Columbia Army Air Base was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 ...

base. It was primarily used for advanced combat training of

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

medium bomber units and replacement pilots. It was used as a training base in early 1942 for

Doolittle's Raiders The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first American air operation to strike the J ...

. It was closed during the summer of 1945, and turned over for civil use as the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

History

Origins

In 1940 the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

indicated a need for the Lexington County Airport as part of the buildup of its forces after World War II began in Europe. The earliest recorded Air Corps use of the airport was when the 105th Observation Squadron began flying Douglas O-38 and North American O-47 light observation aircraft beginning on 24 September. In 1941, the airport came under formal military control and an immediate construction program began to turn the civil airport into a military airfield. Construction involved runways and airplane hangars, with three concrete runways, several taxiways and a large parking apron and a control tower. Several large hangars were also constructed. Buildings were ultimately utilitarian and quickly assembled. Most base buildings, not meant for long-term use, were constructed of temporary or semi-permanent materials. Although some hangars had steel frames and the occasional brick or tile brick building could be seen, most support buildings sat on concrete foundations but were of frame construction clad in little more than plywood and tar paper. While under construction, the

65th Observation Group The 65th Military Airlift Support Group is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. It was last active as part of Military Airlift Command at Yokota Air Base, Japan, where it was inactivated on 1 June 1972. History World War II The ...

used the unfinished facilities at the airfield between 1 September and 1 December 1941, flying a mixture O-47s, O-49 Vigilant and O-52 Owl light observation planes as part of the " Carolina Maneuvers" in the Fall of 1941 performing reconnaissance and aerial photo duties.

World War II

On 8 December 1941, the Columbia Army Airbase was activated with Lt. Colonel Dashe W. Reeves as commander. It was assigned to

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in E ...

, III Air Support Command. The 121st Observation Squadron was moved to the new air base from nearby

Owens Field Owens may refer to: Places in the United States * Owens Station, Delaware *Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota * Owens, Missouri * Owens, Ohio * Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with the name * Owe ...

, replacing the 105th OS which was sent to

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Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

and the Marine Corps airfield at Cherry Point

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to fly antisubmarine patrols. The 121st OS, which had also been flying observation flights as part of the " Carolina Maneuvers", began antisubmarine patrols over the Atlantic coast using O-47s and L-4 Grasshoppers. The 96th Air Base Squadron was initially assigned as the base host unit for ground support squadrons, being replaced by the 19th Air Base Group in February 1942. The antisubmarine patrol mission was reassigned to Charleston AAF which was much better suited for it, as Charleston was located right on the Atlantic coast. Columbia Army Airfield's mission was changed become a training base for

medium bomber aircrews. In addition to the main facility, Columbia AAB had jurisdiction over several satellite and auxiliary airfields in support of the bomber training mission: * Barnwell Army Airfield, Barnwell, South Carolina * Congaree Army Airfield, Eastover * North Army Airfield, North, South Carolina * Walterboro Army Airfield, Walterboro, South Carolina * Johns Island Army Airfield, Johns Island, South Carolina

Doolitle Raiders

One of the earliest units to train at Columbia AAB was the 17th Bombardment Group, which arrived on 9 February 1942. The squadrons of the 17th Bomb group came to Columbia AAB from Pendleton Field,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

to fly antisubmarine patrols off the east coast of the United States. When the group arrived in Columbia its combat crews were offered the opportunity to volunteer for an "extremely hazardous" but unspecified mission which ultimately turned out to be the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan. On 17 February, 24 full combat crews from amongst the group were detached from

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces ...

and transferred to Eglin Field,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

where they received intensive training for three weeks in simulated carrier deck takeoffs, low-level and night flying, low altitude bombing, and over water navigation. Contrary to popular belief, the volunteers who made up the crews of the Doolittle Raid did not train for the Raid itself at Columbia.

B-25 Combat Crew Training

The 21st Bombardment Group became the B-25 Operational training unit at Columbia on 21 April 1942, until the unit was reassigned organizationally to Key Field,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

on 22 May. The 21st was replaced by the

309th Bombardment Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, which exchanged designations with the 21st, being reassigned from Key Field. The 329th Bomb Group (and its successor designations) was the major operational training unit (OTU) at Columbia AAB during World War II, providing crew and replacement training in B-25s until 1 May 1944 when the 309th was re-designated as the 329th Bombardment Group. It was subsequently re-designated as the 329th Army Air Force Base Replacement Unit on 1 August 1944. Known B-25 Groups that trained at Columbia AAB were: *

310th Bombardment Group 31 may refer to: * 31 (number) Years * 31 BC * AD 31 * 1931 CE ('31) * 2031 CE ('31) Music * ''Thirty One'' (Jana Kramer album), 2015 * ''Thirty One'' (Jarryd James album), 2015 * "Thirty One", a song by Karma to Burn from the album ''Wild, ...

, 16 May-14 August 1942 * 321st Bombardment Group, 1 August–September 1942 *

340th Bombardment Group 34 may refer to: * 34 (number), the natural number following 33 and preceding 35 * one of the years 34 BC, AD 34, 1934, 2034 * ''34'' (album), a 2015 album by Dre Murray * "#34" (song), a 1994 song by Dave Matthews Band * "34", a 2006 song by S ...

, 20 August-20 November 1942 Beginning in 1943, the 309th performed replacement training, rather than group training. On 1 October 1944, Columbia AAB was reassigned to III Bomber Command, and the training units were again re-designated as the Columbia Combat Crew Training Depot (Medium Bombardment). All sub-bases and satellite airfields were either reassigned or inactivated. On 1 February 1945, Columbia was relieved from assignment to Third Air Force, and was transferred to First Air Force. The base unit was re-designated as the 129th Army Air Force Base Unit (Combat Crew Training Station) (Light), and the mission was changed from training B-25 crews to

A-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major C ...

Light bombardment crews. The 319th Bombardment Group (light) arrived at Columbia on 28 February 1945 from

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to ...

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for conversion training from B-25s to A-26s. The group left for

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

on 27 April 1945. Training at Columbia Army Air Base was phased down during the summer of 1945. Several units arrived at the base from overseas to inactivate during September and October. It was inactivated on 30 November and returned to civil authorities, which converted it back to an airport, however, the

350th Bombardment Squadron 35 or XXXV may refer to: * 35 (number), the natural number following 34 and preceding 36 * one of the years 35 BC, AD 35, 1935, 2035 * ''XXXV'' (album), a 2002 album by Fairport Convention * ''35xxxv ''35xxxv'' (read as ''thirty five'' or ''S ...

was assigned to Columbia Metropolitan Airport on 16 July 1947 as part of the

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commis ...

, but it was never equipped or manned. It was inactivated on 27 June 1949 File:Columbia-aab-photo-3.jpg, Columbia Army Air Base historical marker File:Columbia-aab-photo-1.jpg, Bombardment Groups historical marker File:Columbia-aab-photo-2.jpg, 319th Bombardment Group historical marker File:Columbia-aab-photo-6.jpg, The Doolittle Raiders historical marker

Lake Murray B-25 Bomber

On 19 September 2005, a North American B-25C Mitchell medium bomber (AAF Ser. No. 41-12634 (c/n 82-5269)) was recovered from Lake Murray, about fourteen miles northwest of Columbia Army Airfield. It crashed into Lake Murray on 4 April 1943 due to engine failure. All of its crewmen were able to abandon the plane and were picked up by local fishermen as the plane sank to the bottom in about 100 feet of water. The starboard engine was ripped off in the crash and landed elsewhere, but it was also recovered by divers in 2005. During the war, Air Force records indicate that 23 B-25s crashed into the lake during training missions, many at night with very inexperienced crews. Many of the airmen in these bombers were killed in these training accidents. The B-25 recovered from the lake was later shipped to the

Southern Museum of Flight The Southern Museum of Flight is a civilian aviation museum Birmingham, Alabama. The facility features nearly 100 aircraft, as well as engines, models, artifacts, photographs, and paintings. In addition, the Southern Museum of Flight is home to ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

to undergo preservation (not restoration). In December 2005 the front section went on display there.

References

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .

External links

Lake Murray's Mitchell

{{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II Military airbases established in 1940 Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in South Carolina 1940 establishments in South Carolina 1945 disestablishments in South Carolina