401st Bombardment Squadron | 91st Bombardment Group | 8th AAF

[walika]

401st Bombardment Squadron | 91st Bombardment Group | 8th AAF

LINEAGE. Constituted 11th reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. Activated on 15 Apr 1942. Redesignated 401st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 22 Apr 1942. Inactivated on 7 Nov 1945.

ASSIGNMENTS. 91st Bombardment Group, 15 Apr 1942-7 Nov 1945.

STATIONS. Harding Field, La, 15 Apr 1942; MacDill Field, Fla, 13 May 1942; Walla Walla, Wash, 22 Jun-24 Aug 1942; Kimbolton, England, 13 Sep 1942; Bassingbourn, England, 14 Oct 1942-22 Jun 1945; Drew Field, Fla, 3 Jul-7 Nov 1945.

AIRCRAFT. B-17, 1942-1945.

OPERATIONS. Combat in ETO, 8 Nov 1942-21 Apr 1945.

CAMPAIGNS. Air Offensive, Europe; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe; Air Combat, EAME Theater.

EMBLEM. On a light purple rectangle, long axis vertical, the comic strip character, 'HAIRLESS JOE, proper, wearing red brown, patched trousers and black, sleeveless jacket, grasping and holding aloft a very large yellow club with spike through end, balancing on the right foot, on a large light turquoise blue aerial bomb, and the comic strip character, LONESOME POLECAT, proper, wearing a red brown breech cloth and head band, having one white feather, trimmed black, in the headdress, seated
astride the large aerial bomb, behind HAIRLESS JOE, and holding aloft in the right hand a light turquoise blue axe
with yellow handle, all in front of a white disc within a green annulet, edged white. (Approved 18 Oct 1944.) [united Feature Syndicate.]

 

Chenille.

 

Entered combat in Nov 1942 and concentrated its attacks on submarine pens, ship-building yards, harbors, and dock facilities until mid-1943.

During this period, also struck airdromes, factories, and communications. Attacked the navy yard at Wilhelmshaven on 27 Jan 1943 when heavy bombers of Eighth AF first penetrated Germany. Received a DUC for bombing marshalling yards at Hamm on 4 Mar 1943 in spite of adverse weather and heavy enemy opposition. From the middle of 1943 until the war ended, engaged chiefly in attacks on aircraft factories, airdromes, and oil facilities.

Specific targets included airfields at Villacoublay and Oldenburg, aircraft factories in Oranienburg and Brussels, chemical industries in Leverkusen and Peenemunde, ball-bearing plants in Schweinfurt, and other industries in Ludwigshafen, Berlin, Frankfurt, and Wilhelmshaven. On II Jan 1944 organizations of Eighth AF went into central Germany to attack vital aircraft factories; participating in this operation, the 91st group successfully bombed its targets in spite of bad weather, inadequate fighter cover, and severe enemy attack, being awarded a DUC for the performance.

Expanding its operations to include interdictory and support missions, the group contributed to the Normandy invasion by bombing gun emplacements and troop concentrations near the beachhead area in Jun 1944; aided the St Lo breakthrough by attacking enemy troop positions, 24-25 Jul 1944; supported troops on the front lines near Caen in Aug 1944; attacked communications near the battle area during the Battle of the Bulge, Dec 1944-Jan 1945; and assisted the push across the Rhine by striking airfields, bridges, and railroads near the front lines in the spring of 1945. Evacuated prisoners from German camps after the war ended.

 

References:

Maurer. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force World War II.

Maurer. Combat Units of the Air Force World War II.

 

401bs 91 bg 8aaf

401st bs 91st bg 8th aaf

 

 

[manayunkman]

Beautiful