679th Bombardment Squadron

The 679th Bombardment Squadron is a disbanded unit of the United States Army Air Forces (AAF). It was last assigned to the 444th Bombardment Group at Dudhkundi Airfield, India where it was disbanded on 12 October 1944.

During World War II, the squadron was an Army Air Forces combat organization. It was part of the first Boeing B-29 Superfortress group formed for the 58th Bombardment Wing, and served in the China Burma India Theater as part of Twentieth Air Force. The squadron's aircraft engaged in very heavy bombardment operations against Japan. The squadron received the Distinguished Unit Citation for its combat operations. It was disbanded when the AAF reorganized its very heavy bombardment groups into three squadron units.

Training for combat
The 679th Bombardment Squadron was activated on 1 March 1943 at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona as one of the original squadrons of the 444th Bombardment Group. The 444th was assigned to the first Boeing B-29 Superfortress wing, the 58th Bombardment Wing. After a period of organization at Davis-Monthan the squadron moved to Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas. for training, initially flying Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, Consolidated B-24 Liberators and Martin B-26 Marauders. The group engaged in training on the new aircraft and its mission of long range precision bombing. At Great Bend, the squadron received early model Boeing B-29 Superfortresses and prototype YB-29s, however aircraft were still undergoing development and were frequently modified by Boeing technicians in the field while the squadron was undergoing training in Kansas. In November 1943 The 444th reorganized as a Very Heavy group and added the 8th Bombardment Maintenance Squadron, which was paired with the 679th to maintain its B-29s.

China Burma India Theater
In early April 1944, the squadron left the United States and deployed to a former B-24 Liberator airfield at Charra Airfield, India. The first airplane of the 444th group landed at Charra on 11 April 1944. Due to the lack of revetments at Charra the squadron's airplanes were parked wingtip to wingtip on the field's shorter runway. Charra served only as a maintenance and staging base. Its runways were too short for a B-29 to take off fully loaded. While the group was stationed there, all missions were flown from the bases of the other groups in the 58th Bombardment Wing.

From India, the 444th Bomb Group planned to fly missions against Japan from advanced airfields in China. However, all the supplies of fuel, bombs and spare parts needed to support operations from the forward bases in China had to be flown from India over The Hump. For this role, one aircraft from the squadron was stripped of combat equipment and used as a flying tanker. Each aircraft carried seven tons of fuel, but the amount that was delivered to China depended on weather, including headwinds and aircraft icing which increased the fuel consumption of the "tankers."

The squadron flew its first combat mission on 5 June 1944 against the Makasan railroad yards at Bangkok, Thailand. Ten days later the 679th participated in the first American air attack on the Japanese home islands since the 1942 Doolittle raid, staging through Chinese bases on a nighttime raid against the iron and steel works at Yawata, Japan. It returned to Yawata on 20 August on a daytime raid for which the unit was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation. Operating from bases in India and at times staging through fields in China, the group struck transportation centers, naval installations, aircraft plants and other targets in Burma, China, Thailand, Japan and Formosa.

On 12 October 1944 the 444th group reorganized. The 679th Bombardment Squadron and the four bombardment maintenance squadrons were disbanded and their personnel and equipment were transferred to the other squadrons of the group.

Lineage

 * Constituted as the 679th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 15 February 1943
 * Activated on 1 March 1943
 * Redesignated 679th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) (B-29) on 26 April 1943
 * Redesignated 679th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 20 November 1943
 * Disbanded on 12 October 1944

Assignments

 * 444th Bombardment Group, 1 March 1943 – 12 October 1944

Stations

 * Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, 1 March 1943
 * Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas, 3 August 1943 – 12 March 1944
 * Charra Airfield, India, c. 13 April 1944
 * Dudhkundi Airfield, India, 1 July 1844 – 12 October 1944

Aircraft

 * Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943
 * Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943–1944
 * Boeing YB-29 Superfortress, 1943–1944
 * Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1943–1944