The 460th Bombardment Squadron was a unit of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. Its last was assigned to the 333d Bombardment Group, stationed at

Kadena Air Base (IATA: DNA, ICAO: RODN) is a highly strategic United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is often referred to as the "Keystone of the Pacific" because of its highl ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. It was inactivated on 28 May 1946.

History

Training unit

Established as a

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

very heavy bomb squadron in 1944. Mission was as an

Operational Training Unit Royal Air Force Operational Training Units (OTUs) were training units that prepared aircrew for operations on a particular type or types of aircraft or roles. OTUs ; No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF (1 OTU): The Unit was formed in ...

(OTU) under

II Bomber Command The II Bomber Command is a disbanded United States Air Force unit. It was established in September 1941, shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor to command heavy bomber units assigned to Second Air Force. Following the entry of the United St ...

training B-24 replacement pilots and aircrew.

Deployment to the Pacific

The squadron was again activated at Dalhart on 7 July 1944, but this time was assigned to the 333d Bombardment Group. The 333d Group was also a former

heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...

training unit that had been inactivated in the spring of 1944Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 213-214 in a general

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

reorganization of its training and support units. It was reactivated in July as a

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

group. The squadron trained with Superfortresses until June 1945, when it departed for the Pacific to become an element of

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

, which was organizing on

Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 463 as a second very heavy bomber air force in the Pacific. However, the squadron did not arrive at its combat station,

Kadena Airfield ( IATA: DNA, ICAO: RODN) is a highly strategic United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is often referred to as the "Keystone of the Pacific" because of its hi ...

, until it was too late to participate in combat. The squadron flew show-of-force missions and its aircraft helped evacuate prisoners of war from Japan to airfields in the Philippines. The unit was inactivated on 28 May 1946. In September 1947, all former Air Corps units were transferred from the Army to the Air Force, including inactive units like the 460 BS.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 460th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 1 July 1942 : Activated on 6 July 1942 : Inactivated on 1 April 1944 * Redesignated 460th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy : Activated on 1 April 1944 : Inactivated on 10 May 1944 * Activated on 7 July 1944 : Inactivated on 28 May 1946

Assignments

* 330th Bombardment Group, 6 July 1942 – 1 April 1944 * 330th Bombardment Group, 1 April 1944 – 10 May 1944 * 333d Bombardment Group, 7 July 1944 – 28 May 1946

Stations

Salt Lake City Army Air Base Salt Lake City International Airport is a civil-military airport located about west of Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. The airport is the closest commercial airport for more than 2.5 million people and is within a 30-minu ...

, Utah, 6 July 1942 *

Alamogordo Army Air Field Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...

, New Mexico, 1 August 1942 *

Biggs Field Biggs Army Airfield (formerly Biggs Air Force Base) is a United States Army military airbase located on the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. History Biggs Field/Biggs Army Airfield (1916–47) On 15 June 1919, following an attack b ...

, Texas, 2 September 1942 * Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, 1 December 1942 * Biggs Field, Texas, 5 April 1943 – 1 April 1944 *

Walker Army Air Field Walker Army Airfield (also known as Victoria-Pratt Airfield o Walker-Hays Airfield is an abandoned airfield located north of Interstate 70 in Ellis County, 1 mile northwest of Walker, Kansas or 3 miles northeast of Victoria, Kansas. Walker Army ...

, Kansas, 1 April-10 May 1944 * Dalhart Army Airfield, Texas, 7 July 1944 *

Great Bend Army Air Field Great Bend Army Air Field is a closed United States Air Force base. It is located west-southwest of Great Bend, Kansas, and was closed in 1946. Today it is used as Great Bend Municipal Airport. Great Bend Army Air Field (AAF) is significantly ...

, Kansas, 10 December 1944 – 18 June 1945 * Kadena Airfield, Okinawa, 5 August 1945 – 28 May 1946

Aircraft

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

, 1942–1944 * Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1944–1946

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Portal bar, World War II Strategic bombing squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces Military units and formations established in 1942