and activated on 2 September 1944 at was later to be known as Peterson Field in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

as part of the

5th Photographic Group The 26th Information Operations Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with United States Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where it was inactivated on 5 July 2006. The wing was first establis ...

. The outfit existed essentially on paper until 21 December 1943 when 12 officers and 129 enlisted men were transferred from the 10th Photographic Reconnaissance and Training Squadron. The commanding officer was Capt. George A. Lawson. The Squadron left Colorado Springs on 17 May 1943 and traveled to England aboard the RMS Queen Mary.

Mount Farm

The Squadron arrived at the

RAF Mount Farm Royal Air Force Station Mount Farm or more simply RAF Mount Farm is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Dorchester, Oxfordshire, England. History USAAF use Mount Farm was originally a satellite airfield for the RAF Photograp ...

airfield on 8 June 1943. The unit was equipped with Lockheed F-5 (P-38) Lightning photographic aircraft and the first mission was flown on 24 June 1943. The 22nd Reconnaissance Squadron was combined with the

13th Photographic Squadron The 13th Reconnaissance Squadron is part of the 926th Wing at Beale Air Force Base, California. It operates RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft conducting reconnaissance and surveillance missions. Mission The squadron provides theater comman ...

and

14th Photographic Squadron The 14th Fighter Squadron is part of the 35th Fighter Wing at Misawa Air Base, Japan. It operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting Wild Weasel missions. The squadron has been stationed at Misawa since 1987. The squadron was first ...

, into the

7th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group The United States Air Force's 373d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group is a Twenty-Fifth Air Force unit located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Mission The 373 ISRG is the Department of Defense host service organizati ...

that was activated on 7 July 1943. In 1943, the 22nd was among the squadrons flying the first photoreconnaissance missions against

Peenemünde Peenemünde (, en, " Peene iverMouth") is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is part of the ''Amt'' (collective municipality) of Usedom-Nord. The commu ...

. During August and September 1945, personnel were transferred out of the 22nd squadron, some returning to the United States and others assigned to the Occupation Forces in Germany.

Equipment

The squadron used Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft photo-reconnaissance variant F-5 throughout the war. The F-5 and F-5A were used from the summer of 1943 until the summer of 1944 when F-5B, F-5C, and F-5E Lightnings were brought in. All P-38 Lightning variants were used for the remainder of the war.

Notable pilots

John H. Ross John Henry Ross (June 8, 1918 – August 9, 2013) was a decorated World War II pilot who flew 96 missions for the 22nd Reconnaissance Squadron as part of the 7th Reconnaissance Group in the 8th Air Force. Ross flew the Lockheed P-38 Lightning as ...

References

{{USAAF 8th Air Force UK 022