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642d Bombardment Squadron

United States Army Air Forces unit in World War II

Field	Value
unit_name	642d Bombardment Squadron
image	409bg-a26.jpg
image_size	300
caption	Douglas A-26 Invader of the 409th Bombardment Group
dates	1943-1945
country
branch
role	Light bombardment
battles	European Theater of Operations

The 642d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. After training with Douglas A-20 Havocs in the United States the squadron deployed to the European Theater of World War II, where it engaged in combat until the Surrender of Germany. It was last assigned to the 409th Bombardment Group at Westover Field, Massachusetts, where it was inactivated on 7 November 1945.

History

The 642d Bombardment Squadron was activated in June 1943 at Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma as one of the four original squadrons of the 409th Bombardment Group. The squadron trained under Third Air Force in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana with A-20 Havoc light bombardment aircraft.

The squadron deployed to the European Theater of Operations in March 1944, where it became part of IX Bomber Command of Ninth Air Force.

The 642d initially flew sweeps over Occupied France from its base in England, attacking coastal defenses, V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket sites, airfields, and other targets in France in preparation for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. After D-Day, the squadron supported ground forces during the Battle of Normandy by hitting gun batteries, rail lines, bridges, communications, and other objectives. During July 1944, it aided the Allied offensive at Caen and Operation Cobra, the breakthrough at Saint-Lô with attacks on enemy troops, flak positions, fortified villages, and supply dumps.

The squadron moved to Advanced Landing Grounds in France in September 1944, providing Third Army with close air support in its advance toward Germany through November.

In December, the squadron converted to Douglas A-26 Invaders. It then participated in the Battle of the Bulge by attacking lines of communications and logistics. The squadron continued combat operations until May, flying its last combat mission against an ammunition dump in Czechoslovakia on 3 May.

The unit returned to the United States and initially was stationed at Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina where it prepared to deploy to the Pacific Theater of Operations for operations against the Japanese Home Islands. The deployment to the Pacific Theater was cancelled with the Surrender of Japan in August. The 642d was inactivated at Westover Field, Massachusetts in early November.

Lineage

Constituted as the 642d Bombardment Squadron (Light) and activated on 1 June 1943 : Redesignated 642d Bombardment Squadron, Light in 1944 : Inactivated on 7 November 1945

Assignments

409th Bombardment Group, 1 June 1943 – 7 November 1945

Stations

Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma, 1 June 1943
Woodward Army Air Field, Oklahoma, 2 October 1943
Pounds Army Air Field, Texas, 1 December 1943
DeRidder Army Air Base, Louisiana, 17 December 1943 - 10 February 1944
RAF Little Walden (AAF-165), England, 7 March 1944
Bretigny Airfield (A-48), France, 18 September 1944
Laon-Couvron Airfield (A-70), 12 February 1945 - 25 June 1945
Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, 15 August 1945
Westover Field, Massachusetts, 6 October 1945 - 7 November 1945

Aircraft

Douglas A-20 Havoc, 1943–1945
Douglas A-26 Invader, 1945

Campaigns

Campaign Streamer	Campaign	Dates	Notes
[[File:European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal streamer.png	200px]]	Air Offensive, Europe	7 March 1944 – 5 June 1944
[[File:European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal streamer.png	200px]]	Normandy	6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944
[[File:European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal streamer.png	200px]]	Northern France	25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944
[[File:European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal streamer.png	200px]]	Rhineland	`5 September 1944 – 21 March 1945
[[File:European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal streamer.png	200px]]	Ardennes-Alsace	16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945
[[File:European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal streamer.png	200px]]	Central Europe	22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945
[[File:European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal streamer.png	200px]]	Air Combat, EAME Theater	7 March 1944 – 11 May 1945

References

Notes

Bibliography

References

Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 690
Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 294–295
Station number in Anderson.
Station number in Johnson.
Station information in Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 294–295, except as noted

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

military-units-and-formations-established-in-1943 bombardment-squadrons-of-the-united-states-army-air-forces

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