416th Night Fighter Squadron | Eighth Air Force and Twelfth Air Force | Theater-made patch

[walika]

416th Night Fighter Squadron | Eighth Air Force and Twelfth Air Force

 

After training in the United States, the squadron deployed to England, where it was equipped with British aircraft and conducted advanced night fighter training with the Royal Air Force, which included its introduction to combat. Three months later, it deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. It flew combat missions until V-E Day, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation.

 

As early as World War I, night bombing and interdiction had been countered by defending fighters and anti-aircraft guns. The fighters, in the earliest stages, depended on visual sightings assisted by searchlights and sound tracking, but they achieved only marginal success. By World War II, the defenders were assisted by ground radars which could guide (vector) them to the general area where the enemy might be found by visual means. But practical and effective night interception had to await the development of a radar compact enough to be carried aloft by the fighter. Such airborne radar could aid in detecting, stalking and identifying the enemy and bringing the night fighter into firing range.

 

Parallel development of airborne radar occurred in the United States, Germany and Great Britain early in WWII. The initial attempts to develop a usable Allied night fighter system turned to modifications of existing airframes and saw variations of the Defiant, Beaufighter, Mosquito and American A-20, all flown by the RAF. The USAAF directed its attentions to the interim P-70 and P-38, and to the new P-61. In 1941 a contract was awarded to the Northrop Corp. for the design and construction of the P-61 Black Widow, the first U.S. aircraft designed from the drawing board as a night fighter. Lacking sufficient suitable aircraft from U.S. sources, USAAF units acquired and operated the British Beaufighter -- and later the Mosquito -- with good success in the European theater. In the Pacific, night fighter squadrons operated the P-70 versions of the Douglas A-20 until P-61s could be delivered in 1944. By the end of the war, the P-61 was the standard USAAF night fighter and was in service with 15 of the 16 night fighter squadrons operating in combat theaters.

 

LINEAGE. Constituted 416th Night Fighter Squadron on 17 Feb 1943. Activated on 20 Feb 1943. Inactivated on 9 Nov 1946.

 

ASSIGNMENTS. Air Defense Department, AAF School of Applied Tactics, 20 Feb 1943; VIII Fighter Command (attached to RAF), 11 May 1943; Twelfth Air Force, 8 Aug 1943 (attached to Northwest African Coastal Air Force, 8 Aug 1943; Tunis Fighter Sector, g Aug 1943; Bone Fighter Sector, 17 Aug-15 Sep 1943; 286 Wing, RAF, 28 Sep 1943); 62d Fighter Wing, 28 Jan 1944 (detachments attached to 6505th Fighter Control Area [Prov], 27 Jun-4 Sep 1944; 63d Fighter Wing, 14-23 Aug 1944, 6504th Fighter Control Area [Prov], 1-13 Sep 1944, 6502d Fighter Contra1 Area [Prov], 1-14 Sep 1944, 425th Night Fighter Squadron, 4 Jan-20 Feb 1945); XXII Tactical Air Command, 1 Apr 1945; 70th Fighter Wing, 17 Aug 1945.

 

STATIONS. Orlando AB, Fla, 20 Feb-26 Apr 1943; Honiley, England, 13 May 1943 (detachments at Cranfield, England, 13 May-io Jun 194.3; Usworth, England, 13 May-io Jun 194.3; Bath, England, 13 May-io Jun 1943; Bristol, England, 14 May4 Jun 1943); Acklington, England, 11 Jun-c. 4 Aug 1943; Algiers, Algeria, c. 8 Aug 194.3; Bone, Algeria, 17 Aug 1943; Bizerte, Tunisia, 15 Sep 1943; Catania, Sicily, 21 Sep 1943; Lecce, Italy, 27 Sep 1943; Grottaglie, Italy, 30 Sep 1943 (detachment at Rerhaia, Algeria, 27 Dec 1943-25 Jan 1944); Pomigliano, Italy, c. 28 Jan 1944 (detachments at Tre Cancello Landing Strip, Italy, 14 Jun-8 Jul 1944; Tarquinia, Italy, 8 Jul-4 Sep 1944; Alghero, Sicily, 14-22 Aug 1944; Borgo, Corsica, 14-23 Aug 1944); Rosignano, Italy, c. 1 Sep 1944 (detachment at Pomigliano, Italy, i-g Sep 1944); Pisa, Italy, c. 1 Oct 1944 (detachment at Etain, France, 4 Jan-20 Feb 1945); Pontedera, Italy, 27 Mar 1945; Horsching, Austria, 13 Aug 1945.

 

AIRCRAFT. A-20, 1943; P-70, 1943; Beaufigliter, 1943-1944; Mosquito, 1944-1945; 44-36, 1945; P-61, 1945-1946

 

OPERATIONS. Combat in MTO and ETO, 4 Sep 1943-3 May 1945.

 

CAMPAIGNS. Naples-Foggia; Anzio; Rome-Arno; Southern France; North Apennines; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Po Valley; Air Combat, EAME Theater.

 

Theater-made. Italian embroidery on wool.

 

 

 

USAF Museum | Night Fighter Squadron Exhibit

DAYTON, Ohio -- Flight jacket and boots worn by the donor while piloting the Beaufighter and Mosquito aircraft with the 416th Night Fighter Squadron from bases in Italy. Items on display in the World War II Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force were donated by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Roy Atwell. (U.S. Air Force photo)

 

 

 

 

416th NFS Beaufighter

Beaufighter Mk VIF aircraft of US 416th Night Fighter Squadron at rest, near Grottaglie, Italy, Nov 1943 ww2dbase

 

416th Night Fighter Squadron Northrop P-61B-15-NO Black Widow 42-39682

 

 

Sources:

Maurer. Combat Squadrons of World War II.

U. S. Air Force Museum. Dayton, Ohio.

ww2dbase

 

416th nfs

 

[Brian Dentino]

Beautiful patch and another great write up.  Love reading and learning from your posts.  Thanks for sharing with us!