501st Bombardment Squadron

The 501st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 345th Bombardment Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where it was inactivated on 25 June 1959.

501st Bombardment Squadron
345th Bombardment Wing B-57B Canberras
Active	1942–1945; 1957–1959
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	medium bomber
Nickname(s)	Black Panthers[1]
Engagements	Southwest Pacific Theater
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation Philippine Presidential Unit Citation
Insignia
501st Bombardment Squadron emblem (approved 8 April 1958)[2][note 1]

The squadron was first activated in 1942. After training in the United States as a medium bomber unit, it deployed to the Southwest Pacific Theater, where it engaged in combat, advancing from Australia, through New Guinea and the Philippines, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for its combat actions. Following V-J Day, the squadron remained on Okinawa until December 1945, when it returned to the United States for inactivation. The squadron was activated again in 1957 as a tactical bomber unit.

History

World War II

The squadron was first organized at Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina in September 1942 as one of the four original squadrons of the 345th Bombardment Group.[2][3] However, it was not sufficiently manned to begin flight training until December.[4] The squadron trained with North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers until April 1943, when it departed for the Southwest Pacific Theater.[2][3] The squadron had originally been slated for deployment to the European Theater of Operations, but was diverted to the Pacific at the request of General George C. Kenney following the successful use of medium bombers in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.[4]

Staging through Australia, the unit reached its combat station near Port Moresby, New Guinea in early June 1943.[2] In theater, its B-25s were modified, including the installation of additional fixed machine guns to equip it for strafing missions.[4] It flew its first combat mission on 30 June. The squadron operated from New Guinea until July 1944, with missions that included bombing and strafing Japanese installations in New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. The squadron attacked enemy shipping in sealanes within range of its Mitchells. It flew air support missions for ground units in the Admiralty Islands, including airdropping supplies to units. It also flew courier and aerial reconnaissance missions.[3]

345th Bombardment Group B-25 Mitchell bombing Byoritsu oil refinery[note 2]

On 2 November 1943, the squadron flew a series of attacks on flak positions, coastal defenses and barracks at Rabaul, a major Japanese naval base in New Britain. These attacks earned the squadron its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). In July 1944, the 501st moved to Biak Island in the Netherlands East Indies. From its new base, it attacked airfields and shipping in the Philippines and Celebes. It continued moving forward with Douglas MacArthur's forces, occupying a base in the Philippines in November 1944, which enabled it to strike military targets throughout the island nation and strike industrial targets as far north as Formosa.[3] In April 1945, it earned a second DUC during an attack on Saigon, French Indochina.[2]

In July 1945, the squadron moved to Ie Shima Airfield in the Ryuku Islands, from which it was able to attack shipping in the Sea of Japan and carry out a few raids on Kyushu. Following V-J Day, the squadron remained at Ie Shima until December, when it returned to the United States and was inactivated at the Port of Embarkation on 19 December 1945.[2][3]

Tactical Air Command

The squadron was reactivated at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia in October 1957 when the 345th Bombardment Wing replaced the 345th Bombardment Group there. The squadron was equipped with Martin B-57B Canberra jet bombers. It trained to maintain combat proficiency in locating, attacking, and destroying targets from all altitudes and under all conditions of weather and light.[5] It was inactivated at Langley on 25 June 1959 in connection with the phaseout of the Canberra from Tactical Air Command.[2][6]

Lineage

• Constituted as the 501st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 3 September 1942

Activated on 8 September 1942

Redesignated 501st Bombardment Squadron, Medium in 1944

Inactivated on 19 December 1945

Redesignated 501st Bombardment Squadron, Tactical on 22 March 1954

Activated on 8 October 1957

Inactivated on 25 June 1959[2]

Assignments

• 345th Bombardment Group, 8 September 1942 – 19 December 1945
• 345th Bombardment Wing, 8 October 1957 – 25 June 1959[2]

Stations

Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina, 8 September 1942 Walterboro Army Air Field, South Carolina, 5 March–16 April 1943 Jackson Airfield (7 Mile Drome), New Guinea, 5 June 1943 Dobodura Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 23 December 1943 Nadzab Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 23 February 1944 Mokmer Airfield, Biak, Netherlands East Indies, 23 July 1944 Dulag Airfield, Leyte, Philippines (operated from Mokmer Airfield), 13 November 1944

Tacloban Airfield, Leyte, Philippines, 27 December 1944 San Marcelino Airfield, Luzon, Philippines, 12 February 1945 Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines, 12 May 1945 Ie Shima Airfield, Ryuku Islands, 28 July–1 December 1945 Camp Stoneman, California, 28–29 December 1945 Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, 8 October 1957 – 25 June 1959[2]

Aircraft

• North American B-25 Mitchell, 1942–1945
• Martin B-57B Canberra, 1957–1959[2]

Awards and campaigns

Award streamer	Award	Dates	Notes
	Distinguished Unit Citation	2 November 1943	Rabaul[2]
	Distinguished Unit Citation	28 April 1945	Saigon, French Indochina[2]
	Philippine Presidential Unit Citation	12 November 1944-c. 20 July 1945	[2]

Campaign Streamer	Campaign	Dates	Notes
	Air Offensive, Japan	5 June 1943 – 2 September 1945	[2]
	China Defensive	5 June 1943 – 4 May 1945	[2]
	New Guinea	5 June 1943 – 31 December 1944	[2]
	Bismarck Archipelago	15 December 1943 – 27 November 1944	[2]
	Leyte	17 October 1944 – 1 July 1945	[2]
	Luzon	15 December 1944 – 4 July 1945	[2]
	Western Pacific	17 April 1945 – 2 September 1945	[2]
	China Offensive	5 May 1945 – 2 September 1945	[2]

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

1. The squadron used the emblem during World War II, but apparently never received approval for it. Watkins, pp. 94–95
2. Aircraft is North American B-25J-10-NC Mitchell, serial 43-36192, "Jaunty Jo". The aircraft has just dropped parafrag bombs on the refinery in Formosa and was hit by flak from a camouflaged battery.

Citations

1. Watkins, pp. 94–95
2. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 603-604
3. Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 223-224
4. Blount, R.E. "Brief History". 345th Bomb Group Association. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
5. Ravenstein, p. 182
6. See Byrd, p. 15 (sister squadron deployed to Lebanon despite pending inactivation).

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Byrd, David A. (2000). "Lebanon Crisis: Operation Blue Bat". In Warnock, A. Timothy (ed.). Short of War: Major USAF Contingency Operations 1947–1997 (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University Press. ISBN 978-0-16050411-2. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
• 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.
• 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.
• Watkins, Robert A. (2013). Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force in World War II. Volume V, Pacific Theater of Operations. Atglen,PA: Shiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7643-4346-9.