859th Special Operations Squadron

104th Observation Squadron O-47s

The squadron was first activated at Atlantic City Airport, New Jersey as the 517th Bombardment Squadron on 18 October 1942, when the 377th Bombardment Group replaced the 59th Observation Group at Fort Dix Army Air Field and assumed its mission, personnel and equipment. It was initially equipped with the Stinson Vigilants, Douglas O-46s and North American O-47s of the 104th Observation Squadron, which it replaced at Atlantic City. but converted to Douglas B-18 Bolos and North American B-25 Mitchells the following year.[4][5][6] The squadrons of the 377th Group were at various bases along the coast between Delaware and New Hampshire.[7]

In October 1942, the Army Air Forces organized its antisubmarine forces into the single Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command, which established the 25th Antisubmarine Wing the following month to control its forces operating over the Atlantic.[8][9] Its bombardment group headquarters, including the 377th, were inactivated and the squadron, now designated the 12th Antisubmarine Squadron, was assigned directly to the 25th Wing.[4][5] The squadron moved to Langley Field, Virginia in January 1943.[4] In July 1943, the AAF and Navy reached an agreement to transfer the coastal antisubmarine mission to the Navy. This mission transfer also included an exchange of AAF long-range bombers equipped for antisubmarine warfare for Navy Consolidated B-24 Liberators without such equipment.[10]

B-24J Liberator flown by the squadron[lower-alpha 2]

In September 1943, the squadron moved to Blythe Army Air Base, California, where its personnel were used as the cadre for the 492d Bombardment Group, which was being formed at Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico. It was redesignated the 859th Bombardment Squadron and then, on 1 October, assigned to the 492d Group.[4] In December it joined group headquarters and the other three squadron of the 492d at Alamogordo, where they were conducting Consolidated B-24 Liberator training.[11][12]

By January 1944, most of the ground echelon of the squadron had been used to form other bomber units. 2d Bombardment Division, which controlled VIII Bomber Command's Liberator units in England, began to form new ground echelons from personnel of bomber units already in England,[13] while the air echelon of the 859th continued training at Alamogordo.[11] The air echelon began to depart Alamogordo on 1 April 1944, following the southern ferry route, while the few remaining members of the ground echelon departed on 11 April, sailing on the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 20 April.[13]

Squadron B-24 Liberatory[lower-alpha 3]

On 14 April, the ground echelon that had been formed in England arrived at RAF North Pickenham[lower-alpha 4] The air echelon began arriving on 18 April.[13] The squadron flew its first combat mission on 11 May 1944, joining the strategic bombing campaign with attacks primarily on targets in central Germany. During the first week in June, the squadron was diverted from strategic targets to support Operation Overlord by attacking airfields and V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket launch sites. It bombed coastal defenses in Normandy on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and continued interdiction attacks until the middle of the month. Except for support of Operation Cobra, the breakout at Saint Lo, the squadron then resumed bombardment of strategic targets in Germany.[11] However, during its three months of strategic operations the 492d Group suffered the heaviest losses of any Eighth Air Force group. On 5 August, the decision was made to withdraw the 492d Group from combat.[13] The group's heavy losses had begun with one of the group's earliest missions, an attack on Braunschweig, in which it lost eight Liberators to enemy interceptors.[14] When the 492d Group returned to strategic operation, on 20 June Luftwaffe fighters, primarily Messerschmitt Bf 110s, using air to air rockets shot down fourteen of the 492d Group's B-24s.[15] Heavy losses, this time to fighters from Jagdgeschwader 3, were again suffered on 29 June.[16][lower-alpha 5]

The squadron transferred to RAF Harrington on 1 August 1944,[4] where it replaced the 788th Bombardment Squadron, which moved on paper to RAF Rackheath and was assigned to the 467th Bombardment Group there.[17] Although nominally a move without personnel or equipment, some low mission crews and aircraft from the entire 492d Bomb Group moved to Harrington and were assigned to the 859th Squadron on arrival.[18] The squadron operated chiefly over southern France with B-24s and a few Douglas C-47 Skytrains, engaging in Operation Carpetbagger missions, dropping agents and supplies behind enemy lines. As the Allies advanced across northern France, and with Operation Dragoon placing Allied forces in southern France, full scale Carpetbagger operations wound down by 16 September. This support for the French Resistance earned the squadron the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. With the drawdown of the Carpetbagger mission, the squadron concentrated on hauling gasoline to advancing mechanized forces in France and Belgium.[4][11][19] During its assignment to special operations form England, the squadron flew 179 sorties and delivered 121 "Joes", as the agents were called. It also flew a small number of "Nickling" missions (dropping propaganda leaflets).[20]

Even as the need for guerilla support in France was decreasing, it was increasing in the Mediterranean. On 17 December 1944, the 859th departed England, arriving at its new home, Brindisi Airfield, Italy three days later.[4] The 859th's first sortie out of Brindisi was flown on 29 December 1944. A total of six successful sorties were flown that day into Yugoslavia followed the next day by six sortie attempts to targets in Italy. Weather, a mechanical failure, and a reception failure caused all but two of these to fail. In January 1945, the squadron was attached to the newly-formed 15th Special Group (Provisional) along with the 885th Bombardment Squadron, which had been operating from Brindisi since October 1944.[21] For the most part, the 859th operated in Yugoslavia, while the 885th operated in Italy. Most supply drops were made in the Zagreb region, where partisans were attacking German forces withdrawing up the Sava River valley.[22] On 20 May 1945, thirteen days after V-E Day, the 859th moved to Gioia del Colle Airfield and from there to Bari Airfield Italy in July 1945 where it remained until October 1945 when it was inactivated.[4]

The unit was reactivated in the Air Force reserve as the 859th Special Operations Squadron, marked by a ceremony at Duke Field, Florida, on April 1, 2016. The unit was formed from the assets of Detachment 1, 919th Special Operations Group. It is an associate of the 524th Special Operations Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.[2]

• 377th Bombardment Group, 18 October 1942
• 25th Antisubmarine Wing, c. 9 December 1942
• 492d Bombardment Group, 1 October 1943 (attached to 15th Special Group (Provisional) (later 2641st Special Group (Provisional)), 17 December 1944[4][lower-alpha 7]
• United States Strategic Air Forces, 14 August–4 October 1945
• 919th Special Operations Group, c. 1 April 2016[2]

• Atlantic City Airport, New Jersey, 18 October 1942
• Langley Field, Virginia, 12 January–18 September 1943
• Blythe Army Air Field, California, 24 September 1943
• Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, 9 December 1943 – 1 January 1944
• RAF North Pickenham (AAF-143),[23] England, 1 January 1944[lower-alpha 8]
• RAF Harrington (AAF-179),[23] England, 1 August-17 December 1944
• Brindisi Airfield, Italy, 20 December 1944
• Rosignano Airfield, Italy, 24 March 1945
• Gioia del Colle Airfield, Italy, 20 May 1945
• Bari Airfield, Italy, 20 July – 4 October 1945[24]
• Duke Field, Florida c. 1 April 2016 – present[2]

Explanatory notes

Citations

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Anderson, Capt. Barry (1985). Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL yes: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
• Freeman, Roger A. (1970). The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company. ISBN 978-0-87938-638-2.
• Ferguson, Arthur B. (April 1945). "The Antisubmarine Command, USAF Historical Study No. 107" (PDF). Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Intelligence Historical Division. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
• Parnell, Ben (1993). Carpetbaggers: America's Secret War in Europe. Austin, TX: Eakin Press. ISBN 978-0890155929.
• Warren, Maj Harris G. (June 1947). "Special Operations: AAF Aid to European Resistance Movements 1943-1945, USAF Historical Study No. 121 (formerly AAF Reference History No. 21)" (PDF). Army Air Force Historical Office. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
• 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. ISBN 978-0-7643-1987-7.
• "Undergraduate Flying Training Guidebook" (PDF). Air Force Reserve Command. February 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.