The 727th Bombardment Squadron is a former United States Army Air Forces unit. It was last assigned to the 451st Bombardment Group at Dow Field, Maine, where it was inactivated on 26 September 1945. The squadron was activated during World War II as one of the original squadrons of the 451st Bombardment Group. After training in the United States, it served in the

Mediterranean Theater of Operations The Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (MTOUSA), originally called the North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), was a military formation of the United States Army that supervised all U.S. Army forc ...

, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. It earned three

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 ...

s for its combat actions. After VE Day the squadron returned to the United States, where it was inactivated.

History

Organization and training in the United States

The squadron was first activated at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona as one of the four original squadrons of the 451st Bombardment Group.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 325-326 Although original plans were for the squadron to be an Operational Training Unit at Davis-Monthan, instead a cadre of the 451st Group moved to

Dyersburg Army Air Base Dyersburg Army Air Base is an inactive United States Air Force base, approximately 2 miles north of Halls, Tennessee. It was active during World War II as a training airfield. It was closed on 30 November 1945 Dyersburg AAB was the largest co ...

, Tennessee, where the 727th and other elements of the group were filled out by personnel drawn from the 346th Bombardment Group. The squadron commander, Capt Clayton E.Evans, and a model crew joined other members of the group for advanced tactical training with the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics at Orlando Army Air Base, Florida. This cadre joined the remainder of the squadron at Wendover Field, Utah for training with the

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 ...

. The squadron continued its training at Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska, starting in September. On 18 November, the air echelon of the squadron departed Fairmont for staging at Lincoln Army Air Field, Nebraska to ferry their aircraft via the Southern Ferrying Route to the

. The ground echelon left on 26 November for the port of embarkation at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, for transportation by ship.

Combat operations

The squadron arrived at

Gioia del Colle Airfield Gioia del Colle Air Base is an Italian Air Force ( Aeronautica Militare) base located in the province of Bari, Apulia, Italy, located approximately 1 km south-southeast of Gioia del Colle. World War II During World War II the air base wa ...

, Italy at the beginning of January, although the air echelon remained at

Telergma Airfield Telerghma Airport is a joint-use civilian/military airport in Algeria , just south of the city of Telerghma, about 300 km east of Algiers History Built by the French Colonial government prior to World War II, the small airport was seized by ...

, Algeria until 20 January to conduct additional training. The squadron functioned primarily as a strategic bombing unit, attacking targets like oil refineries,

marshalling yard A classification yard (American and Canadian English (Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English (Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway ya ...

s, aircraft factories and airfields in Italy, Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Greece and Albania. It earned a

during

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 ...

for an attack on a

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

aircraft factory at

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, Germany on 25 February 1944. It added oak leaf clusters to this award for an attack on oil refineries and marshalling yards at Ploesti, Romania on 5 April 1944 and on Markersdorf-Haindorf Airfield near Vienna, Austria on 23 August 1944. On each of these missions the squadron was opposed by large numbers of enemy interceptor aircraft and heavy flak, but fought its way through to inflict serious damage on the targets and destroy many enemy aircraft. When returning from the Regensburg attack, runway conditions at Gioia del Colle were so poor that the aircraft of the 451st Group were unable to land there, but spread out among a number of bases in Italy. These poor conditions continued and on 8 March the squadron moved to

Manduria Airfield Manduria Airfield is a World War II airfield in Italy, located approximately 5 km north of Manduria, and about 390 km east-southeast of Naples. It was used by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force and later Fifteenth Air F ...

, Italy. The 451st Group's 725th Bombardment Squadron was also relocated there On 6 April, the 727th moved to

Castelluccio Airfield The Foggia Airfield Complex was a series of World War II military airfields located within a radius of Foggia, in the Province of Foggia, Italy. The airfields were used by the United States Army Air Force Fifteenth Air Force as part of the strat ...

, where it joined the remainder of the group. From its new base, the squadron also flew air support and interdiction missions. It helped prepare the way for

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15August 1944. Despite initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, th ...

, the invasion of southern France in August 1944. The following month its bombers transported supplies to forces operating in Italy, It also supported Operation Grapeshot the final advance of

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

armies in northern Italy. The squadron's last mission was flown on 26 April 1945 against marshalling yards at Sachsenburg, Austria.History of the 451st Group, p. 33 The squadron left Italy in June 1945. The air echelon ferried their planes back to the United States, while most of the ground echelon sailed on the to Newport News, Virginia.History of the 451st Group, p. 35 The squadron assembled later in the month at Dow Field, Maine, where it was inactivated on 26 September 1945. Unit personnel that were not discharged from the service on return to the United States were transferred to Air Transport Command units at Dow.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 727th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 6 April 1943 : Activated on 1 May 1943 : Redesignated 727th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 10 May 1943 : Inactivated on 26 September 1945

Assignments

* 451st Bombardment Group, 1 May 1943-26 Sep 1945

Stations

* Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, 1 May 1943 * Dyersburg Army Air Base, Tennessee, 4 June 1943 * Wendover Field, Utah, c. 19 July 1943 * Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska, c. 11 September – 16 November 1943 * Gioia del Colle Airfield, Italy, 2 January 1944 * Manduria Airfield, Italy, 8 March 1944 * Castelluccio Airfield, Italy, c. 6 April 1944 – 4 June 1945 * Dow Field, Maine, 18 June – 16 September 1945

Aircraft

* Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945

Awards and campaigns

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{USAAF 2d Air Force World War II Bombardment squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces World War II strategic bombing units Military units and formations established in 1943