The 860th 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 that was assigned to the
493d Bombardment Group during World War II. It was part of the last bombardment
group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
to be assigned to
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 ...
. It flew combat missions 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 Easter ...
, then returned to the United States for inactivation. In 1985, 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, ...
was consolidated with the 660th Bombardment Squadron, a
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...
unit that flew
Boeing B-47 Stratojet
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft ...
s during the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. Although the two squadrons were consolidated as the 967th Airborne Warning and Control Squadron, they have never been active under that designation.
History
World War II
Initial activation and training in the United States
The 860th Bombardment Squadron was first activated in September 1943 at
McCook Army Air Field
McCook Army Airfield was activated on 1 April 1943. It is located nine miles (14 km) northwest of McCook, a city in Red Willow County, Nebraska, United States and is southwest of North Platte, Nebraska. It was constructed in 1943 . The ...
, Nebraska as one of the original four squadrons of the
493d Bombardment Group.
[Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 362-363] The formation of the squadron was delayed by an administrative error that caused some of the unit's 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 ...
to report to Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona instead of McCook. It was not until January 1944 that all personnel were at McCook.[Freeman, p. 262] By this time, the squadron had transferred on paper to Elveden Hall
Elveden Hall is a large stately home on the Elveden Estate in Elveden, Suffolk, England. The seat of the Earls of Iveagh, it is a Grade II* listed building. It is located centrally to the village and is close to the A11 and the Parish Church. Curre ...
, England. The ground personnel of the squadron in the United States had been used to form 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 ...
units being activated by 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 ...
, while the air echelon remained in Nebraska to conduct training on their assigned 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. Meanwhile, 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 ...
formed a new ground echelon for the squadron in England from other units assigned to the 3d Bombardment Division
3-D, 3D, or 3d may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality
* Three-dimensional space
** 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data
** 3D film, a ...
. This ground echelon moved to the squadron's combat station, RAF Debach
Royal Air Force Debach or more simply RAF Debach is a former Royal Air Force station located at Debach, northwest of Woodbridge, Suffolk, England.
United States Army Air Forces use
Debach was one of the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber s ...
, in April 1944. The squadron's air echelon departed for England via the northern ferry route on 1 May, while a small ground component left McCook and sailed from Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts on the on 12 May 1944.[
]
Combat in Europe
The squadron flew its first combat mission on D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
, 6 June 1944. It continued to fly Liberators until 24 August 1944, when it was withdrawn from combat to convert to 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, along with other units of the 93d Bombardment Wing, as Eighth Air Force concentrated all its Liberators in the 2d Bombardment Division
D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''dee'' (pronounced ), plural ''dees''.
History
The ...
. It resumed combat missions with the B-17 on 8 September 1944.[ The squadron concentrated its attacks on military and industrial targets in Germany, attacking an ordnance depot in ]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 ...
, factories near Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, and a synthetic oil
Synthetic oil is a lubricant consisting of chemical compounds that are artificially modified or synthesised. Synthetic lubricants can be manufactured using chemically modified petroleum components rather than whole crude oil, but can also be syn ...
manufacturing plant at Merseburg
Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...
. It also attacked 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 ...
, including a railroad tunnel at Ahrweiler
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler () is a spa town in the German Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate that serves as the capital of the Ahrweiler district. The A61 motorway connects the town with cities like Cologne and Mainz. Formed by the merging of the ...
, bridges at Irlich, and marshalling yards
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 ...
near Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
.[
The squadron was occasionally diverted from the strategic bombing campaign to attack tactical targets. It supported ]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, striking 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 facil ...
, airfields and bridges. It struck enemy ground forces south of Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,[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 breakout at St Lo
ST, St, or St. may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Stanza, in poetry
* Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band
* Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise
* Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...
. It bombed German fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
s to support Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...
, airborne attacks attempting to secure a bridgehead across the Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
in the Netherlands, and attacked communications 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 ...
. Toward the end of the war, it also supported Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity (24 March 1945) was a successful airborne forces operation launched by Allied troops that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest air ...
, the airborne assault across the Rhine in Germany.[
The squadron flew its last combat mission against marshalling yards near ]Nauen
Nauen is a small town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is chiefly known for Nauen Transmitter Station, the world's oldest preserved radio transmitting installation.
Geography
Nauen is situated within the Havelland Luch glac ...
on 20 April 1945, although it flew food-dropping missions in early May.[ The squadron air echelon departed Debach on 30 June, while the ground echelon sailed for home aboard the on 6 August 1945. In late August, the squadron assembled at ]Sioux Falls Army Air Field
Sioux Falls Regional Airport , also known as Joe Foss Field, is a public and military use airport three miles northwest of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. It is named in honor of aviator and Sioux Falls native Joe Foss, who later served a ...
, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 28 August 1945.[
]
Strategic Air Command
Starting in 1958, the Boeing B-47 Stratojet
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft ...
wings of Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...
(SAC) began to assume an alert posture at their home bases, reducing the amount of time spent on alert at overseas bases. The SAC alert cycle divided itself into four parts: planning, flying, alert and rest to meet General Thomas S. Power
General Thomas Sarsfield Power (June 18, 1905 – December 6, 1970) was a United States Air Force officer who served as commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command. He was an active military flier for more than 30 years.
Early career
Thomas ...
's initial goal of maintaining one third of SAC's planes on fifteen minute ground alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.[Schake, p. 220 (note 43)] To implement this new system, B-47 wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
reorganized from three to four squadrons.[Schake, p. 220 (note 43)] The 660th Bombardment Squadron was activated at Forbes Air Force Base
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also rep ...
, Kansas as the fourth squadron of the 40th Bombardment Wing
The United States Air Force's 40th Air Expeditionary Wing (40 AEW) was an Air expeditionary unit located at Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, from 2002 to c. 2006. The 40 AEW's mission was to support combat forces in Afghanistan and other combat ...
.[Ravenstein, pp. 68-69] The SAC alert commitment was increased to half the wing's aircraft in 1962 and the four squadron pattern no longer met the alert cycle commitment, so the squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1962.[
]
Consolidation
In September 1985, the 860th Bombardment Squadron and the 660th Bombardment Squadron were consolidated as the 967th Airborne Warning and Control Squadron.[Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 Sep 85, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons]
Lineage
; 860th Bombardment Squadron
* Constituted as the 860th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 14 September 1943
: Activated on 1 November 1943
: Redesignated 860 Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 21 February 1944
: Inactivated on 28 August 1945[Lineage and aircraft through 1945 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 785.]
: Consolidated with the 660th Bombardment Squadron as the 967th Airborne Warning and Control Squadron on 19 September 1985[
; 967th Airborne Warning and Control Squadron
* Constituted in 1958 as the 660th Bombardment Squadron, Medium
: Activated on 1 February 1959
: Inactivated on 1 January 1962
* Consolidated with the 860th Bombardment Squadron as the 967th Airborne Warning and Control Squadron on 15 September 1985][
]
Assignments
* 493d Bombardment Group, 1 November 1943 – 28 August 1945[
* 40th Bombardment Wing, 1 February 1959 – 1 January 1962][
]
Stations
* McCook Army Air Field, Nebraska, 1 November 1943 – 1 January 1944
* Elveden Hall, England (Station 116),[Station number in Anderson.] England, 1 January 1944
* RAF Debach (Station 152),[ England, 17 April 1944 – 6 August 1945
* Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, c. 13–28 August 1945
* Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, 1 February 1959 - 1 January 1962
]
Aircraft
* Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1944
* Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1944-1945[
* Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1959-1962][''See'' Ravenstein, pp. 68-69 (40th Bombardment Wing bomber aircraft).]
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-47 units of the United States Air Force
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