855th Bombardment Squadron

855th Bombardment Squadron
Formation of 491st Group B-24 Liberators[a]
Active1942-1945
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleHeavy bomber
EngagementsEuropean Theater of Operations
DecorationsDistinguished Unit Citation
Insignia
855th Bombardment Squadron emblem[1]
European Theater fuselage code[1]V2

The 855th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The squadron was first activated as the 522d Bombardment Squadron at Lantana Airport, Florida, in October 1942, when it assumed the personnel and equipment of a National Guard unit engaged in antisubmarine warfare over the Atlantic. The squadron continued antisubmarine patrols as the 17th Antisubmarine Squadron until the summer of 1943, when its mission was transferred to the Navy.

The squadron moved to Alamogordo Army Air Field, Arizona, where, as the 855th Bombardment Squadron, it formed the cadre for the 491st Bombardment Group, although many of its personnel were subsequently assigned to new Boeing B-29 Superfortress units. After training as a heavy bomber unit in the United States, the air echelon squadron deployed to the European Theater of Operations, where it joined a new ground echelon and participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation in an attack against Misburg. Following V-E Day, the squadron returned to the United States and was inactivated at McChord Field, Washington on 8 September 1945.


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  1. ^ a b Watkins, pp. 118-119