27th Bombardment Squadron

History - Aircraft - Books - Time Line - Duties - Campaigns - Main Bases - Assigned To

History

The 27th Bombardment Squadron spent 1942 and 1943 flying anti-submarine warfare patrols and training replacement crews before moving to the Central Pacific in November 1943 to take part in the island hopping campaign.

The squadron began to fly anti-submarine warfare patrols in January 1942 while operating the Lockheed A-29 Hudson, as part of the 30th Bombardment Group. It continued to perform this duty from bases in California until September 1943, and in October the squadron was moved to Hawaii to join the Seventh Air Force. From Hawaii the squadron moved on to Nanumea, in the Ellice Islands, from where on 14 November it flew its first bombing mission.

On 23 December 1943 aircraft from the 27th Bombardment Squadron became the first American heavy bombers to use the new airbase on Tarawa, when the squadron used it as a staging base while escorting US Navy reconnaissance aircraft to Kwajalein during the preparation for the invasion of that atoll.

The squadron took part in the island hopping campaign, making three hops itself - to Abemama Island in the Gilberts at the start of 1944, to Kwakalein atoll in March 1944 and to Saipan in August 1944. During this period the squadron had attacked targets in the Marshall, Gilbert and Truk Islands, as well attacking Wake Island, Guam and Saipan. Once on Saipan the squadron attacked targets in the Bonin and Volcano Islands in support of the invasion of Iwo Jima.

In March 1945 the squadron (although not all of its aircraft or crews) returned to Hawaii, from where it carried out a mix of patrol and training duties.

Aircraft

Books

 B-24 Liberator Units of the Pacific War, Robert F. Dorr. The B-24 played a major part in the war in the Pacific, serving as the main heavy bomber for the USAAF in the Pacific from the start of the war until the late arrival of the B-29. The Pacific campaign was fought on a vast scale, over theatres as varied as the jungles of Burma and the icy Aleutian islands. Dorr splits this volume into five parts - one looking at the early period of the war, when small numbers of B-24s took part in desperate attempts to stop the Japanese advance, one chapter each for the Fifth, Seventh and Thirteenth Air Forces, and a final chapter for the combined Far East Air Force.  

Lockheed Hudson Aircraft in WWII, Andrew Hendrie, Crowood Press. A look at the development of the Hudson, and its career with the RAF, USAAF, RNZAF and RAAF. Covers the anti-submarine and anti-shipping uses of the Hudson, as well at its role in Air-Sea Rescue and special operations. The text is supported by a good collection of first hand accounts.

Timeline

Duties

January 1942-July 1943: Antisubmarine patrols
June 1942-July 1943: replacement training
14 November 1943-19 February 1945: combat in Central and Western Pacific

Campaigns

Antisubmarine, American Theatre
Central Pacific
Air Offensive, Japan
Eastern Mandates
Western Pacific

Main Bases

March Field, California: 15 January 1941
New Orleans: 25 May 1941
Muroc, California: 25 December 1941
March Field, California: 7 February 1942-28 September 1943
Mokuleia Field, Hawaii: 20 October 1943
Nanumea, Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu): 10 November 1943
Abemama, Kiribati Islands: 26 February 1944
Kwajalein, Marshall Islands: 15 March 1944
Saipan: 4 August 1944
Kahuku, Hawaii: 17 March 1945
Wheeler Field, Hawaii: 23 May 1945
Kahuku, Hawaii: 25 September 1945-20 March 1946

Assigned To

15 January 1941-20 March 1946: 30th Bombardment Group

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