335th Bombardment Squadron

The squadron was constituted in early 1942 as the 335th Bombardment Squadron before activating at Barksdale Field, Louisiana in June as one of the four original squadrons of the 95th Bombardment Group.{{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|orig-year= 1961|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180735/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 December 2016 |edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979|pages=163–165}} The squadron began training in August at Geiger Field, Washington, where it was equipped with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses. The unit trained for combat operations until moving overseas starting in March.

The air echelon processed at Kearney Army Air Field, Nebraska and flew its Forts via the southern route, flying to Florida, Trinidad, the northern coast of Brazil, Dakar, Senegal, and Marrakesh, Morocco to RAF Alconbury in the United Kingdom. The ground echelon moved to Camp Kilmer, then sailed on the {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth}} to Scotland, arriving in May. The squadron then reunited at RAF Framlingham.

File:95bombgroup-b17-2.jpg

The squadron arrived in England equipped with late model B-17F aircraft equipped with "Tokyo Tanks", additional fuel cells located outboard in the wings that gave this model additional range.Freeman, p. 47 It flew its first combat mission on 13 May 1943 against an airfield near Saint-Omer, France. For the next two months the squadron focused on attacking airfields and V-1 flying bomb launch sites in France.

Eighth Air Force's early experience with its Martin B-26 Marauders convinced it that the Marauders were stationed too far from the continent of Europe to reach a selection of targets.Freeman, p. 50 It determined to move them closer to the target areas, and an exchange of bases began. The entire 95th group moved to RAF Horham in June, where they replaced the 323d Bombardment Group, which departed the previous day.Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 203–204 A few days later their place at Framlingham was taken by the newly arrived 390th Bombardment Group.Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 277–278

The 335th began strategic bombing operations in July and continued until flying its last operation on 20 April 1945. Its targets included harbors, marshalling yards and other industrial targets along with attacks on cities. The squadron received its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) during an attack on an aircraft factory at Regensburg, Germany on 17 August 1943 when it maintained its defensive formation despite severe attacks by enemy interceptor aircraft.

On 10 October, during an attack on marshalling yards at Münster, Germany, the squadron was subjected to concentrated fighter attacks on the approach to the target and intense flak over the objective. Despite these obstacles, the formation's bombs were clustered close to the target.Freeman, p. 77 It was awarded a second DUC for withstanding these attacks to bomb its objective. From 20 to 25 February 1944 the squadron participated in the Big Week offensive against the German aircraft manufacturing industry. A few days later, on 4 March, the squadron attacked Berlin despite adverse weather that led other units to either abandon the operation or attack secondary targets. Despite snowstorms and heavy cloud cover, the unit struck its target while under attack from enemy fighters, although the cloud cover required the group to rely on a pathfinder from the 482d Bombardment Group to determine the release point.Freeman, p. 113 It received its third DUC for this operation. This mission was the first time any unit from Eighth Air Force had bombed Berlin.

File:95bombgroup-b17-1.jpg

The squadron was diverted to bombing priority tactical targets during the preparation for and execution of Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, attacking communications and coastal defenses. It hit enemy troop concentrations to facilitate the Allied breakout at Saint-Lô. The 335th attacked enemy troop concentrations during the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945 and bombed airfields to support Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine in March.

One of the unit's more unusual missions was flown on 18 September 1944, when the 95th group led the 13th Combat Bombardment WingFreeman, pp. 175–176 to Warsaw to drop ammunition, food and medical supplies to Polish resistance forces fighting against German occupation forces, landing at bases in the Soviet Union. The squadron had previously participated in shuttle missions to the Soviet Union.Freeman, p. 174

The unit flew its last mission on 20 April 1945, when it attacked marshalling yards near Oranienburg. In the first week of May, it airdropped food to Dutch citizens in Operation Chow Hound. From V-E Day until departing the theater in June, it transported liberated prisoners of war and displaced persons.Freeman, p. 230 The air echelon flew their planes back to Bradley Field, Connecticut, while the ground echelon sailed once more on the Queen Elizabeth. The squadron was reunited at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 28 August 1945.

The 335th Bombardment Squadron was reactivated as a reserve unit under Air Defense Command (ADC) at Memphis International Airport, Tennessee in May 1947 as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit. At Memphis its training was supervised by the 468th AAF Base Unit (later the 2584th Air Force Reserve Training Center).See {{cite book|last=Ravenstein|first=Charles A.|title=Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977|url=https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave/page/283|year=1984|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-12-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave/page/283 283–284]}} It is not clear whether or not the squadron was fully staffed or equipped. In 1948 Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing reserve units from ADC.{{cite web |url= http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/896/983.xml |title=Abstract, Mission Project Closeup, Continental Air Command|date=27 December 1961|publisher=Air Force History Index|access-date=24 March 2014}} The 335th was inactivated when Continental Air Command reorganized its reserve units under the wing base organization system in June 1949. The squadron's personnel and equipment were transferred to elements of the 516th Troop Carrier Wing.

File:52-2827 Convair B-36J Peacemaker (11002246275).jpg

The squadron activated on 16 June 1952 at Biggs Air Force Base, Texas. However it was minimally manned until September 1953, when it began strategic bombardment training with Convair B-36 Peacemakers.Ravenstein, Combat Wings, pp. 133–134 It operated in support of Strategic Air Command (SAC)'s global commitments beginning in April 1954. The squadron deployed with the entire 95th Bombardment Wing to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam from July to November 1955.

From 1959 to 1960, the 95th wing phased out its B-36 and received Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses to replace them. In the late 1950s, SAC established strategic wings to disperse its B-52s over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.{{cite web|url= http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/data/001/056/917.xml|title=Abstract (Unclassified), Vol 1, History of Strategic Air Command, Jan–Jun 1957 (Secret)|date=23 August 1985|publisher=Air Force History Index|access-date=14 October 2015}} As part of this program, the squadron moved to Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas on 15 January 1959, where it was assigned to the 4130th Strategic Wing.

Starting in 1960, one third of the squadron's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled, armed and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. This was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962.{{cite web |url= http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/data/001/010/802.xml|title=Abstract (Unclassified), History of the Strategic Bomber since 1945 (Top Secret, downgraded to Secret)|date=1 April 1975|publisher=Air Force History Index|access-date=4 March 2014}} The 335th continued to maintain an alert commitment until it was inactivated.

In February 1963, The 340th Bombardment Wing moved on paper from Whiteman Air Force Base. Missouri and assumed the aircraft, personnel and equipment of the discontinued 4130th wing.Ravenstein, Combat Wings, pp. 179–180 The 4130th was a Major Command controlled (MAJCON) wing, which could not carry a permanent history or lineage,{{cite book|last=Ravenstein|first=Charles A.|title=A Guide to Air Force Lineage and Honors|edition=2d, Revised|year=1984|publisher=USAF Historical Research Center|location=Maxwell AFB, AL|page=12}} and SAC wanted to replace it with a permanent unit. The 335th was inactivated and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the 340th wing's 486th Bombardment Squadron.See Ravenstein, Combat Wings, pp. 179–180

• Constituted as the 335th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942

: Activated on 15 June 1942

: Redesignated 335th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943

: Inactivated on 28 August 1945

: Redesignated 335th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 13 May 1947

• Activated in the reserve on 29 May 1947

: Inactivated on 27 June 1949

: Redesignated 335th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 4 June 1952

• Activated on 16 June 1952

: Redesignated 335th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 8 November 1952Lineage, including assignments, stations and aircraft through 1962 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 414–415

: Discontinued and inactivated on 1 September 1963{{cite web |url= http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/456/045.xml |title=Abstract, History 340 Bombardment Wing|orig-year=First published 1 September 1963|date=22 February 1990|publisher=Air Force History Index|access-date=18 April 2014}}

• 95th Bombardment Group, 15 June 1942 – 28 August 1945
• 95th Bombardment Group, 29 May 1947 – 27 June 1949
• 95th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952
• 4130th Strategic Wing, 15 January 1959 – 1 September 1963

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• Barksdale Field, Louisiana, 15 June 1942
• Pendleton Field, Oregon, 26 June 1942
• Geiger Field, Washington, 28 August 1942
• Ephrata Army Air Base, Washington, 31 October 1942
• Geiger Field, Washington, 24 November 1942
• Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota, 17 December 1942 – 11 March 1943

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• RAF Framlingham (AAF-153),Station number in {{cite book|last=Anderson |first=Capt. Barry |title=Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II |url=http://www.afhra.af.mil./shared/media/document/AFD-081010-027.pdf |access-date=7 July 2012 |year=1985 |publisher=Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center |location=Maxwell AFB, AL |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062523/http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-081010-027.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 }} England, May 1943
• RAF Horham (AAF-119), England, 15 June 1943 – 19 June 1945
• Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, c. 14–28 August 1945
• Memphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee, 29 May 1947 – 27 June 1949
• Biggs Air Force Base, Texas, 16 June 1952
• Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas, 15 January 1959 – 1 September 1963

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• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1945
• Convair B-36 Peacemaker, 1953–1959
• Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, 1959–1963

{{unit awards table

|award_image1=AF PUC

|award_name1=Distinguished Unit Citation, Regensburg, Germany

|award_date1=17 August 1943

|award_notes1=

|award_image2=AF PUC

|award_name2=Distinguished Unit Citation, Münster, Germany

|award_date2=10 October 1943

|award_notes2=

|award_image3=AF PUC

|award_name3=Distinguished Unit Citation, Berlin, Germany

|award_date3=4 March 1944

|award_notes3=

}}

• B-17 Flying Fortress units of the United States Army Air Forces
• List of B-52 Units of the United States Air Force
• List of MAJCOM wings of the United States Air Force

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}

• {{cite book|last=Anderson |first=Capt. Barry |title=Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II |url=http://www.afhra.af.mil./shared/media/document/AFD-081010-027.pdf |access-date=7 July 2012 |year=1985 |publisher=Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center |location=Maxwell AFB, AL |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062523/http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-081010-027.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}
• {{cite book|last=Freeman|first = Roger A.|title=The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force)|year=1970 |publisher=Macdonald and Company|location=London, England, UK |isbn= 978-0-87938-638-2|page=245}}
• {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|orig-year= 1961|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180735/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 December 2016 |edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979|pages=163–165}}
• {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |archive-url= https://archive.today/20230820144531/https://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 August 2023 |edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
• {{cite book|last=Ravenstein|first=Charles A.|title=Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977|url=https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave/page/133|year=1984|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-12-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave/page/133 133–134]}}
• {{cite book|last=Ravenstein|first=Charles A.|title=A Guide to Air Force Lineage and Honors|edition=2d, Revised|year=1984|publisher=USAF Historical Research Center|location=Maxwell AFB, AL}}
• {{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=978-0-7643-1987-7}}

Further reading

• {{cite book|last=Andrews|first=Paul M.|title=Operational Record of the 95th Bomb Group World War II|year=1990|publisher= 95th Bomb Group (H) Association|location= Bellevue, WA}}
• {{cite book|last=Cantwell|first=Gerald T.|title=Citizen Airmen: a History of the Air Force Reserve, 1946–1994|year=1997|publisher=Air Force History and Museums Program|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=0-16049-269-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/citizenairmenhis00cant}}
• {{cite book|editor=Dwyer, John P.|title=The 95th Bombardment Group H, United States Army Air Forces|year=1945|publisher= A.H. Pugh Printing Co.|location= Cincinnati, OH}}
• {{cite book|last=Hawkins|first=Dan|title=B-17s Over Berlin: Personal Stories from the 95th Bomb Group (H)|year=1990| publisher=Brassey's (U.S.)|location=Washington, DC}}
• {{cite book|last=Hawkins|first=Dan|title=Courage, Honor, Victory: A First Person History of the 95th Bomb Group (H)|year=1987|publisher= 95th Bomb Group (H) Association|location= Bellevue, WA}}
• {{cite book|last=Yenne|first=Bill|title=B-52 Stratofortress: The complete history of history's longest serving and best known bomber|url= https://google.com/books?id=mT1Z1eSS_P4C&pg=PA181|year=2012|publisher=Zenith Press|location= Minneapolis, MN|isbn=978-0-7603-4302-9}}

• {{cite web |url= http://www.95thbg.org |title=95th Bomb Group (H) Memorials Foundation|date=2014|publisher=95thbg.org|access-date=14 October 2015}}
• {{cite web |url= http://www.95thbg-horham.com/ |title=95th B.G. Horham Heritage Association|date=2013|publisher=95th Bomb Group Heritage Association|access-date=26 October 2012}}
• {{cite web |url= http://www.strategic-air-command.com/wings/0095bw.htm |last1=Broyhill|first1=Marvin T.|title=95th Bombardment Wing, 95th Strategic Wing, 95th Air Base Wing|date=2003|publisher=Strategic-Air-Command.com|access-date=19 April 2014}}

{{Strategic Air Command}}

{{USAAF 8th Air Force UK}}

{{USAAF 2d Air Force World War II}}

{{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II}}

Category:World War II strategic bombing units

Category:Military units and formations established in 1942

Category:Bombardment squadrons of the United States Air Force

Category:Military units and formations of the United States Air Force Reserves

Category:Bombardment squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces

Category:Units and formations of Strategic Air Command