During World War II, the 353d Bombardment Squadron was a B-17 Flying Fortress squadron, assigned to the 301st Bombardment Group, Fifteenth Air Force. It earned two Distinguished Unit Citations.
The ground and air echelons were reunited at RAF Chelveston on 19 August 1942. The squadron flew its first mission on 5 September 1942. From England it attacked targets primarily in France, including submarine pens, airfields, railroad targets, and bridges. On 14 September, the 301st Group and its squadrons were reassigned to XII Bomber Command in preparation for Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, but they continued to operate under the control of VIII Bomber Command. Between 20 and 23 November 1942, the air echelon moved forward to bases in southeastern England, from which it flew directly to Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria. The ground echelon sailed for Algeria from Liverpool on 8 December 1942.[3][4]
Until August 1943, the squadron operated from airfields in Algeria, bombing docks, shipping facilities, airfields and marshalling yards in Tunisia, Sicily, and Sardinia. It also attacked enemy ships operating between Sicily and Tunisia. On 6 April 1943, the squadron withstood heavy flak from shore defenses and enemy vessels, when it attacked a merchant convoy near Bizerte, Tunisia that was carrying supplies essential for the Axis defense of Tunisia. For this mission it was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). In May and June, it participated in Operation Corkscrew, the bombing and invasion of Pantelleria, prior to the invasion of Sicily.[3]
Starting in July 1943, the squadron began flying numerous missions to targets in Italy, moving forward to Oudna Airfield, Tunisia in early August. In November 1943, strategic and tactical air forces in the Mediterranean were divided and the squadron became part of Fifteenth Air Force. It moved to Italy in December 1943 and in February 1944 it was established at Lucera Airfield, Italy, from which it would conduct combat operations for the remainder of the war. From its Italian base, it concentrated on the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, attacking oil centers, lines of communications, and industrial areas in Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. On 23 February 1944, it participated in an attack on the Messerschmitt aircraft factory at Regensburg, succeeding despite "viscous" attacks by enemy interceptors. For this mission, it was awarded a second DUC.[3]
The 353d also flew air support missions near Anzio and Monte Cassino, provided cover for Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France and the advance of the Red Army in the Balkans and the Allied advances in the Po Valley.[3] It engaged in shuttle bombing missions to airfields in the Soviet Union during the summer of 1944.[6]
Following V-E Day, the squadron remained in Italy until July 1945. In August, it was designated as a "very heavy" unit in preparation for conversion to the Boeing B-29 Superfortress and deployment to Pacific Theater. Before the squadron arrived at its planned training base, Pyote Army Air Field, Texas, Japan had surrendered and there was no need for additional bomber units. The squadron was inactivated in October 1945, shortly before Pyote ended training operations and became an aircraft storage depot.[1][7]
It was reactivated in 1946 as a Strategic Air Command B-29 strategic bombardment squadron. It was deployed to Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany, July–August 1948; to RAF Scampton, England, October 1948 – January 1949; and to RAF Stations Lakenheath and Sculthorpe, May–November 1950 for "show of force" missions in Europe as a result of the Berlin Blockade by the Soviet Union and rising Cold War tensions in Europe. The squadron was deployed to Far East Air Forces in February 1951, flying combat missions over North Korea, and attacking strategic industrial and military targets during the Korean War.
The squadron returned to the United States in June 1952, equipped with YRB-47B Stratojet long-range reconnaissance aircraft. It was used for strategic reconnaissance missions until 1953, when production RB-47E aircraft were received. It flew reconnaissance missions on a worldwide basis. Operations of the unit were still classified. It was suspected[by whom?] that the squadron was deployed frequently to Thule Air Base, Greenland and flew missions deep into the heart of the Soviet Union, taking a photographic and radar recording of the routes attacking SAC B-52 bombers would follow to reach their targets.
The squadron was inactivated in 1964 with phaseout of the B-47 from the inventory.
^Aircraft is Boeing RB-47H-1-BW Stratojet, serial 53-4292.
^Approved 13 April 1959. Description: On and over a light blue disc, a caricatured black raven in fighting stance, bearing in his left wing, a white shield charged with a light blue star, casting a black shadow; In his right wing an Air Force golden yellow lightning flash pointing upward outlined black; the raven's beak and talons Air Force golden yellow, outlines and details black, his eye red, details of feathers light blue, highlights white.
^The 97th Bombardment Group had arrived earlier, but was equipped with B-17Es. Freeman, p. 13.
^The aircraft in the background is Boeing B-17F-1-BO Flying Fortress, serial 41-24352. This plane suffered severe battle damage on a mission to steel works at Lille, France (Although located in the Lille metropolitan area, the target was actually in Belgium, on the left bank of the Deûle River.) on 9 October 1942. The crew prepared to bail out but the bomber made it back to Chelveston with one engine on fire, two propellers feathered and a couple of hundred holes in it. Following this mission, it was named Holey Joe.
^Aircraft is Douglas Aircraft built Boeing B-17F-15-DL, serial 42-3026.
Freeman, Roger A. (1970). The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company. ISBN978-0-87938-638-2.
United States
United States Air Force
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
