417 th BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (MEDIUM)

Transcription

1 417 th BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (MEDIUM) LINEAGE 27 th Reconnaissance Squadron (Long Range) constituted, 16 Sep 1939 Activated, 16 Sep 1939 Redesignated 27 th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy), 20 Nov 1940 Redesignated 417 th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 22 Apr 1942 Redesignated 417 th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 7 May 1942 Disbanded, 20 Jun 1944 STATIONS Langley Field, VA, 16 Sep-17 Nov 1939 Borinquen Field, PR, 21 Nov 1939 (detachment operated from Camaguey, Cuba, 13 Apr Aug 1943) Vernam Field, Jamaica, 24 Sep 1942 Losey Field, PR, 29 May Mar 1944 Alamogordo AAFld, NM, Apr-20 Jun 1944 ASSIGNMENTS Puerto Rican Department, 16 Sep th Bombardment Group, attached Nov 1940, assigned 25 Feb-20 Jun 1944 WEAPON SYSTEMS B-18, B-25, ASSIGNED AIRCRAFT SERIAL NUMBERS ASSIGNED AIRCRAFT TAIL/BASE CODES UNIT COLORS COMMANDERS

2 HONORS Service Streamers None Campaign Streamers Antisubmarine, American Theater Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamers Decorations None EMBLEM On a white disc, bordure black, a caricatured stork in flight, yellow wings, beak, and feet, wearing a blue jacket and cap, trimmed white, holding a large black bomb fired proper in the feet, and carrying a red aerial bomb suspended from the beak by a blue cloth. (Approved, 13 Jan 1943) EMBLEM SIGNIFICANCE MOTTO NICKNAME OPERATIONS Antisubmarine patrols in the Caribbean. In mid-november, the ground echelon of the very first Air Corps unit to be stationed at Borinquen Field, the 27th Reconnaissance Squadron, arrived at the field under Squadron Commander Major Delmar Dunton. The six officers and 160 enlisted men had departed Langley Field, Va., on November 17, 1939, aboard the USAT Chateau-Thierry, and disembarked with several tons of equipment at San Juan early on the 21st. They immediately proceeded to Borinquen by train. Maj. Dunton returned to Langley Field at once, leaving the ground echelon under the command of 1st Lt. Charles W. Alverson. From November 27th through December 5th, the 27th Squadron's air echelon, consisting of nine B-18A aircraft, eighteen officers and 28 enlisted men, flew in from Virginia's Langley field under the command of Major Dunton. The first B-18, with both powerful engines roaring, landed at Borinquen Field on the 27th of November. Its pilot, Capt. Ivan M. Palmer, could not help but notice the large, applauding crowd that had gathered near the runway as they landed. By December 5th, all eighteen bombers, with stops made at Miami, Fl., and Camaquay, Cuba, had arrived safely and Puerto Rico had witnessed the start of its own air age. Several trainloads of supplies and equipment had arrived on a regular basis at the new airfield as construction progressed with a new urgency under the scrutiny of Base Commander Axtater. He estimated

3 correctly, a cost of more than a half million dollars for each hangar to be built to withstand both hurricanes and earthquakes. He, however, never conceived the rapid buildup through the war years that would quickly escalate total costs for base construction to $ 51,000,000 by Changes occurred rapidly. The 27th Reconnaissance Squadron was officially assigned to the 25th Bombardment Group on March 3rd. On March 6th, the Caribbean Air Force was redesignated the Sixth Air Force and it kept jurisdiction over Borinquen Field. Lt. Col. Jasper N. Ball and Capt. Homer B. Hopkins arrived at the base on April 7th to establish an Air Transport Command ferrying squadron, for which enlisted men were drawn from various base organizations. On the 22nd of April, the 5th and 27th Reconnaissance Squadrons were redesignated the 395th and 417th Bombardment Squadrons, respectively. As of the date of the changeover, nothing much happened. The Squadron still maintained a detachment at Camaguey, Cuba ("A" Flight, which had been there since 13 April) and, two weeks later, the unit was once again redesignated, this time becoming the 417th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 7 May. Sometime in June, the entire Squadron was consolidated at Camaguey, and was heavily involved in somewhat futile anti-submarine sweeps in the waters around Cuba, the Windward Passage, and the Cayman Trench. The Squadron moved south on 21 September 1942 to Vernam Field, Jamaica, to place it more advantageously with relation to the known operating area of Axis submarines. The first Form 43 (Weekly Operations Report) for the unit, dated 30 November 1942, showed the outfit with five B-18Bs at Camaguey and five others at Vernam Field. All the while operating the Douglas B-18, five of these were detached on 1 December 1942 and flown to Aruba, where they took off on their first patrol less than three hours after arrival! This rather remote detachment was transferred outright to the 35th Bombardment Squadron in May The main body of the unit, still at Vernam Field, Jamaica, finally moved to Losey Field, Puerto Rico, on 29 May 1943, where the longstanding attachment to the 25th Bomb Group became an outright assignment. Unit strength at the time had dropped to one old B-l 8 (36-324) and five B-l SB's. By 12 June, two RB-18C's had arrived ( and ). June was a busy month for the Squadron, as detachments were noted, at different times, operating from Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico; San Juan Naval Air Station, PR; Guantanamo Bay NAS, Cuba; Camaguey, Cuba; and the 'home' field at Vernam! In August 1943, the Squadron rejoiced upon receiving its first examples of the North American B-25D and, shortly thereafter, these were joined by B-25Gs. As Losey Field was proving a very difficult operating base, the Squadron moved once again on 12 September, this time to Borinquen Field once again. The long-standing detachment at Camaguey, Cuba, formally ended

4 in August These crews were apparently moved to San Julian, and back again to Camaguey sometime in September. The unit suffered its only known wartime loss under mysterious circumstances on 31 October 1943 when 1LT Jasper J. Kraynick and his crew disappeared. A few parts of the aircraft washed up on a beach some weeks later, and it was suspected at the time that the aircraft had fallen victim to a submarines antiaircraft fire. By 31 December 1943, only one of the old B-18s remained, and the six B-25Ds then on hand had been joined by not less than 12 B-25G's at Borinquen Field. The small detachment still at San Julian, Cuba, by this time, again, also operated a single Cessna UC-78 in conjunction with the Air Base Commander there. By this time, although flush for the first time with aircraft and personnel, the Squadron had become, essentially, an operational training unit, and its enhanced capabilities in manpower and equipment came long after the submarine threat had considerably diminished. On 20 June 1944, the Squadron was disbanded, although most of the older veterans of the Squadron had departed for the U.S. and other war theaters as early as December Activated as the 27th Reconnaissance Squadron (Long Range) on 16 September 1939, this unit did not reach its designated duty station, Puerto Rico, until after its embarkation on the US AT "Chateau Thierry" on 7 November, arriving on the island 21 November, where nine officers and 200 other ranks entrained for Borinquen Field. The air element, with the Squadrons nine Douglas B-18As (including , 598, 599, 600, 601, 608, 610, which survived to become a B- 18B - and ), followed from Langley Field, Virginia, on 5 December. An element of the 13th Composite Wing, the Squadron had dwindled to only three B-18's by September 1941, although its statutory strength was supposed to have been eight "four engine aircraft." A solitary Northrop A-17A (s/n ), one of a very few retractable gear variants of the Northrop attack plane to serve in the Caribbean, was also assigned to the Squadron circa April This aircraft was wrecked at Borinquen on 27 December 1941 while piloted by 2LT Robert E. Moss. In the meantime, the unit was redesignated as the 27th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) on 20 November 1940, and had already undertaken a number of long-range missions down the Antilles chain, including frequent trips to St. Croix (a free port) to, as John W. Goff of Company A, 27th Engineer Battalion reported, "renew their liquor supply"! With the coming of war, the specialized reconnaissance skills of the Squadron were much in demand and, as early as 25 September, elements had been attached to the 25th and 40th Bomb Groups. By January 1942, the Squadron, still headquartered at Borinquen, had one old B-18 and three B- 18's, but this had shrunk to but two B-18As by 28 February, although the Squadron had five qualified crews. On 16 February, the Squadron had been assigned to the Antilles Air Task Force.

5 "A" Flight of the Squadron was deployed to Camaguey, Cuba in April 1942, and another detachment was at Vernam Field, although the main body remained at Borinquen. On 7 May 1942, the Squadron was redesignated as the 417th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) in recognition of its true role. Air Task Force was finding it difficult to maintain its Pacific and Atlantic patrol responsibilities with the equipment on hand. This resulted in the transfer, near the end of January 1942, of the 40th Bombardment Group (H) and the 27th Reconnaissance Squadron (H) from Puerto Rico to Panama. Under the original Rainbow #5 war plans for the Caribbean Theater, only one heavy bombardment group and one heavy recon squadron had been set up for the Panama Sector of CDC, as the Navy was required to provide the off-shore air patrol. By 23 January, the Caribbean Air Force flatly stated that "Navy facilities to provide the off-shore air patrol have been found to be entirely inadequate, and this duty has been assigned over to the Air Task Force" which, as noted, by this time consisted of the Third Patrol Wing (Navy) with its 21 PBY's and the 6th Bombardment Group (H) and 7th Recon Squadron (H) with, between them, 16 Boeing B-17's and 12 B-18's. "No other CAP bombardment units have been brought to full strength, and the Puerto Rican units are required to reinforce these." 27th Reconnaissance Squadron (25th Bombardment Group) HQ-Not organized Langley Field, VA, Borinquen Field, PR, Constituted in the Regular Army on 16 September 1939 and assigned to the Puerto Rican Department. Concurrently, organized at Langley Field, VA. Ground elements departed from the port of Newport News on the U.S.A.T. Chateau Thierry on 17 November 1939 en route to Puerto Rico. Arrived 21 November 1939 at Borinquen Field, PR. The squadron was assigned to the Puerto Rican Department on arrival. Air elements departed Langley Field on 27 November and arrived at Borinquen Field on 5 December Attached to the 25th Bombardment Group in November Inactive in the U. S. Air Force as the 417th Bombardment Squadron. Maj. Delmar H. Dunton 16 Sep 39-Oct 40 Maj. Ivan M. Palmer 25 Apr 41-2 Nov 41 Maj. George W. McGregor Oct Apr 41 1st Lt. Norman L. Ballad 2 Nov 41-ao Jan B-18B BS 25BG FLoG B-18B BS 25BG FLoG B-18B BS CBL Swisher, Robert F Swisher, Robert F Treeman, Duane C Camaguey/ 25mi NW, Cuba Camaguey/ 25mi NW, Cuba Camaguey

6 UC BS CRL B-25G BS 25BG LAC B-25G BS 25BG MIS B-25G BS 25BG TOA B-25G BS 25BG BLAS Huckaby, James T Treeman, Duane C Kraynick, Jasper J Ric haards, Jeffrey (NMI) Ball, James D Columbia Apt, Havana Borinquen Fld Boriquen [APO 845]/15mi NW Vernam Fld, BWI Puerto Rico/30mi N off B-18B BS 25BG Hato Field, CUR LAC Andrew, Robert O Hato Field, Curacao Air Force Order of Battle Created: 24 May 2011 Updated: Sources Air Force Historical Research Agency. U.S. Air Force. Maxwell AFB, AL. The Institute of Heraldry. U.S. Army. Fort Belvoir, VA. Air Force News. Air Force Public Affairs Agency.