The 880th Bombardment Squadron is a former

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 ...

unit. It was an early

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Bo ...

unit, but was inactivated in the spring of 1944 when the Army Air Forces reorganized its very heavy bomber units. It was reactivated in August 1944 and deployed to the Pacific in 1945, but arrived too late to see combat. The squadron returned to the United States in December and was inactivated.

History

The squadron was activated at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona in November 1943 as one of the original four squadrons of the 499th Bombardment Group. Ten days later, a cadre moved to

Smoky Hill Army Air Field Salina Regional Airport , formerly Salina Municipal Airport, is located in Salina, Kansas, United States. The airport is owned by the Salina Airport Authority. It is used for general aviation, and has service by one passenger airline, SkyWest ...

, Kansas to begin

very heavy bomber training. The 879th trained in Kansas with early model B-29s, with frequent delays in training due to modifications of the aircraft correcting production deficiencies. In May 1944, the

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 ...

reorganized its very heavy bomber units, reducing them from four to three operational squadrons. The 880th was inactivated in this reorganization.Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 796Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 565-566 The squadron was activated again three months later at

Dalhart Army Air Field Dalhart Army Air Base is a former World War II military airfield complex near the city of Dalhart, Texas. It operated three training sites for the United States Army Air Forces from 1943 until 1945. The majority of the namesake city of Dalhart, ...

, Texas, where it was assigned to the

383d Bombardment Group The 383d Bombardment Group is a former United States Army Air Forces unit. It was last stationed at Camp Anza, California, where it was inactivated on 4 January 1946. The group (military aviation unit), group was active from 1942 to 1944 as a h ...

. Shortages of B-29s for training caused the 383d and the squadron to remain in the United States for almost a year until finally it deployed to the

Central Pacific Area Pacific Ocean Areas (POA) was a major Allied military command in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands during the Pacific War and one of three United States commands in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. ...

in August 1945. By the time the squadron arrived at

West Field (Tinian) West Field is a former World War II airfield on Tinian in the Mariana Islands. Today, West Field is used as the civilian Tinian International Airport. West Field at Tinian Naval Base was a base for Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortress operat ...

in September, hostilities in the Pacific had ended and it did not see combat.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 270 The squadron returned to the United States in December and was inactivated at the port of embarkation.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 880th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 19 November 1943 : Activated on 20 November 1943 : Inactivated on 10 May 1944 * Activated on 28 August 1944 : Inactivated on 3 January 1946

Assignments

* 499th Bombardment Group, 20 November 1943–10 May 1944 * 383d Bombardment Group, 28 August 1944 – 3 January 1946

Stations

* Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, 20 November 1943 * Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas, 1 December 1943 *

Clovis Army Air Field Cannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base, located approximately southwest of Clovis, New Mexico. The host unit at Cannon is the 27th Special Operations Wing (27 SOW) also known as "The Steadfast Line". It is under the jurisdic ...

, New Mexico, 11 February 1944 * Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas, 8 April–10 May 1944 * Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, 28 August 1944 *

Walker Army Air Field Walker Army Airfield (also known as Victoria-Pratt Airfield or Walker-Hays Airfield) is an abandoned airfield located north of Interstate 70 in Ellis County, Kansas, Ellis County, 1 mile northwest of Walker, Kansas or 3 miles northeast of Victor ...

, Kansas, 14 January–11 August 1945 *

, Mariana Islands, 12 September–19 Dec 1945 * Camp Anza,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, 2–3 January 1946

Aircraft

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

, 1944 * B-29 Superfortress, 1944, 1945

Campaigns

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{cite book, editor=Maurer, Maurer, title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II, orig-year= 1961, url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180735/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf , url-status= dead , archive-date= 20 December 2016 , edition=reprint, year=1983, publisher=Office of Air Force History, location=Washington, DC, isbn=0-912799-02-1, lccn=61060979 Strategic bombing squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces Military units and formations established in 1943