The 508th Fighter Squadron is an inactive

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 ...

unit. It was last assigned to the

404th Fighter Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky in many East Asian c ...

Drew Field Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective December 30, 2021. The ...

, Florida, where it was inactivated on 9 November 1945. 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, de ...

saw combat in 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 ...

with

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

as a

fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...

unit during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was decorated by the American, French, and Belgian governments for its actions during the war.

History

The squadron was established as the 622d Bombardment Squadron (Dive) and activated on 4 February 1943 at

Key Field Meridian Regional Airport is a joint civil-military public use airport located at Key Field, a joint-use public/military airfield. It is located southwest of Meridian, a city in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, United States. The Meridian Airpo ...

, Mississippi as one of the four original squadrons of the 404th Bombardment Group.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 288–290 The squadron trained with

Douglas A-24 Banshee The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive ...

(Dauntless) dive bombers and

Bell P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...

fighters and was redesignated the 508th Fighter-Bomber Squadron in August. After training was completed at

Myrtle Beach Army Air Field Myrtle Beach Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Early history On 16 October 1939, Myrtle Beach Town Council resolved that the community "is in dire need of a modern municipal airport". The ...

, South Carolina, the 508th deployed to the

, where it became part of

IX Fighter Command The IX Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces formation. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Erlangen, Germany, wheret was inactivated on 16 November 1945. IX Fighter Command was the primary tactical fighter ...

in England and was assigned

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 ...

s. The squadron became operational on 1 May 1944 and was redesignated as a fighter squadron at the end of the month. The squadron began operations by bombing and strafing targets in France to prepare for

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

, the Normandy invasion. It provided top cover for landings in Normandy on 6 and 7 June 1944. On 6 July the squadron moved across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

to its advanced landing ground at

Chippelle Airfield Chippelle à Cartigny-L’Épinay (Chippelle) Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield, which is located near the commune of Cartigny-l'Épinay in the Calvados in the Normandy region of northern France. Located just outside of Ca ...

, France. It provided

close air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and moveme ...

for ground troops until the end of the war, The 508th assisted the

United States First Army First Army is the oldest and longest-established field army of the United States Army. It served as a theater army, having seen service in both World War I and World War II, and supplied the US army with soldiers and equipment during the Korea ...

in the breakout at

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.flak Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

, the squadron and the other squadrons of the 404th group provided cover for four

armored division A division is a large military unit or Formation (military), formation, usually consisting of between 6,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically mak ...

s. It supported the drive through the Netherlands in September 1944, Allied operations during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

from December 1944 to January 1945, and

Operation Lumberjack Operation Lumberjack was a military operation with the goal of capturing the west bank of the Rhine River and seizing key German cities, near the end of World War II. The First United States Army launched the operation in March 1945 to capture s ...

, and helped defend the expansion of Remagen bridgehead on the east side of the Rhine during March 1945. The squadron also flew

air interdiction Air interdiction (AI), also known as deep air support (DAS), is the use of preventive tactical bombing and strafing by combat aircraft against enemy targets that are not an immediate threat, to delay, disrupt or hinder later enemy engagement of fr ...

strafing Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...

and bombing troop concentrations, railroads, highways, bridges, fuel and

ammunition dump An ammunition dump, ammunition supply point (ASP), ammunition handling area (AHA) or ammunition depot is a military storage facility for live ammunition and explosives. The storage of live ammunition and explosives is inherently hazardous. Th ...

armored vehicle Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighting ...

s, docks and tunnels. In addition, it flew

fighter escort The escort fighter was a concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach the target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, and ...

missions, covering operations of

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

es,

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 ...

s and

Martin B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in t ...

s. The squadron received a

Distinguished Unit Citation The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enem ...

for three

armed reconnaissance Armed (May, 1941–1964) was an American Thoroughbred gelding horse racing, race horse who was the American Horse of the Year in 1947 and Eclipse Award for Outstanding Older Male Horse, Champion Older Male Horse in both 1946 and 1947. He was ind ...

missions it flew on 10 September 1944. Despite adverse weather and flak, the squadron attacked enemy communications, rolling stock and factories to support advancing ground forces. It was also awarded the Belgian Fourragère after being cited three times in the

Belgian Army The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. ...

Order of the Day for operations contributing to the liberation of the Belgian people. After the

surrender of Germany The German Instrument of Surrender (german: Bedingungslose Kapitulation der Wehrmacht, lit=Unconditional Capitulation of the "Wehrmacht"; russian: Акт о капитуляции Германии, Akt o kapitulyatsii Germanii, lit=Act of capit ...

, the squadron became part of the occupying United States forces though the summer of 1945. It aided in disarming 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 dismantling the German aircraft industry. The 508th returned to the United States and was inactivated in early November.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 622d Bombardment Squadron (Dive) on 25 January 1943 : Activated on 4 February 1943 : Redesignated 508th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 10 August 1943 : Redesignated 508th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 30 May 1944 : Inactivated on 9 November 1945

Assignments

* 404th Bombardment Group (later 404th Fighter-Bomber Group, 404th Fighter Group): 5 February 1943 – 9 November 1945

Stations

* Key Field, Mississippi, 4 February 1943 *

Congaree Army Air Field McEntire Joint National Guard Base or McEntire JNGB is a military airport located in Richland County, South Carolina, Richland County, South Carolina, United States, 10 miles (16 km) west of the town of Eastover, South Carolina, Eastover a ...

, South Carolina, 5 July 1943 *

Burns Army Air Field Burns Municipal Airport is six miles east of Burns, in Harney County, Oregon. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''general aviation'' facility. History By 1929 an airport had been established at ...

, Oregon, 8 September 1943 * Myrtle Beach Army Air Field, South Carolina, 13 November 1943 – 13 March 1944 *

RAF Winkton Royal Air Force Winkton or more simply RAF Winkton is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground previously in Hampshire but now, due to County boundary changes, in Dorset, England. The airfield is located approximately north of Christc ...

, (Station 414)Station number in Anderson. Hampshire, England, 5 April 1944 * Chippelle Airfield, (A-5)Station number in Johnson. France, 6 July 1944 * Brétigny Airfield, (A-48) France, 2 September 1944 *

Juvincourt Airfield Juvincourt Airfield is an abandoned military airfield, which is located near the commune of Juvincourt-et-Damary in the Aisne department of northern France. Built originally as a grass airfield by the French Air Force before World War II, Juvin ...

, (A-68) France, 13 September 1944 * St Trond (Sint Truiden) Airfield, (A-92) Belgium, 1 October 1944 * Kelz Airfield, (Y-54) Germany, 3 April 1945 *

Fritzlar Airfield Fritzlar Air Base (German: ''Heeresflugplatz Fritzlar'', IATA: FRZ, ICAO: ETHF) is a military air field of the German Army Aviation Corps. It is located near the town of Fritzlar in northern Hesse, Germany. The airfield is part of the Georg-Fr ...

, (Y-86) Germany, 13 April 1945 * Stuttgart-Bernhausen Airfield, Germany, 23 June 1945 – 2 August 1945 * Drew Field, Florida. 11 September 1945 – 9 November 1945

Aircraft

* Douglas A-24 Banshee, 1943–1944 * Bell P-39 Airacobra, 1943–1944 * Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 1944–1945

Awards and campaigns

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II Military units and formations in Florida Fighter squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces Military units and formations established in 1943