The 852nd Bombardment Squadron was activated 1 October 1943 at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona as one of the four squadrons of the 491st Bombardment Group. The following month, the squadron moved to El Paso Army Air Field, Texas and began training with Consolidated B-24 Liberatorheavy bombers.[2][3] In January, most of the ground echelon of the squadron was withdrawn and reassigned to Boeing B-29 Superfortress units being organized by Second Air Force, with the largest group moving to Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas. Many of the unit's remaining personnel were transferred to other B-24 groups as well, and by the end of December, the squadron had no assigned aircraft.[4] While the air echelon continued training in the United States, Eighth Air Force began organizing a new ground echelon in England, directing each of the four groups assigned to its 2d Bombardment Division to form a squadron ground echelon.[5][b] The air echelon moved to Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado to complete its training with the 471st Bombardment Group.[4] Key personnel of the unit departed the United States on 11 April, while the crews began ferrying the squadron's B-24s via the southern ferry route on 21 April.[5]
In August 1944, the 492nd Bombardment Group was taken off normal operations and moved on paper to replace the 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) on Operation Carpetbagger operations. As a result, the 491st Group, including the squadron, moved to the 492nd's base at RAF North Pickenham.[8] On 26 November 1944, the group raided an oil refinery at Misburg. It was attacked by large numbers of enemy interceptors, which shot down approximately half of the aircraft in the 491st Group formation. The remaining aircraft fought off the enemy planes and successfully bombed the target, earning the unit a Distinguished Unit Citation.[3]
The squadron was occasionally diverted from the strategic bombing campaign. It supported ground forces during Operation Cobra, the breakout at Saint Lo; it dropped supplies to beleaguered paratroopers during Operation Market Garden, the attempt to seize a bridgehead across the Rhine River; and it attacked supply lines and fortifications during the Battle of the Bulge. The squadron supported Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine and Allied forces driving across Germany.[3] The squadron's final combat mission was flown on 25 April 1945.[5]
Following V-E Day, the squadron began flying its aircraft back to the United States on 17 June 1945. The ground echelon sailed on the RMS Queen Mary on 6 July, arriving in New York City five days later.[5] The squadron reassembled at McChord Field, Washington later that month and was inactivated there on 8 September.[2]
Lineage
Constituted as the 852nd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 14 September 1943
^The squadron's assigned target was obscured by cloud cover and it returned to base without bombing. Blue, p. 85.
^Ketteringham Hall and North Pickenham were apparently only nominal bases. Ketteringham Hall was station headquarters for the 2nd Bombardment Division. Ground personnel for the 491st Group were actually located at the four stations of the division's groups. Although North Pickenham was selected to be the 491st Group's initial station in England, this choice was revoked and the squadron ground echelons did not move until April, when they gathered at Metfield. Freeman, p. 261.
Watkins, Robert (2008). Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force In World War II. Vol. I (VIII) Bomber Command. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-1987-7.
