The 883d Bombardment Squadron was activated at Gowen Field, Idaho on 20 November 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the 500th Bombardment Group. It initially flew Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers in New Mexico, then trained in Kansas with early model Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, with frequent delays in training due to modifications of the aircraft correcting production deficiencies.[citation needed]. It departed for its combat station in the Pacific in July 1944 after completing training.[1][2]
The squadron arrived at its combat station, Isely Field, on Saipan in the Mariana Islands in September 1944. It flew its first combat mission against a submarine base in the Truk Islands on 11 November. Thirteen days later it participated in the first attack on the Japanese homeland from the Marianas. Initially, the squadron flew high-altitude daylight raids against industrial targets in Japan. In January 1945, it attacked the Mitsubishi engine manufacturing plant in Nagoya, for which it was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC).[2]
The squadron was briefly diverted from its strategic mission when it struck airfields in Kyushu to support Operation Iceberg, the landings on Okinawa in April 1945. Beginning in March 1945, Twentieth Air Force changed both its tactics and strategy and the squadron began carrying out nighttime attacks with incendiaries against area targets. It received its second DUC for attacks on the urban and industrial section of Osaka, feeder industries at Hamamatsu and shipping and rail targets on Kyushu in June 1945. During the closing days of the war, the squadron also dropped propaganda leaflets over the Japanese home islands.[2]
Following V-J Day, the squadron dropped food and supply to prisoners of war in Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. The squadron returned to the United States in the fall of 1945 and was inactivated at March Field, California on 17 January 1946.[1][2]
Lineage
Constituted as the 883d Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 19 November 1943
^Aircraft is Boeing B-29A-40-BN Superfortress, serial 44-61669, Number 49, Three Feathers (earlier 4th Marine Division. When the group commander flew it back to the US, Flagship 500. It was transferred to the Navy on 18 March 1956 for use as a target at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. From 1974 to 1981, it was flown by Yesterday's Air Force. Now at the March Field Air Museum, California, where the photo was taken in 2007. Baugher, Joe (10 June 2023). "1944 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
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