The 376th Fighter Squadron is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

unit. Its last was assigned to the 361st Fighter Group,

VIII Fighter Command The VIII Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces unit of command above the wings and below the numbered air force. Its primary mission was command of fighter operations within the Eighth Air Force. In the World War II European Thea ...

, stationed at

Camp Myles Standish Camp Myles Standish was a U.S. Army camp located in Taunton, Massachusetts during World War II. It was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation, with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their wa ...

, Massachusetts. It was inactivated on 23 October 1945. In 1985, the

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

was consolidated with the

376th Air Refueling Squadron The 376th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4081st Strategic Wing at Ernest Harmon Air Force Base, Newfoundland, where it was inactivated in June 1966. History World War II Estab ...

History

Established in early 1943 as the 376th Fighter Squadron and equipped with

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

s, the squadron trained under

I Fighter Command I Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces intermediate command responsible for command and control of the fighter operations within the First Air Force during World War II. It was initially established in June 1941 as the 1st Inte ...

in the mid-Atlantic states. Also flew air-defense missions as part of the

Philadelphia Fighter Wing The Philadelphia Fighter Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the I Fighter Command, stationed at Philadelphia Airport, Pennsylvania, where it was inactivated on 3 April 1946. History The wing was a W ...

. Deployed to the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground For ...

(ETO), being assigned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, November 1943. The unit served primarily as an escort organization, covering the penetration, attack, and withdrawal of B-17/B-24 bomber formations that the USAAF sent against targets on the Continent. The squadron also engaged in counter-air patrols, fighter sweeps, and strafing and dive-bombing missions. Attacked such targets as airdromes, marshalling yards, missile sites, industrial areas, ordnance depots, oil refineries, trains, and highways. During its operations, the unit participated in the assault against the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

and aircraft industry during the

Big Week Big Week or Operation Argument was a sequence of raids by the United States Army Air Forces and RAF Bomber Command from 20 to 25 February 1944, as part of the Strategic bombing during World War II#US bombing in Europe, European strategic bombin ...

, 20–25 February 1944, and the attack on transportation facilities prior to the

Normandy invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...

and support of the invasion forces thereafter, including the

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in September 1944 and deployed to Chievres Airdrome, (ALG A-84), Belgium between February and April 1945 flying tactical ground support missions during the airborne assault across the Rhine. The unit returned to Little Walden and flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945. Demobilized during the summer of 1945 in England, inactivated in the United States as a paper unit in October.

Lineage

* Constituted 376th Fighter Squadron on 28 January 1943 : Activated on 10 February 1943 : Inactivated on 10 November 1945

Assignments

* 361st Fighter Group, 10 February 1943 – 10 November 1945

Stations

Richmond Army Air Base Richmond International Airport is a joint civil-military airport in Sandston, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community (in Henrico County, Virginia, Henrico County). The airport is about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of downtown ...

, Virginia, 10 February 1943 *

Camp Springs Army Air Field Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint Bas ...

, Maryland, 26 May 1943 *

Millville Army Air Field Millville Executive Airport is in Millville, New Jersey, Millville, in Cumberland County, New Jersey, Cumberland County, New Jersey. The airport, southwest of the Millville city center, is owned by the Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) a ...

, New Jersey, 15 August 1943 * Camp Springs Army Air Field, Maryland, 18 September 1943 * Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia, 30 September – 11 November 1943 *

RAF Bottisham Royal Air Force Bottisham or more simply RAF Bottisham is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. History RAF Fighter Command use RAF Bottisham opened in March 1940 and was first used by bomb-ar ...

(AAF-374), England, 30 November 1943 * RAF

Little Walden Little Walden is a small settlement in the Uttlesford district, in the English county of Essex. It lies about north of the market town of Saffron Walden and is from Cambridge. The church, St.John's is a "remnant of Victorian concern for the s ...

(AAF-165),Station number in Anderson, p. 22 England, ca. 28 September 1944 : Operated from St-Dizier Airfield (A-64), France, 23 December 1944 – 1 February 1945 * Chievres Airdrome (A-84), Belgium, 1 February 1945 * RAF Little Walden (AAF-165), England, 7 April – ca. 11 October 1945 *

Camp Kilmer Located in Central New Jersey, Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service ...

, New Jersey, 23–24 October 1945Station information in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 465-466, except as noted.

Aircraft

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

, 1943–1944 * North American P-51D Mustang, 1944–1945

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{cite book, editor=Maurer, Maurer, title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, origyear=1969, url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf, edition= reprint, year=1982, publisher=Office of Air Force History, location=Washington, DC, isbn=0-405-12194-6, oclc=72556, lccn=70605402 Military units and formations in Massachusetts Fighter squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces