User:Lahtz/343rd Bombardment Squadron

The 343rd Bombardment Squadron

The 343rd Bombardment Squadron is probably best known for its role in the August 1, 1943 bombings of the Nazi oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania, and as the "Disney Squadron" due to the unique Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs nose art that decorated several of its bombers.

The 343rd was one of four squadrons -- including the 344th, 345th and 415th -- that made up the 98th Bombardment Group, also known as the "Pyramidiers." The 343rd began WWII operations in Libya and eventually operated out of a base in Southern Italy named Lecce. The squadron could be identified by their tails -- a black pyramid on the top portion of the tail and a number "1" on the bottom portion.

343rd Bombardment Squadron: Research Sources "Force for Freedom: Story of the 98th" B-24 Liberator Units of the Fifteenth Air Force (2000), By Robert Dorr