World War II

Combat in Europe

Squadron B-17 in flight^{[lower-alpha 1]}

The squadron arrived at its combat station, RAF Grafton Underwood on 6 June 1943.^[2] It flew its first mission on 23 June, a diversionary strike against the Ford and General Motors plants at Antwerp.^[4] The squadron primarily flew missions in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, striking air bases and industrial targets in France and Germany. Targets included Orleans/Bricy and Nancy/Azelot Airfields, an engine manufacturing factory at Cologne, a coke distillation facility at Gelsenkirchen, an aircraft component plant at Halberstadt, a steel manufacturing plant at Magdeburg and the ball bearing factory at Schweinfurt.^[3]

The squadron participated in a raid on aircraft factories in Germany on 11 January 1944 for which it was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). This was a prelude to Big Week, a concentrated series of raids by Eighth Air Force, aimed at destroying Germany's aircraft manufacturing industry in late February. On 24 April 1944, the 384th Group, although crippled by heavy losses, led the 41st Bombardment Wing, in an attack on the Dornier Flugzeugwerke aircraft manufacturing plant at Oberpfaffenhofen, pressing the attack through almost overwhelming opposition. One group commander described the opposition on this mission as the heaviest he had seen during the war.^[5] This mission resulted in the award of a second DUC to the squadron. Other strategic targets included communications centers, oil refineries and storage facilities at Leipzig and Berlin, marshalling yards at Duren and Mannheim, and port facilities.^[3]

The squadron was occasionally diverted from the strategic bombing campaign to fly air support and interdiction missions. It attacked targets along the coast of Normandy to support Operation Overlord, continuing these attacks through D-Day, when it attacked airfields and communications facilities beyond the beachhead. On 24 and 25 July 1944, it supported Operation Cobra, the breakout at Saint Lo with attacks on strong points just beyond enemy lines. It hit armor and artillery concentrations near Eindhoven to support Operation Market Garden, the attempt to seize a bridgehead across the Rhine in the Netherlands during September 1944. It attacked enemy fortifications and communications during the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 through January 1945. When the Allies attacked across the Rhine in Germany in March 1945, it attacked rail facilities, including marshalling yards and bridges to cut enemy supply lines.^[3]

The squadron flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945.^[4] After V-E Day the squadron remained in Europe as part of United States Air Forces in Europe. It assisted Air Transport Command in the Green Project by flying soldiers to Casablanca, French Morocco for transport back to the United States. From its continental base at Istres Air Base, France, it flew Greek military back to their homeland, and transported displaced persons. The squadron transported American troops to Germany to serve in the military occupation forces there, but was gradually drawn down. It was inactivated in France in February 1946 and its remaining personnel and equipment were absorbed by the 306th Bombardment Group.^[2][3][4]

Air Force reserve

The 547th Squadron was reactivated as a reserve unit under Air Defense Command (ADC) at Winston-Salem Municipal Airport, North Carolina in July 1947, nominally as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit. The squadron was assigned to the 96th Bombardment Group, which was located at Gunter Field, Alabama.^[6] It is not clear whether or not the squadron was fully staffed or equipped.^[7] In 1948 Continental Air Command (ConAC) assumed responsibility for managing reserve and Air National Guard units from ADC.^[8] The 547th was inactivated when ConAC reorganized its reserve units under the wing base organization system in June 1949.^[2] President Truman's reduced 1949 defense budget also required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force,^[9] and the squadron was not replaced as reserve flying operations at Winston-Salem ceased.

Strategic Air Command

From 1958, the Boeing B-47 Stratojet wings of Strategic Air Command (SAC) began to assume an alert posture at their home bases, reducing the amount of time spent on alert at overseas bases. The SAC alert cycle divided itself into four parts: planning, flying, alert and rest to meet General Thomas S. Power’s initial goal of maintaining one third of SAC's planes on fifteen minute ground alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.^[10] To implement this new system, B-47 wings reorganized from three to four squadrons.^[10][11] The 547th was activated at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas as the fourth squadron of the 384th Bombardment Wing in September 1958.^[12] The SAC alert commitment was increased to half the wing's aircraft in 1962 and the four squadron pattern no longer met the alert cycle commitment, so the squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1962.^[2][11]

Assignments

• 384th Bombardment Group, 1 December 1942 – 28 February 1946
• 96th Bombardment Group, 16 July 1947 – 27 June 1949
• 384th Bombardment Wing, 1 September 1958 – 1 January 1962^[2]

Stations

• Gowen Field, Idaho, 1 December 1942
• Wendover Field, Utah, 2 January 1943
• Sioux City Army Air Base, Iowa, 5 April-10 May 1943
• RAF Grafton Underwood (AAF-106),^[13] England, 4 June 1943
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (Y-17),^[14] France, 1 July 1945 – 28 February 1946
• Winston-Salem Municipal Airport, North Carolina, 16 July 1947 – 27 June 1949
• Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, 1 September 1958 – 1 January 1962^[15]

Aircraft

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1946
• Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1958–1961^[2]

Awards and campaigns

Award streamer	Award	Dates	Notes
	Distinguished Unit Citation	Germany, 11 January 1944	[2]
	Distinguished Unit Citation	Germany, 24 April 1944	[2]

Campaign Streamer	Campaign	Dates	Notes
	Air Offensive, Europe	3 June 1943 – 5 June 1944	[2]
	Air Combat, EAME Theater	3 June 1943 – 11 May 1945	[2]
	Normandy	6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944	[2]
	Northern France	25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944	[2]
	Rhineland	15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945	[2]
	Ardennes-Alsace	16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945	[2]
	Central Europe	22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945	[2]

Notes

Explanatory notes

Citations

Bibliography

 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: 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.
• Johnson, 1st Lt. David C. (1988). U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO) D-Day to V-E Day (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Knaack, Marcelle Size (1978). Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems (PDF). Vol. 2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-59-5. Retrieved 17 December 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. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• 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. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Schake, Col Kurt W. (1998). Strategic Frontier: American Bomber Bases Overseas, 1950-1960 (PDF). Trondheim, Norway: Norwegian University of Science and Technology. ISBN 978-8277650241. Retrieved 27 July 2015.

Further reading

• Cantwell, Gerald T. (1997). Citizen Airmen: a History of the Air Force Reserve, 1946-1994. Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program. ISBN 0-16049-269-6. Retrieved 17 December 2016.