7th Bombardment Squadron

The 7th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 34th Bombardment Group, stationed at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota. It was inactivated on 28 August 1945.

History
Established in early 1941 as an Army Air Corps Northeast Air District bomber squadron; equipped with B-18 Bolos and light observation aircraft. Performed coastal patrols over the Mid-Atlantic and New England states. Reassigned to the Pacific Northwest after the Pearl Harbor Attack, engaged in antisubmarine patrol duty over the Washington and Oregon coast until May 1942.

Reassigned to II Bomber Command, trained with early-model B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators, becoming an Operational Training Unit (OTU), stationed in the Pacific Northwest and Montana. Moved to Southern California in early 1943, became a training unit at the Desert Training Center.

Was equipped with production Flying Fortresses in 1944, trained for overseas duty. Deployed to European Theater of Operations (ETO), being assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England in April 1944. Engaged in long-range strategic bombardment of enemy targets in Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany, attacking transportation, industrial, Oil Industry and other targets as directed. Also engaged in tactical bombardment of enemy forces in France in support of the Operation Overlord landings in Normandy, and the subsequent breakout at St-Lo in July 1944. Attacked enemy formations and armor during the Battle of the Bulge, January 1945. Continued bombardment of strategic targets until the German Capitulation in May.

Largely demobilized in England during the summer of 1945; small cadre of personnel reassembled at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota in August to prepare for B-29 Superfortress training, however Japanese Capitulation led to inactivation of unit in late August.

Lineage

 * Constituted 7th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 20 November 1940
 * Activated on 15 January 1941
 * Inactivated on 28 August 1945

Assignments

 * 34th Bombardment Group, 15 January 1941 – 28 August 1945

Stations

 * Langley Field, Virginia, 15 January 1941
 * Westover Field, Massachusetts, 29 May 1941
 * Pendleton Field, Oregon, c. 25 January 1942
 * Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, c. 13 May 1942
 * Geiger Field, Washington, 1 Ju1y 1942
 * Ephrata Army Air Base, Washington, 1 December 1942
 * Great Falls Army Air Base, Montana, c. 15 January 1943


 * Ephrata Army Air Base, Washington 31 January 1943
 * Blythe Army Air Base, California, 1 February 1943
 * Salinas Army Air Base, California, 29 May 1943
 * Blythe Army Air Base, California, 13 July 1943 – c. 2 April 1944
 * RAF Mendlesham (AAF-156), England, c. 23 April 1944 – 24 July 1945
 * Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, c. 13–28 August 1945

Aircraft

 * PT-17 Stearman, 1941
 * LB-30B Liberator, 1941
 * B-18 Bolo, 1941
 * B-17 Flying Fortress, 1941–1942, 1944–1945
 * B-24 Liberator, 1942-1944.