15th Bombardment Squadron

15th Bombardment Squadron
Active	1939-1943
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army Air Force
Role	Bombardment

The 15th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Twelfth Air Force, based at Nouvion, Algeria. It was inactivated on 1 October 1943

History

Lineage

• Constituted 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 22 Dec 1939

Activated on 1 Feb 1940

Redesignated: 1st Pursuit Squadron (Night Fighter) on 1 Apr 1942

Redesignated: 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 7 May 1942

Disbanded on 1 Oct 1943.

Assignments

• 27th Bombardment Group, 1 Feb 1940
• V Air Support Command, 14 Oct 1941–unknown
• VIII Bomber Command, 14 May 1942
• Twelfth Air Force, 14 Sep 1942-1 Oct 1943

Atttached to Northwest African Training Command, 18 Feb 1943

Stations

• Barksdale Field, Louisiana, 1 Feb 1940
• Lawson Field, Georgia, 7 Oct 1940
• Fort Dix AAF, New Jersey, 8 Dec 1941

Operated from Mitchel Field, New York, 8-15 Dec 1941

• Lawson Field, Georgia, Feb-18 Apr 1942
• RAF Grafton Underwood, England, 14 May 1942
• RAF Molesworth, England, 9 Jun 1942

• RAF Podington, England, 13 Sep 1942
• Tebessa, Algeria, 13 Nov 1942
• Tafaraoui, Algeria, 10 Dec 1942
• Youks-les-Bains, Algeria, 22 Dec 1942
• Nouvion, Algeria, Feb 1943
• Sale, French Morocco, May 1943
• Nouvion, Algeria, 1 Oct 1943.

Aircraft

RDB-7B (RAF Douglas A-20C-1-DO Havoc Boston III), Serial AL672, shown as a staff communications aircraft for 8th AF HQ at RAF Bovingdon. Prior to its use by 8th AF, this aircraft was originally used to equip the 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light) and used on 4 July 1942 a low-level attack on Luftwaffe airfields in the Netherlands in the first VIII Bomber Command attack on occupied Europe.

• A-18 Shrike, 1940
• A-20 Havoc, 1941-1943
• DB-7 Boston, 1942
• A-36 Apache, 1943.

Operational History

Performed Antisubmarine patrols over New Jersey and New York coastal waters, Dec 1941–Jan 1942. Inaugurated AAF operations in ETO with a mission from England to Holland on 4 July 1942. Combat in ETO and MTO, 4 Jul 1942–c. Jan 1943.

References

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

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.