826th Bombardment Squadron
| 826th Bombardment Squadron | |
|---|---|
|
Emblem of the 826th Bombardment Squadron | |
| Active | 1943-1945 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Bombardment |
The 826th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 484th Bombardment Group. It was last stationed at Casablanca Airport, French Morocco, and was inactivated on 25 July 1945.
History
Established in late 1943 as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron; trained under Second Air Force. Deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) in April 1944, being assigned to Fifteenth Air Force in Southern Italy.
Despite designation, squadron did not perform pathfinder missions. Instead it engaged in very long range strategic bombardment missions against enemy strategic targets in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the Balkans until April 1945. Bombed aircraft factories, assembly plants, oil refineries, storage areas, marshalling yards, airdromes, and other objectives until the German Capitulation in May 1945.
Attached to Air Transport Command in May 1945; used B-24s as transports flying personnel from locations in France and Italy to Casablanca, French Morocco. Also engaged in transport operations from North Africa to Azores or Dakar in French West Africa where personnel eventually were transported to Florida. Squadron inactivated in place in French Morocco during July 1945.
Lineage
- Constituted 825th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 14 Sep 1943
- Activated on 20 Sep 1943
- Redesignated: 825th Bombardment Squadron (Pathfinder) on 14 Feb 1944
- Redesignated: 825th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 11 Nov 1944
- Inactivated on 25 Jul 1945
Assignments
- 484th Bombardment Group, 20 Sep 1943-25 Jul 1945
Stations
- Harvard Army Airfield, Nebraska, 20 September 1943 – 2 March 1944
- Torretto Airfield, Italy, April 1944
- Casablanca-Anfa Airport, French Morocco, c. 25 May-25 July 1945
Aircraft
- B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.