341st Bombardment Squadron

The 341st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4038th Strategic Wing. It was last stationed at Dow Air Force Base, Maine, where it was inactivated on 1 February 1963.

The squadron was first activated in 1942 as a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress squadron, assigned to the 97th Bombardment Group. After training in the United States, it was one of the first units to deploy to the European Theater of Operations. Following the invasion of North Africa, the squadron moved to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, where it earned two Distinguished Unit Citations. Following V-E Day, it returned to the United States and was inactivated.

The squadron was again activated as an element of Strategic Air Command in 1946. It flew a series of Boeing bombers in the strategic deterrent role until inactivating.

Organization and training
The squadron was activated at MacDill Field, Florida in February 1942, one of the original squadrons of the 97th Bombardment Group. The following month, it moved to Sarasota Army Air Field, Florida, where it trained with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft and also flew antisubmarine patrols. After a brief training period the squadron left Sarasota on 16 May.

The ground echelon sailed on the RMS Queen Elizabeth, arriving in Scotland on 10 June and at RAF Polebrook two days later. The air echelon, along with the air echelon of the 340th Bombardment Squadron staged through Dow Field, Maine starting on 15 May. From 2 through 11 June the squadrons deployed elements to the Pacific Coast, recommencing their deployment to Great Britain via Goose Bay Airport, Labrador and Greenland to Prestwick Airport Scotland on 23 June. The squadron's B-17s began arriving at Polebrook on 1 July, where they formed part of the first heavy bomber group assigned to Eighth Air Force.

Operations from Great Britain
The haste with which the squadron had trained and deployed resulted in deficiencies in its training. Most pilots had not flown at high altitudes on oxygen; some gunners had never operated a turret, much less fired at a moving target. Crews had flown together for only a few weeks in training. The squadron's first weeks in England were devoted to intensive training, with numerous specialists attending Royal Air Force (RAF) schools to prepare for combat. The squadron flew its first mission on 17 August 1942, attacking a marshalling yard at Rouen, which was also the first mission flown by AAF heavy bombers stationed in Great Britain. Two days later, the squadron supported Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe, by attacking Abbeville/Drucat Airfield. It attacked naval installations, airfields and industrial and transportation targets in France and the Low Countries.

In September, the 97th Group and its squadrons were transferred to XII Bomber Command in the preparations for Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. However, VIII Bomber Command retained operational control of these units until they left England. The first AAF bomber groups to deploy to England had patterned their basing on that of the RAF Bomber Command, which typically had a wing with two bomber squadrons on a station. The 97th Group's 342nd and 414th Squadrons were at RAF Grafton Underwood, while 97th Group headquarters, the 340th and the 341st Squadrons were at Polebrook. In September, the AAF decided to follow its own organization and use larger bases that would accommodate an entire group, and the 414th and 342nd Squadrons joined the rest of the group at Polebrook.

Operations in the Mediterranean Theater
Following the Operation Torch landings at Oran and Algiers on 8 November, the air echelon of the 341st left Polebrook on 18 November, staging through RAF Hurn for Maison Blanche Airport, Algeria. The ground echelon sailed by convoy to Algeria. The squadron was established at Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria near the end of November.

Through May 1943, the squadron engaged in the campaign to cut German supply lines in North Africa by striking shipping in the Mediterranean Sea and bombing docks, harbors, airfields and marshalling yards in North Africa, Sardinia, Sicily and southern France and Italy. The squadron moved forward through Algeria and into Tunisia during these operations. In June 1943, it supported Operation Corkscrew, the projected invasion of Pantelleria, which resulted in the surrender of the island without invasion. Through the summer of 1943, it supported Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, and Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy.

From November 1943, the squadron was primarily involved with the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. The following month, it moved to Italy, pausing at Cerignola Airfield for a month before moving to Amendola Airfield, which would be its station for the remainder of the war. It bombed targets in Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia; striking strategic targets such as oil refineries, aircraft factories and marshalling yards. During Big Week, the intensive attacks on the German aircraft industry in February 1944, it was part of the lead formation on a strike on an aircraft manufacturing plant at Steyr, Austria, for which it was awarded its first Distinguished Unit Citation. It received a second DUC for an attack on the oil refineries near Ploesti, Romania on 18 August 1944.

The group also flew air support and interdiction missions against enemy lines of communication, airfields and transportation facilities. It supported Allied forces at Anzio and Monte Cassino. It supported Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, with attacks on coastal defenses. In the spring of 1945, it supported United States Fifth Army and British Eighth Army in their advance through the Po Valley.

Following V-E Day, the squadron moved to Marcianise Airfield, Italy, where it was inactivated on 29 October 1945.

Medal of Honor
On 23 June 1944, in an attack on Ploesti, Lieutenant David R. Kingsley was serving as bombardier on a squadron B-17. Lt Kingsley's plane was severely damaged and the tail gunner was injured and his parachute had been damaged. The pilot gave the order for the crew to bail out of the damaged plane. Lt Kinsley assisted the wounded gunner to bail out, giving the gunner his own parachute. Moments later, the bomber crashed and burned, killing Lt Kingsley. Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base at Klamath Falls, Oregon it named after him.

Strategic Air Command
Reactivated in 1946 under Strategic Air Command, assuming the personnel and Boeing B-29 Superfortresses of the inactivating 829th Bombardment Squadron. It participated in numerous exercises, operational readiness inspections, and overseas deployments. Became part of SAC nuclear deterrent force. Began upgrading to the new Boeing B-50 Superfortress, an advanced version of the B-29 in 1949. The B-50 gave the unit the capability to carry heavy loads of conventional weapons faster and farther as well as being designed for atomic bomb missions if necessary.

By 1951, the emergence of the Soviet MiG-15 interceptor in the skies of North Korea signaled the end of the propeller-driven B-50 as a first-line strategic bomber. Received Boeing B-47 Stratojet jet bombers in 1955 and despite initial difficulties, the Stratojet became the mainstay of the medium-bombing strength of SAC all throughout the 1950s, deployed frequently to North Africa and England for Operation Reflex exercises. Began sending its B-47s to AMARC at Davis–Monthan in 1959 when the aircraft was deemed no longer capable of penetrating Soviet airspace.

In 1960 was reassigned to SAC 4038th Strategic Wing, being re-equipped with Boeing B-52D Stratofortress intercontinental heavy bombers. Moved to Dow Air Force Base, Maine to disperse the heavy bomber force. Conducted worldwide strategic bombardment training missions and providing nuclear deterrent. Was inactivated in 1963 when SAC inactivated its Strategic Wings, replacing them with permanent Air Force Wings. Squadron was inactivated with aircraft/personnel/equipment being transferred to the 596th Bombardment Squadron, which was simultaneously organized.

Lineage

 * Constituted as the 341st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942
 * Activated on 3 February 1942
 * Redesignated 341st Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 6 March 1944
 * Inactivated on 29 October 1945


 * Redesignated 341st Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 15 July 1946
 * Activated on 4 August 1946
 * Redesignated 341st Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 28 May 1948
 * Redesignated: 341st Bombardment Squadron, Heavy' on 1 October 1959
 * Discontinued and inactivated on 1 February 1963

Assignments

 * 97th Bombardment Group, 3 February 1942 – 29 October 1945
 * 97th Bombardment Group, 4 August 1946 (attached to 97th Bombardment Wing after 10 February 1951)
 * 97th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952
 * 4038th Strategic Wing, 15 February 1960 – 1 February 1963

Stations

 * MacDill Field, Florida, 3 February 1942
 * Sarasota Army Air Field, Florida, 29 March – 16 May 1942
 * RAF Polebrook (Station 110), England, 12 June 1942
 * Maison Blanche Airport, Algeria, c. 16 November 1942
 * Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria, c. 22 November 1942
 * Biskra Airfield, Algeria, 27 December 1942
 * Chateau-dun-du-Rhumel Airfield, Algeria, 8 February 1943
 * Pont du Fahs Airfield, Tunisia, 11 August 1943


 * Depienne Airfield, Tunisia, 14 August 1943
 * Cerignola Airfield, Italy, 12 December 1943
 * Amendola Airfield, Italy, 17 January 1944
 * Marcianise Airfield, Italy, c. 1–29 October 1945
 * Smoky Hill Army Air Field (later Smoky Hill Air Force Base), Kansas, 4 August 1946
 * Biggs Air Force Base, Texas, 17 May 1948
 * Blytheville Air Force Base, Arkansas, 1 July 1959
 * Dow Air Force Base, Maine, 15 February 1960 – 1 February 1963

Aircraft

 * Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1945
 * Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1946–1950
 * Boeing B-50 Superfortress, 1950–1955
 * Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1955–1959
 * Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, 1960–1963