41st Bombardment Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 41st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force
unit. Its last assignment was with the 448th Bombardment Group, based at Long Beach Municipal Airport, California
. It was inactivated on 27 June 1949.
for training. Initially assigned to 6th Bombardment Group, however shortages of aircraft and equipment led to squadron's inactivation after about a month. Reactivated and assigned to 501st Bombardment Group; completed training and deployed to Pacific Theater of Operations
(PTO), being assigned to XXI Bomber Command
in the Northern Mariana Islands
; assigned to Northwest Field, Guam.
Flew very long range strategic bombardment missions over the Japanese Home Islands, attacking military, industrial and transportation targets. Switched to night incendiary raids attacking major Japanese cities in the spring of 1945, causing massive destruction of urbanized areas. Continued strategic bombing raids and incendiary attacks until Japanese Capitulation in August 1945. Remained in the Mariana Islands until the spring of 1946, inactivated.
Allocated to the Air Force Reserve as a Tactical Air Command
B-26 Invader light bomb group in 1947. Inactivated in 1949 due to budget restrictions.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
unit. Its last assignment was with the 448th Bombardment Group, based at Long Beach Municipal Airport, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It was inactivated on 27 June 1949.
Heraldry
Emblem: On a disc, orange in base, shaded up to sky blue, within an ultra¬marine blue border, a large, gray elephant with white tusks, running toward dexter, and holding aloft in the trunk a very large, red aerial bomb, in front of white, cirrus cloud formations, edged light turquoise blue, and marked red violet on under side, all leaving white vapor trails to rear. (Approved 17 April 1945)History
Established in early 1944 as a B-29 Superfortress Very Heavy bombardment squadron; assigned to Second Air ForceSecond Air Force
The Second Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command . It is headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi....
for training. Initially assigned to 6th Bombardment Group, however shortages of aircraft and equipment led to squadron's inactivation after about a month. Reactivated and assigned to 501st Bombardment Group; completed training and deployed to Pacific Theater of Operations
Pacific Theater of Operations
The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...
(PTO), being assigned to XXI Bomber Command
XXI Bomber Command
The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in Guam for strategic bombing during World War II.- Lineage:* Constituted as XXI Bomber Command on 1 Mar 1944, and activated the same day.-Assignments:...
in the Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...
; assigned to Northwest Field, Guam.
Flew very long range strategic bombardment missions over the Japanese Home Islands, attacking military, industrial and transportation targets. Switched to night incendiary raids attacking major Japanese cities in the spring of 1945, causing massive destruction of urbanized areas. Continued strategic bombing raids and incendiary attacks until Japanese Capitulation in August 1945. Remained in the Mariana Islands until the spring of 1946, inactivated.
Allocated to the Air Force Reserve as a Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 being headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia...
B-26 Invader light bomb group in 1947. Inactivated in 1949 due to budget restrictions.
Lineage
- Constituted 41st Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy) on 28 March 1944
- Activated on 1 April 1944
- Inactivated on 10 May 1944
- Activated on 1 June 1944
- Inactivated on 10 June 1946
- Activated in the reserve on 12 July 1947
- Inactivated on 27 June 1949.
Assignments
- 6th Bombardment Group, 1 April-10 May 1944
- 501st Bombardment Group, 1 June 1944-10 June 1946
- 448th Bombardment Group, 12 July 1947-27 June 1949.
Stations
- Dalhart Army Air Field, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, 1 April–10 May 1944; 1 June 1944 - Harvard Army AirfieldHarvard Army AirfieldHarvard State Airport , also known as Harvard State Airfield, is a public use airport located two nautical miles northeast of the central business district of Harvard, a city in Clay County, Nebraska, United States. It is owned by the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics...
, NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, 23 August 1944-7 March 1945 - Northwest FieldNorthwest Field (Guam)Northwest Field is a former World War II airfield on Guam in the Mariana Islands. It was closed in 1949 and is unused.-History:Northwest Field was constructed in 1944–45 near Ritidian Point on the northwest end of the island of Guam as a base for Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortresses to carry...
, GuamGuamGuam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, 14 April 1945-10 June 1946 - Long Beach Municipal Aprt, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, 12 July 1947-27 June 1949.
Aircraft
- B-29 SuperfortressB-29 SuperfortressThe B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
, 1944–1946 - Douglas B-26 InvaderA-26 InvaderThe Douglas A-26 Invader was a United States twin-engined light attack bomber built by the Douglas Aircraft Co. during World War II that also saw service during several of the Cold War's major conflicts...
, 1947-1949