Initial organization and training

The squadron was first established in March 1942 at Gowen Field, Idaho, one of the original four squadrons of the 306th Bombardment Group.^[3][4] In April, its personnel moved to Wendover Field, Utah, where it began training with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers.^[1] On 1 August 1942, the squadron's ground echelon began its deployment, spending a week at Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia before moving to Fort Dix, New Jersey at the Port of Embarkation. It sailed on the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 30 August, arriving in Scotland on 5 September 1942. The air echelon departed for Westover Field, Massachusetts, and began ferrying their B-17s to England via the North Atlantic ferrying route.^[4][5]

Combat in Europe

Squadron B-17F Flying Fortress^{[lower-alpha 3]}

The squadron settled into its combat station, RAF Thurleigh, England, in early September. Although several bomber units arrived in England before the 369th, when these units left England to participate in Operation Torch it became, along with its companion squadrons of the 306th Group, the oldest bombardment squadrons of VIII Bomber Command. It few its first combat mission on 9 October 1942 against a steel factory near Lille, France, but with poor results. This was the first mission on which VIII Bomber Command assembled a strike force of over 100 bombers.^{[5][6][lower-alpha 4]} The squadron operated primarily against strategic targets, including the locomotive factory at Lille, marshalling yards at Rouen, France, and Stuttgart, Germany. The squadron took part in the first strike into Germany by bombers of Eighth Air Force on 27 January 1943 when it struck U-boat yards at Wilhelmshaven. It struck shipbuilding yards at Vegesack, ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt, the aircraft factory at Leipzig, Germany, and similar facilities.^[4]

On 11 January 1944, the squadron participated in an attack on an aircraft plant in central Germany, near Brunswick. Extensive cloud cover had resulted in the recall of two of the three bombardment divisions involved in the mission and made the rendezvous of the fighter groups scheduled to provide cover in the target area difficult. In contrast, clear weather to the east of the target permitted the Germans to assemble one of the largest fighter formations since October 1943, with 207 enemy fighters making contact with the strike force.^[7] For this mission, the squadron was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). The following month the squadron earned a second DUC for its performance during Big Week, an intensive bombing campaign against the German aircraft industry. Despite adverse weather on 22 February that led supporting elements to abandon the mission the squadron and group effectively bombed the aircraft assembly plant at Bernburg, Germany.^[4]

The squadron also performed in a tactical role, assisting ground forces Operation Cobra, the St Lo breakthrough, Operation Market Garden, the attempt to establish a bridgehead across the Rhine near Arnhem in the Netherlands, stopping German attacking forces in the Battle of the Bulge, and bombing enemy positions during Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine in the spring of 1945.^[4]

After V-E Day, the squadron became part of the occupation forces and participated in Project Casey Jones, the photographic mapping of portions of Europe and North Africa.^[4] The 306th Group began to phase out of the project in July.^[8] In February 1946, the squadron moved to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base, France, where it absorbed elements of the inactivating 92d and 384th Bombardment Groups, returning to Germany in July.^[5] The squadron was inactivated in December 1946.^[1]

Strategic Air Command

I was reactivated as a Strategic Air Command Boeing B-29 Superfortress squadron at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida in 1948. It began upgrading to the new Boeing B-50 Superfortress, an advanced version of the B-29 in 1950. The B-50 gave the unit the capability to carry heavy loads of conventional weapons faster and farther as well as being designed for atomic bomb missions if necessary.

It began receiving the first production models of the new Boeing B-47 Stratojet jet bomber in 1951 and despite initial difficulties, the Stratojet became the mainstay of the medium-bombing strength of SAC all throughout the 1950s. Began sending its B-47s to AMARC at Davis–Monthan in 1963 when the aircraft was deemed no longer capable of penetrating Soviet airspace. Inactivated in 1963 with phaseout of the B-47.

Lineage

• Constituted 369th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942

Activated on 1 March 1942

Redesignated 369th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943^[9]

Inactivated on 25 December 1946

• Redesignated 369th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 11 June 1947

Activated on 1 July 1947

Redesignated 369th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 11 August 1948

Inactivated on 1 April 1963^[10]

Assignments

• 306th Bombardment Group, 1 March 1942 – 25 December 1946
• 306th Bombardment Group, 1 July 1947
• 306th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952 – 1 April 1963^[10]

Stations

• Gowen Field, Idaho, 1 March 1942
• Wendover Field, Utah, c. 6 April-1 August 1942
• RAF Thurleigh (Sta 111),^[11] England, c. 6 September 1942
• AAF Station Giebelstadt (Y-90),^[12] Germany, 25 December 1945
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (Y-17),^[13] France, 26 February-29 June 1946
• Andrews Field (later Andrews Air Force Base), Maryland, 1 July 1947
• MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, 1 August 1948 – 1 April 1963^[14]

Aircraft

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1946
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1948–1951
• Boeing B-50 Superfortress, 1950–1951
• Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1951–1963^[10]

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 7 July 2012.
• 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 23 January 2016.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• 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.
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• 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.