508th Fighter Squadron

The 508th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 404th Fighter Group, IX Fighter Command, stationed at Drew Field, Florida. It was inactivated on 9 November 1945.

History
Established as the 622d Bombardment Squadron (Dive) on 25 Jan 1943, converted from A-24 Banshee (Dauntless) dive bombers to P-39 Aircobra fighters in August and was redesignated the 508th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. After training was completed at Myrtle Beach AAF, South Carolina, deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), assigned to IX Fighter Command in England where it was assigned P-47 Thunderbolts and was again redesignated as the 508th Fighter Squadron.

Began operations by bombing and strafing targets in France. The squadrons provided top cover for landings in Normandy on 6 and 7 June 1944. On 6 July the squadron moved across the Channel to its Advanced Landing Ground at Chippelle (ALG A-5), France. Operated in close support of ground troops until the end of the war, supporting the Allied breakthrough at Saint-Lô in July 1944, the drive through Holland in September 1944, Allied operations during the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944-January 1945), and the establishment of the Remagen bridgehead and the subsequent crossing of the Rhine in March 1945.

After the German Capitulation, became part of the occupying United States Air Forces in Europe though the summer of 1945. Returned to the United States and was demoblized during the fall, inactivated in early November.