The 846th Bombardment 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. It was assigned to the
489th Bombardment Group
The 489th Bomb Group is a unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 307th Bomb Wing, and is stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The group is a reserve associate unit of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess.
During World War II, t ...
, flying
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. After training in the United States, it moved to England and engaged in combat in the
strategic bombing campaign against Germany until
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 Easte ...
. It returned to United States in 1945 and began training with the
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 ...
, but was inactivated at
March Field
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Ma ...
, California on 17 October 1945.
History
Training in the United States
The 846th Bombardment Squadron was activated as a
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 bomber
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, ...
on 1 October 1943 at
Wendover Field
Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...
, Utah, one of the four original squadrons of the
489th Bombardment Group
The 489th Bomb Group is a unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 307th Bomb Wing, and is stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The group is a reserve associate unit of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess.
During World War II, t ...
.
[Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 779][Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 358–359] The squadron completed combat training and departed Wendover on 3 April 1944.
[ The air echelon flew to the United Kingdom via the southern ferry route along the northern coastline of South America and across the Atlantic to Africa before heading north to England.][Freeman, p. 261] The ground echelon sailed from Boston on board the on 13 April 1944, reaching Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
on 21 April. The squadron arrived at RAF Halesworth
Royal Air Force Halesworth or more simply RAF Halesworth is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of the town of Halesworth, Suffolk, England and west of Southwold.
United States Army Air Forces use
Halesworth was built in 19 ...
, England, in April 1944, where it became part 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 ...
.[
]
Combat in Europe
The squadron entered combat on 30 May 1944 with an attack on Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to:
Places
*Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica
*Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany
**Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony
*Olde ...
, Germany.[ It then concentrated on striking 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 invasion of Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. The 846th supported the landings on 6 June 1944, and afterward bombed coastal defenses, airfields, bridges, railroads, and V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...
and V-2 rocket
The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed ...
launch sites (Operation Crossbow
''Crossbow'' was the code name in World War II for Anglo-American operations against the German V-weapons, long range reprisal weapons (V-weapons) programme.
The main V-weapons were the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket – these were launched aga ...
) in the campaign for France. It participated in the saturation bombing of German lines just before Operation Cobra
Operation Cobra was the codename for an Offensive (military), offensive launched by the United States First United States Army, First Army under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Invasion of Norman ...
, the breakthrough 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. in July.
The 846th began flying strategic bombing missions to Germany in July, and engaged primarily in bombing strategic targets such as factories, oil refineries
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefie ...
and storage areas, 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, and airfield
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...
s in Ludwigshafen
Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...
, Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
, Brunswick, Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
, and other cities until November 1944.[ The squadron dropped food to liberated French and to Allied forces in France during August and September, and carried food and ammunition to the Netherlands later in September.][ For these missions, a loadmaster from ]IX Troop Carrier Command
The IX Troop Carrier Command was a United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina. It was inactivated on 31 March 1946. As a component command of the Ninth ...
directed the drops from the bombers. On other missions, squadron aircraft flew into Orleans/Bricy Airfield to deliver supplies.
Redeployment for the Pacific
It was part of the first group in 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 ...
selected for redeployment to the Pacific theater and became non-operational on 14 November 1944 and most of its B-24s were assigned to other groups in England. It was relieved of assignment to the theater on 29 November 1944, and returned to the United States.[
The 846th Squadron returned to Bradley Field Connecticut at the end of December 1944, where most returning personnel were reassigned to other units][ while the squadron moved to ]Lincoln Army Air Field
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincoln ...
, Nebraska. At Lincoln it again became part of Second Air Force
The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...
. On 22 January 1945, the squadron's personnel were informed that previous plans for refresher training had been cancelled and instead the squadron and its associated 369th Air Service Group were retrained as 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 ...
combat and support units. However Second Air Force did not receive redesignation orders for the group until 17 March, until which time they were compelled to maintain duplicate rosters and tables of organization, one for a heavy bombardment group of four squadrons, and one for a very heavy bombardment group of three squadrons. The readiness date for the group air echelon was set back from 1 March to 1 August 1945. The squadron moved to 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 in mid-February to re-equip with the B-29,[ and was redesignated the 846th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy in March.][
The group was alerted for movement overseas in the summer of 1945, but with the ]Japanese surrender
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...
, the squadron was inactivated on 17 October 1945.[
]
Lineage
* Constituted 846th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 14 September 1943
: Activated on 1 October 1943
: Redesignated 846th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 17 March 1945
: Inactivated on 17 October 1945[
]
Assignments
* 489th Bombardment Group, 1 October 1943 – 17 October 1945[
]
Stations
* Wendover Field, Utah, 1 October 1943 – 3 April 1944
* RAF Halesworth (AAF 365), England, c. 22 April–November 1944
* Bradley Field, Connecticut, 13 December 1944
* Lincoln Army Air Field, Nebraska, 17 December 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 23 February 1945
* Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, 3 April 1945
* Fairmont Army Air Field
Fairmont State Airfield is three miles south of Fairmont, in Fillmore County, Nebraska. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''general aviation'' facility. It has no scheduled airline service.
...
, Nebraska 25 July 1945
* Fort Lawton
Fort Lawton was a United States Army post located in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington overlooking Puget Sound. In 1973 a large majority of the property, 534 acres of Fort Lawton, was given to the city of Seattle and dedicated as ...
, Washington 23 August 1945
* March Field
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Ma ...
, California 2 September–17 October 1945[Station information in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 779, except as noted.]
Aircraft
* Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943-1944
* Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1945[
]
Campaigns
See also
* B-24 Liberator units of the United States Army Air Forces
This is a list of United States Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator combat units during World War II including variants and other historical information. Heavy bomber training organizations primarily under II Bomber Command in the United States and ...
* List of B-29 Superfortress operators
This is a list of B-29 Superfortress units consisting of nations, their air forces, and the unit assignments that used the B-29 during World War II, Korean War, and post war periods, including variants and other historical information
Delivery ...
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book, last=Watkins, first=Robert, title=Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force In World War II , volume=I (VIII) Bomber Command, year=2008, publisher=Shiffer Publishing Ltd., location=Atglen, PA, isbn=0-7643-1987-6
Bombardment squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces
Military units and formations established in 1943
Strategic bombing units and formations