The 760th Bombardment Squadron is a former

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, activated 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 ...

. After training in the United States, it deployed to 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. 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, ...

earned 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 its attack against a target in Austria despite adverse weather and stiff enemy opposition. Following

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

, the squadron moved to Brazil, where it became part of

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...

, returning troops to the United States. It was inactivated on 26 September 1945.

History

The 760th Bombardment Squadron was first activated at

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 on 1 July 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the

460th Bombardment Group 46 may refer to: * 46 (number) * ''46'' (album), a 1983 album by Kino * "Forty Six", a song by Karma to Burn from the album ''Appalachian Incantation'', 2010 * One of the years 46 BC, AD 46, 1946, 2046 In contemporary history, the third mill ...

.Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 741Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 335 A

cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...

of the unit's air echelon went to

Orlando Army Air Base Orlando Executive Airport is a public airport three miles (6 km) east of downtown Orlando, in Orange County, Florida. It is owned and operated by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) and serves general aviation. Overview Orlando ...

, Florida for specialized training with the

Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. In August, the unit was filled out with ground personnel at

Kearns Army Air Base South Valley Regional Airport is a public airport located in West Jordan, southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Established as a Utah World War II army airfield, it is the primary general aviation airport in the area and is a Uta ...

, Utah, then moved to Chatham Army Air Field, Georgia to complete its training with

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 ...

heavy bombers. Upon completing training, the squadron departed for the

in January 1944. The

completed its deployment to

Spinazzola 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 ...

, Italy by the middle of February 1944, and entered the strategic bombing campaign against Germany the following month, with an attack on a

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 ...

and docks at

Metković Metković () is a town in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the river Neretva and on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Demographics The total population of the city municipal ...

, Yugoslavia. It attacked oil

refineries A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ar ...

and storage facilities, railroads, industrial areas, including aircraft manufacturing plants in Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Yugoslavia. On 26 July 1944, the squadron was part of a 460th Group formation that led the 55th Bombardment Wing on an attack against an airfield and aircraft manufacturing plant at Zwolfaxing, Austria. It attacked the target through heavy enemy

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, ...

and adverse weather, for which it was awarded a

. The squadron was occasionally diverted from the strategic bombing mission to perform

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 ...

and

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 ...

missions. In August 1944, it supported

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, by attacking

submarine pen A submarine pen (''U-Boot-Bunker'' in German) is a type of submarine base that acts as a bunker to protect submarines from air attack. The term is generally applied to submarine bases constructed during World War II, particularly in Germany and ...

s and

artillery batteries In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to faci ...

in the area of the amphibious landings. It struck

lines of communications A line of communication (or communications) is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communicat ...

, railroads,

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 ...

s and other targets in connection with

Operation Grapeshot The spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack into the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 ...

, the

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 ...

offensive in Northern Italy. The squadron flew its last mission against a target in northern Italy on 26 April 1945. After

, the 460th Group and its squadrons were transferred to the South Atlantic Division, Air Transport Command, moving to Parnamirim Field, near

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ...

, Brazil to participate in the Green Project. Green Project was aimed at transporting 50,000 military personnel a month from the European and Mediterranean Theaters back to the United States, with priority for those that plans called for redeploying to the Pacific. The squadron's combat veterans proved none too happy with this assignment,Heck, p. 219 but continued supporting the project until the squadron inactivated on 26 September 1945.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 760th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 19 May 1943 : Activated on 1 July 1943 * Redesignated 760th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 3 September 1944 : Inactivated on 26 September 1945 * Redesignated 760th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 14 November 1945 (Remained inactive)

Assignments

* 460th Bombardment Group, 1 July 1943 – 26 September 1945

Stations

* Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, 1 July 1943 * Kearns Army Air Base, Utah, 31 August 1943 * Chatham Army Air Field, Georgia, 29 October 1943 – 3 January 1944 * Spinazzola Airfield, Italy, c. 11 February 1944 – 6 June 1945 *

Waller Field Waller Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force World War II air base located in northeastern Trinidad. It is located about 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Valencia south of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway and roughly 32 km from t ...

, Trinidad, 15 June 1945 * Parnamirim Field, Brazil, 30 June – 26 September 1945

Aircraft

* Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945

Awards and campaigns

References

Notes

Bibliography

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