434th Bombardment Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 434th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force
unit. Its last was assigned to the 12th Bombardment Group, stationed at Fort Lawton
, Washington. It was inactivated on 22 January 1946
Squadron re-equipped with modern B-25 Mitchell medium bombers in California during April 1942; deployed to Egypt to support British Forces in the Western Desert Campaign; assigned to IX Bomber Command. Ground echelon transported by ship around Cape of Good Hope to India; then transported to Cairo; Air Echelon flew transcontinental route to Morrison Field; Florida where aircraft fitted with long range auxiliary fuel ranks and departed via South Atlantic route to South America; performing transatlantic crossing to Liberia; across central Africa to Khartoum then north to Cairo where joined with ground echelon.
Engaged in desert warfare in Egypt; Libya and Tunisia, August 1942-June 1943, supporting British Eighth Army as they advanced into Tunisia, then participated in Invasion of Sicily and Italy; remaining in Mediterranean Theater of Operations until February 1944.
Reassigned to reinforce Tenth Air Force in China Burma India Theater during March 1944; moving across middle east to India. Provided tactical bombardment support to British forces in Burma until Japanese Capitulation in August 1945. Squadron demobilized in India during the fall of 1945, aircraft sent to reclamation or reassigned to friendly foreign air forces; unit inactivated as a paper unit in late January 1946.
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 was assigned to the 12th Bombardment Group, stationed at Fort Lawton
Fort Lawton
Fort Lawton is a United States Army fort located in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The fort was included in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list.-History:...
, Washington. It was inactivated on 22 January 1946
History
Established as a Northwest Air District Reconnaissance squadron at McChord Field in 1941. After the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, flew antisubmarine and defensive patrols over the Pacific northwest coast until February 1942; then reassigned to Louisiana flying antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico.Squadron re-equipped with modern B-25 Mitchell medium bombers in California during April 1942; deployed to Egypt to support British Forces in the Western Desert Campaign; assigned to IX Bomber Command. Ground echelon transported by ship around Cape of Good Hope to India; then transported to Cairo; Air Echelon flew transcontinental route to Morrison Field; Florida where aircraft fitted with long range auxiliary fuel ranks and departed via South Atlantic route to South America; performing transatlantic crossing to Liberia; across central Africa to Khartoum then north to Cairo where joined with ground echelon.
Engaged in desert warfare in Egypt; Libya and Tunisia, August 1942-June 1943, supporting British Eighth Army as they advanced into Tunisia, then participated in Invasion of Sicily and Italy; remaining in Mediterranean Theater of Operations until February 1944.
Reassigned to reinforce Tenth Air Force in China Burma India Theater during March 1944; moving across middle east to India. Provided tactical bombardment support to British forces in Burma until Japanese Capitulation in August 1945. Squadron demobilized in India during the fall of 1945, aircraft sent to reclamation or reassigned to friendly foreign air forces; unit inactivated as a paper unit in late January 1946.
Lineage
- Constituted 19th Reconnaissance Squadron (Light) on 20 November 1940
- Activated on 15 January 1941
- Redesignated: 94th Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 14 August 1941
- Redesignated: 94th Reconnaissance Squadron (Medium) on 30 December 1941
- Redesignated: 434th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 22 April 1942
- Inactivated on 22 January 1946.
Assignments
- 12th Bombardment Group: attached 15 January 1941; assigned 14 August 1941-22 January 1946.
- Associated with: 1st Photographic Group1st Photographic GroupThe 1st Photographic Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 311th Photographic Wing, stationed at Buckley Field, Colorado. It was inactivated on 5 October 1944.-History:...
, 10 Jun 1941-22 Apr 1942 (training)
Stations
- McChord Field, Washington, 15 January 1941
- Esler Army Airfield, LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, 27 February-3 July 1942
- Operated from Stockton Army Airfield, 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...
, 24 May-24 June 1942- Ismailia AirfieldAl Ismailiyah Air BaseAl Ismailiyah Air Base is an Egyptian Air Force base, located approximately 4 km west-northwest of Ismailia; ; 116 km northeast of Cairo.-World War II:...
, EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, 14 August 1942 - Landing Ground 88, Egypt, 29 September 1942
- RAF GambutRAF GambutRAF Gambut is an abandoned military airfield in Libya, located about 5 km north-northeast of Kambut and 50 km east-southeast of Tobruk....
, LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, 5 December 1942 - Magrun Landing Ground, Libya, 14 December 1942
- RAF GambutRAF GambutRAF Gambut is an abandoned military airfield in Libya, located about 5 km north-northeast of Kambut and 50 km east-southeast of Tobruk....
, Libya, 17 December 1942 - RAF Castel BenitoRAF Castel BenitoRAF Castel Benito was a Royal Air Force station near Tripoli in Libya between 1943 and 1966.-History:Originally a Regia Aeronautica airfield where later the first units of Italian parachutists were trained and formed shortly before the Second World War. The first Italian Military Parachute...
, Libya, 16 February 1943 - El Assa AirfieldEl Assa AirfieldEl Assa Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield located in the vicinity of Al `Assah in the Baladiyat al Jumayl region of Libya...
, Libya, 8 March 1943 - Medenine AirfieldMedenine AirfieldMedenine Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Tunisia, which was located just to the west of Medenine, 46 km N of Tataouine; 430 km south-southeast of Tunis. It was a temporary airfield built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, used by the United States...
, TunisiaTunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, 3 April 1943 - Sfax Airfield, Tunisia, 17 April 1943
- Hergla AirfieldHergla AirfieldHergla Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Tunisia, which was located approximately 12 km north-northwest of Harqalah in al Janubiyah Wilayat provience, about 90 km south-southwest of Tunis....
, Tunisia, 2 June 1943
- Ismailia Airfield
- Ponte Olivo AirfieldPonte Olivo AirfieldPonte Olivo Airfield is an abandoned pre-World War II airport and later wartime military airfield in Sicily, 3 km north of Gela. Its last known use was by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force in 1944 during the Italian Campaign.-History:...
, SicilySicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, 2 August 1943 - Gerbini AirfieldGerbini AirfieldGerbini Airfield is a series of abandoned World War II military airfields in Sicily, located 23 KM West of Catania, near the intersection of the A19 and SP24 highways. The airfields consisted of a series of flat agricultural fields, used for runways and parking areas...
, Sicily, 22 August 1943 - Foggia Airfield, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, 2 November 1943 - Gaudo AirfieldGaudo AirfieldGaudo Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Southern Italy, approximately 3 km north of Paestum, where the neolithic necropolis belonging to the Gaudo Culture was discovered, about 70 km southeast of Naples. It was a temporary airfield built by the United States...
, Italy, 18 January-6 February 1944 - Kurmitola Airfield, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, 21 March 1944 - Madhaiganj Airfield, India, 13 June 1944
- Comilla Airfield, India, 21 July 1944
- Fenny AirfieldFenny AirfieldFenny Airfield is a former wartime United States Army Air Forces airfield in Bangladesh used during the Burma Campaign 1944-1945. It is now abandoned.-History:...
, India, 27 November 1944
- Operated from Magwe Airfield, Burma, 5–24 May 1945
- Karachi Airport, India, 17 September 1945
- Karachi Airport, India, 22 November-24 December 1945
- Fort LawtonFort LawtonFort Lawton is a United States Army fort located in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The fort was included in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list.-History:...
, Washington, 21–22 January 1946
Aircraft
- B-18 BoloB-18 BoloThe Douglas B-18 Bolo was a United States Army Air Corps and Royal Canadian Air Force bomber of the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by Douglas Aircraft Company and based on its DC-2 and was developed to replace the Martin B-10....
, 1941–1942 - B-23 DragonB-23 Dragon|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Mondey, David. The Hamlyn Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd., 2002, , First edition 1982. ISBN 1-85152-706-0....
, 1941–1942 - B-25 MitchellB-25 MitchellThe North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
, 1942–1945 - A-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...
, 1945