The 14th Bombardment Squadron was a squadron of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. The 14th Bomb Squadron fought in the

Battle of the Philippines (1941–42) Battle of the Philippines may refer to several wars, military campaigns, and major battles which have been fought in the Philippine Islands, including: *Spanish conquest **Battle of Bangkusay Channel **1582 Cagayan battles **Tondo Conspiracy ** B ...

, much of its aircraft being destroyed in combat against the Japanese. The survivors of the ground echelon fought as infantry during

Battle of Bataan The Battle of Bataan ( tl, Labanan sa Bataan; January 7 – April 9, 1942) was fought by the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth against Japan during World War II. The battle represented the most intense phase of the Japanese i ...

and after their surrender, were subjected to the

Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March ( Filipino: ''Martsa ng Kamatayan sa Bataan''; Spanish: ''Marcha de la muerte de Bataán'' ; Kapampangan: ''Martsa ning Kematayan quing Bataan''; Japanese: バターン死の行進, Hepburn: ''Batān Shi no Kōshin'') ...

, although some did escape to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The remainder of the air echelon fought in the

Dutch East Indies campaign The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by forces from the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Forces from the Allies attempted u ...

(1942) before being reassigned to other units. The squadron was never remanned or equipped. It was carried as an active unit until April 2, 1946.

History

The squadron operated as a flying training unit, 1917–1918. During the interwar years, it operated from

Bolling Field The origins of the surname Bolling: English: from a nickname for someone with close-cropped hair or a large head, Middle English bolling "pollard", or for a heavy drinker, from Middle English bolling "excessive drinking". German (Bölling): from ...

, DC, under the

Third Corps Area Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

and the

9th Bombardment Group 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

, 1928–1935. A C-2A transport of the squadron participated as the receiving aircraft ( "Question Mark") in a week-long endurance flight testing the practicability of

aerial refueling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...

World War II

The

19th Bombardment Group 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

had been selected for transfer to the Philippines; however, the need for B-17 bombers there was so urgent that a provisional group already in Hawaii was dispatched to Manila by way of Australia in September. Under the command of Major Emmett O'Donnell Jr., nine B-17s of the 14th Bombardment Squadron (Provisional), the nine crews made up of the cream of the 5th and 11th Bomb Groups, pioneered an air ferry route from Hawaii to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, leaving on September 5, 1941, and arriving on September 12, 1941, at

Clark Field Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

, Philippines. This was the first flight of land-based bombers across the central Pacific. A portion of the flight involved traversing uncharted waters from

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of T ...

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

and Darwin and thence to

Fort Stotsenburg Fort Stotsenburg, during the World War II era, was the location of the Philippine Department's 26th Cavalry Regiment, 86th Field Artillery Battalion, and 88th Field Artillery Regiment; along with the Philippine Division's 23rd and 24th Fie ...

, Philippines. They maintained radio silence over the Japanese mandate islands. Successful completion of this historic flight proved that the Philippines could be reinforced by air. For extraordinary achievement in this flight, the airmen of this squadron were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The squadron became part of the

Philippine Department Air Force The Philippine Department Air Force was a military formation of the United States Army Air Forces. The command was officially established on 6 May 1941 as the Philippine Department Air Force at Nichols Field, Luzon, Philippines. Origins The U ...

, which subsequently became the Far East Air Force on November 16, 1941, and was attached to the

(Heavy). On December 8, 1941, the Japanese bombed and strafed Clark Field at 12:00 pm, catching many B-17’s and P-40’s on the ground, which were destroyed. Sixteen B-17s of the 14th Bombardment Squadron aircraft were based at Del Monte Field and San Marcelino Field and were spared being destroyed. Captain Colin P Kelly Jr, of the 14th Bombardment Squadron attacked the

Japanese Navy , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval T ...

Ashigara, thought to be a battleship. Captain Kelly was killed when his B-17 was shot down by Japanese fighters as he was returning to Clark Field, and was posthumously awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

(DSC). The air echelon of the 14th Bombardment Squadron was evacuated to

Batchelor Field Batchelor Airfield, is an airport located south of Batchelor, Northern Territory, Australia. The airport currently has no commercial air services; however, it is utilised by the Northern Australian Gliding Club and the Alice Springs Aero Club ...

on December 24, 1941, while the ground echelon stayed to fight at Clark Field, as infantry in the Philippines as part of the Battle of the Philippines under the command of 5th Interceptor Command. Orders were soon received from HQ Far East Air Force to move to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

, and the air echelon relocated from Batchelor Field to Singosari Field, Java on December 30, 1941. The 19th Bombardment Group flew missions from Singosari Field, attacking enemy aircraft, ground installations, warships and transports during the later stages of the Battle of the Philippines and the

between January–March 1942. The group earned a total of four United States Presidential

Distinguished Unit Citation The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enem ...

s for actions in the

Philippine Islands The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, whic ...

. The air echelon of 14th Bombardment Squadron ceased operating from Singosari, Java on March 1, 1942, and began moving to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, Australia. Arriving at Essendon Aerodrome, Melbourne on March 4, 1942, the air echelon of 14th Bombardment Squadron began operating from Essendon, Australia. On March 14, 1942, the air echelon of 14th Bombardment Squadron was detached from the 19th Bombardment Group and ceased operations, with men and equipment transferred to other units. The 14th Bombardment Squadron continued as an active unit in the United States, but was not manned or equipped, and was inactivated on April 2, 1946.

Lineage

* Organized as 1st Aviation School Squadron on May 9, 1917 : Redesignated: 14th Aero Squadron on August 20, 1917 (second formation ("II"), see below) : Redesignated: Squadron A, Rockwell Field, Calif, on July 23, 1918 : Demobilized on November 23, 1918 * Reconstituted and consolidated (June 8, 1935) with Air Corps Detachment, Bolling Field, DC, which was organized on April 1, 1928 : Redesignated: 14th Bombardment Squadron on March 1, 1935 : Inactivated on September 1, 1936 * Redesignated 14th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on December 22, 1939 : Activated on February 1, 1940 : Redesignated: 14th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on November 20, 1940 : Inactivated on April 2, 1946 : Disbanded on August 19, 1949. Another 14th Aero Squadron was activated at

Kelly Field Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. In ...

, Texas, on 14 June 1917. It was re-designated as the 19th Aero Squadron on 26 June 1917. Today the USAF

19th Fighter Squadron The 19th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force fighter jet squadron and is a part of the Pacific Air Forces' (PACAF) 15th Wing based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii. The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air ...

is heir to the squadron's lineage and honors.

Assignments

* Unknown, 1917–1918 * Office of Chief of Air Corps, April 1, 1928 * Third Corps Area, August 28, 1933 *

, March 1, 1935 – September 1, 1936 *

11th Bombardment Group An international call prefix, international dial-out code or international direct dial code (IDD code) is a trunk prefix that indicates an international phone call. In the dialling sequence, the prefix precedes the country calling code (and, furt ...

, February 1, 1940 * 7th Bombardment Group, December 2, 1941 – April 2, 1946 : Attached to

, 2-c. December 24, 1941 : Air echelon attached to

, C. December 24, 1941 – c. March 14, 1942 : Ground echelon attached as infantry to the

V Interceptor Command The 5th Interceptor Command was a temporary organization of the United States Army Air Forces. It was wiped out in the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42). The survivors fought as infantry during Battle of Bataan and after their surrender, wer ...

, c. December 24, 1941 – May 1942

Stations

* Rockwell Field,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, May 9, 1917 – November 23, 1918 *

, Washington, D.C., April 1, 1928 – September 1, 1936 *

Hickam Field Hickam may refer to: ;Surname *Homer Hickam (born 1943), American author, Vietnam veteran, and a former NASA engineer ** October Sky: The Homer Hickam Story, 1999 American biographical film * Horace Meek Hickam (1885–1934), pioneer airpower advoc ...

Hawaii Territory The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territories of the United States, organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from Ap ...

, February 1, 1940 *

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

Philippines Commonwealth The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 194 ...

, September 16, 1941 * Bugo,

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

, (Ground echelon) January 1 – May 1942 : Air echelon operated from:

Batchelor Airfield Batchelor Airfield, is an airport located south of Batchelor, Northern Territory, Australia. The airport currently has no commercial air services; however, it is utilised by the Northern Australian Gliding Club and the Alice Springs Aero Club ...

, c. December 24–c. December 30, 1941 : Air echelon operated from: Singosari Airport,

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised Factory (trading post), trading posts o ...

, December 30, 1941–c. March 1, 1942 : Air echelon operated from: Essendon Airport (Melbourne),

, c. March 4 – c. March 14, 1942

Aircraft

JN-4 The Curtiss JN "Jenny" was a series of biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for th ...

, JN-6, and S-4 during period 1917–1918. *

O-1 O1 or O-1 may refer to: Aircraft *O-1 Bird Dog, an observation aircraft manufactured by Cessna *O-1 Curtiss Falcon, an observation aircraft manufactured by the Curtiss Aircraft Company * O-1 Airship, an Italian manufactured semi-rigid airship op ...

, 1928 – c. 1930, *

Douglas O-2 The Douglas O-2 was a 1920s American observation aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Development The important family of Douglas observation aircraft sprang from two XO-2 prototypes, the first of which was powered by the 420 hp ...

and

P-1 Hawk The P-1 Hawk (Curtiss Model 34) was a 1920s open-cockpit biplane fighter aircraft of the United States Army Air Corps. An earlier variant of the same aircraft had been designated PW-8 prior to 1925."US Military Aircraft Designations & Serials 19 ...

, 1928 – c. 1931, * O-38, 1931–1935, *included, DH-4, A-3,

Douglas C-1 The Douglas C-1 was a cargo/transport aircraft produced by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation for the United States Army Air Service starting in 1925. Design and development Douglas received an order for nine single-engined transport aircraft in 1 ...

, C-2, C-4, C-5, C-6, C-9, C-n, Y1C-12, Y1C-17, Y1C-19, Lockheed Y1C-23, C-30 Condor, C-34, O-11, O-13, O-29, O-43, OA-1, PW-9,

Boeing P-12 The Boeing P-12/F4B was an American pursuit aircraft that was operated by the United States Army Air Corps , United States Marine Corps, and United States Navy. Design and development Developed as a private venture to replace the Boeing F2B a ...

P-26 Peashooter The Boeing P-26 "Peashooter" was the first American production all-metal fighter aircraft and the first pursuit monoplane to enter squadron service with the United States Army Air Corps. Designed and built by Boeing, the prototype first flew in ...

, AT-5, PT-1,

BT-2 The BT tanks (russian: Быстроходный танк/БТ, translit=Bystrokhodnyy tank, lit. "fast moving tank" or "high-speed tank") were a series of Soviet light tanks produced in large numbers between 1932 and 1941. They were lightly arm ...

, and apparently YB-9,

Martin B-10 The Martin B-10 was the first all-metal monoplane bomber to be regularly used by the United States Army Air Corps, entering service in June 1934.Jackson 2003, p. 246. It was also the first mass-produced bomber whose performance was superior to ...

, C-29 Dolphin, and Thomas-Morse YO-20 during period 1928–1936 *

B-18 Bolo The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American heavy bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company f ...

, 1940–1941 *

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

, 1941 * B-17, and probably

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models ...

and LB-30, December 7, 1941 – c. March 1, 1942

Notes

References

* *
14th Bomb Squadron

External links

{{USAAF 5th Air Force World War II Military units and formations established in 1917 014