423d Bombardment Squadron

423d Bombardment Squadron
World War II emblem of the 423d Bombardment Squadron
Active	1942-1962
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Bombardment

The 423d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 306th Bombardment Wing stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Lineage 1.2 Assignments 1.3 Stations 1.4 Aircraft 2 References

History

Established as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomb group in early 1942. Trained under Oregon Chapter - Airforce Historical SocieitySecond Air Force before deploying to England in September 1942, becoming one of the first heavy bomber squadrons of the VIII Bomber Command 1st Bombardment Division. Highly decorated squadron during Air Offensive over Nazi Germany and occupied Europe, engaging in strategic bombardment operations until the end of the war in Europe, April 1945. Assisted in demobilizing personnel using B-17s as transports along ATC routes from Western Europe, Italy and the United Kingdom to North Africa

Reassigned to United States Air Forces in Europe occupation forces in late 1945. Engaged in photographic mapping and strategic reconnaissance operations over Western occupation zones of Germany as well as Soviet zone. Reassigned to Istes, France where it demobilized at the end of 1946.

Activated, but not manned or equipped, 1952-1954. The squadron was activated in 1959 as a result of Strategic Air Command phasing out the B-47, and additional squadrons were activated as part of the consolation of Stratojet wings, and the replacement of the B-47 by B-52 Stratofortresses. In March 1961, President John F. Kennedy directed that the phaseout of the B-47 be accelerated. and the squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1962 as part of the drawdown of the USAF B-47 force, with the aircraft were sent to AMARC storage at Davis-Monthan.

Note: For a list of known crew photos for B-17 Squadrons 367, 368, 369, & 423 taken during World War II, please visit the Air Force Historic Society - Oregon Chapter.

Lineage

• Constituted 34th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942

Activated on 1 March 1942

Redesignated 423rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 22 April 1942

Inactivated on 25 December 1946

• Redesignated 423rd Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 15 November 1952

Activated on 1 January 1953

Inactivated on 19 July 1954

• Redesignated 423rd Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 6 October 1958

Activated on 1 January 1959

Discontinued, and inactivated on 1 January 1962.

Assignments

• 306th Bombardment Group, 1 March 1942-25 December 1946

Attached to 305th Bombardment Group, 16 July 1946-25 December 1946

• 4430th Air Base Wing

Attached to 4400th Combat Crew Training Group, 1 January 1953

• 4400th Combat Crew Training (later Tactical Bombardment) Group, 1 May 1953-19 July 1954
• 306th Bombardment Training Group, 1 January 1959-1 January 1962

Stations

Gowen Field, Idaho, 1 March 1942 Wendover Field, Utah, c. 6 April-1 August 1942 RAF Thurleigh, England, c. 9 September 1942 Detachment operated from: Istres-Le Tubé Air Base, France, 31 August-December 1945 AAF Station Giebelstadt, Germany, 17 December 1945 Istres-Le Tubé Air Base, France, 26 February 1946 Detachment operated from: Dakar Airport, French West Africa, March-May 1946 Detachment operated from: Gibraltar, June-26 September 1946

AAF Station Lechfeld, Germany, 16 July-25 December 1946 Detachment operated from: Port Lyautey Airfield, French Morocco, 16 July-26 September 1946 Langley AFB, Virginia, 1 January 1953-19 July 1954 MacDill AFB, Florida, 1 January 1959-1 January 1962

Aircraft

• B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1946
• B-29 Superfortress, 1948–1951
• B-50 Superfortress, 1950–1951
• B-47 Stratojet, 1959–1961

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Mauer, Mauer (1969), Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, Air Force Historical Studies Office, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. ISBN 0-89201-097-5