833rd Bombardment Squadron

The 833rd Bombardment Squadron was activated at McCook Army Air Field, Nebraska on 20 September 1943 as one of the original squadrons of the 486th Bombardment Group. After organizing as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator unit, it moved to Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona in November and trained for combat. The squadron began deploying overseas in early March 1944.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 774Maurer, Combat Units, p. 357 Its air echelon flew its Liberators along the southern ferry route.Freeman, p. 260

File:486bg-b24.jpg built Consolidated B-24M-5-FO Liberator, serial 44-50581. This aircraft survived the war and was sent to Kingman Army Air Field, Arizona on 3 January 1946 for scrapping. {{cite web |url= http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.html |last1=Baugher|first1=Joe |title=1944 USAF Serial Numbers|date=June 10, 2023|publisher=Joe Baugher|access-date=July 27, 2023}}}}]]

The squadron arrived at its combat station, RAF Sudbury the following month. It flew its first combat mission on May 7. It conducted strategic bombing missions against industrial facilities, including oil refineries and petroleum storage facilities at Dollbergen, Hamburg and Merseburg and factories at Mannheim and Weimar. It also struck at transportation targets, such as marshalling yards near Köln, Mainz and Stuttgart; airfields at Kassel and Münster; and harbor installations at Bremen and Kiel. On 19 July 1944, along with the other B-24 units of the 92d Bombardment Wing, the squadron was taken off operations and began conversion to the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. This would mark the beginning of the change of the 3d Bombardment Division to an All-B-17 unit. The group completed its conversion and resumed operations by 1 August, while its Liberators were sent to depots in England for eventual transfer as replacements to 2d Bombardment Division groups.Freeman, p. 172

The squadron was occasionally diverted from strategic targets to support ground forces. Preparing for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, it attacked bridges, V-weapons launch sites, and airfields. On D-Day it bombed gun positions. As Allied forces advanced across northern France in the summer of 1944, it attacked troop concentrations and road junctions. During Operation Market Garden, it struck gun positions near Arnhem to minimize losses among glider and paratroopers attempting to seize bridges across the Rhine River. In December 1944 and January 1945 it supported troops fighting the Battle of the Bulge. In the spring of 1945 it supported Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine. The squadron flew its last mission on 21 April 1945.

The squadron remained in England until August 1945, when it returned to the United States. Its aircraft began departing in early July, while its ground echelon sailed on the {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth}} on 25 August, arriving in New York City six days later. The 833rd reassembled at Drew Field, Florida in September, but was inactivated there on 7 November 1945.

• Constituted as the 833rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 14 September 1943

: Activated on 20 September 1943

• Redesignated 833rd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 1944

: Inactivated on 7 November 1945

• 486th Bombardment Group, 20 September 1943 – 7 November 1945

• McCook Army Air Field, Nebraska, 20 September 1943
• Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, 9 November 1943 – 9 March 1944
• RAF Sudbury (Station 158),Station number in Anderson, p. 22. England, 5 April 1944 – August 1945
• Drew Field, Florida, 3 September – 7 November 1945Station information in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 774, except as noted.

• Consolidated B-24H Liberator, 1943–1944
• Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, 1944–1945

• B-17 Flying Fortress units of the United States Army Air Forces
• B-24 Liberator units of the United States Army Air Forces

; Explanatory notes

{{Notelist}}

; Citations

{{Reflist|40em}}

{{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 |year=1985|publisher=Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center|location=Maxwell AFB, AL yes|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160123155923/http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-081010-027.pdf |archive-date=January 23, 2016|access-date=June 28, 2017}}
• {{cite book|last=Freeman|first = Roger A. |author-link1=Roger A. Freeman|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}}
• {{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|access-date= December 17, 2016|edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher= Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979}}
• {{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://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 December 2016 |edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}

• [https://hendrickscommunications.com/2013/11/11/one-look-a-veterans-day-story/ memorial to an 833rd Bomb Squadron crew KIA 1944]

{{USAAF 8th Air Force UK}}

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

Category:Bombardment squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces

Category:World War II strategic bombing units

Category:Military units and formations established in 1943