| 707th Bombardment Squadron | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1943–1945; 1948–1950 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Heavy bomber |
| Colors | Black(World War II)[1] |
| Engagements | European Theater of World War II |
| Insignia | |
| 707th Bombardment Squadron emblem[1] |  |
| WW II group tail marking[1] | Circle C, later yellow with black stripe |
| WW II squadron fuselage code and color[1] | JU |
The707th Bombardment Squadron is an inactiveUnited States Air Force unit. It was last assigned toTwelfth Air Force atLubbock Air Force Base, Texas, where it was inactivated in March 1950.
Thesquadron was first activated in 1943. After training in the United States withConsolidated B-24 Liberators, it deployed to theEuropean Theater of Operations, where it engaged in thestrategic bombing campaign against Germany. AfterV-E Day, the squadron returned to the United States and was inactivated. The squadron was activated in thereserve in 1948.
Thesquadron was first activated on 1 April 1943 atDavis-Monthan Field, Arizona as the707th Bombardment Squadron with an initialcadre drawn from the39th Bombardment Group.[2] It was one of the original squadrons of the446th Bombardment Group.[3][4] The cadre departed forOrlando Army Air Base, Florida for training with theArmy Air Forces School of Applied Tactics, where they flew simulated combat missions fromMontbrook Army Air Field.[2]
The unit headed forAlamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico in June 1943, but was diverted toLowry Field, Colorado, where the squadron was filled out and advanced training was completed. The squadron lost one aircraft during this training.[5] The ground echelon left Lowry on 18 October 1943 forCamp Shanks, New York and embarked on theRMS Queen Mary, sailing on 27 October 1943 and arrived inGreenock on theFirth of Clyde on 2 November 1943. The aircraft left Lowry on 20 October 1943 for staging atLincoln Army Air Field, Nebraska. Theaircrews ferried their planes under the control ofAir Transport Command via the southern route from Florida through Puerto Rico, Brazil, Senegal, and Morocco to England. The 707th was part of the firstUnited States Army Air Forces group to complete the Transatlantic hop from Brazil to Africa without the installation of additionalbomb bay fuel tanks.[6]
The squadron arrived at its new base atRAF Flixton in the east of England in early November.[7] The 707th flew its first mission on 16 December 1943 against shipping facilities inBremen.[8] The unit operated chiefly againststrategic objectives. Its targets includedU-boat installations atKiel, the port at Bremen, a chemical plant atLudwigshafen,ball-bearing works at Berlin, aircraft engine plants atRostock, aircraft factories atMunich, marshalling yards atCoblenz, motor works atUlm, and oil refineries atHamburg.[4]
Besides strategic missions, the 707th often carried outair support andair interdiction operations. It supportedOperation Overlord, the invasion ofNormandy in June 1944 by attacking strong points, bridges,airfields, transportation, and other targets in France. The squadron aided ground forces atCaen andSaint-Lô during July by hitting bridges, gun batteries, and enemy troops. It dropped supplies toAllied troops nearNijmegen duringOperation Market-Garden in September. The unit bombedmarshalling yards, bridges, and road junctions during theBattle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945. It flew low level missions to drop medical supplies, arms, and food to airborne and ground troops nearWesel duringOperation Varsity in March 1945.[4][9] The 707th flew its last combat mission on 25 April, attacking a bridge nearSalzburg, Austria.[4]
AfterV-E Day, the 707th flew transport missions to France, sometimes landing at fields that had been targets the previous year. It also flew "Trolley" missions, transporting support personnel for "sightseeing" trips over Germany to view the results of their efforts.[10] The squadron began to redeploy to the US in June 1945. The first aircraft of the air echelon departed the United Kingdom in mid-June 1945 flying the northern route via Iceland. The ground echelon sailed from Greenock on theQueen Mary on the sixth of July 1945 and arrived in New York on 11 July 1945. Personnel were given 30 days leave. The ground and air echelons reassembled atSioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota in late July, but it was inactivated on 28 August 1945.[11]
The707th Bombardment Squadron was activated again underAir Defense Command (ADC) in thereserves in April 1948 atLubbock Air Force Base, Texas. Shortly after the squadron was activated, in July 1948,Continental Air Command (ConAC) assumed reserve training responsibility for reserve andAir National Guard units from ADC. It was nominally aBoeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment squadron, although it is not certain that it was equipped or fully manned.[12] Its groupheadquarters was located atCarswell Air Force Base, when the group became a corollary of the active duty7th Bombardment Wing in July 1949, and the squadron was reassigned directly toTwelfth Air Force.[4][d] PresidentTruman’s reduced 1949 defense budget required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force,[13] as a result, the 707th was inactivated in March 1950.[3]
| Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Air Offensive, Europe | 4 November 1943 – 5 June 1944 | [3] |
| Normandy | 6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944 | [3] |
| Northern France | 25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944 | [3] |
| Rhineland | 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945 | [3] |
| Central Europe | 22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945 | [3] |
| Ardennes-Alsace | 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945 | [3] |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency