The 327th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4170th Strategic Wing, stationed at Larson Air Force Base, Washington. It was decommissioned on 1 February 1963.
History
World War II
Initial organization and training
The squadron was activated at Barksdale Field, Louisiana on 1 March 1942, as the 327th Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the 92nd Bombardment Group. Later that month it moved to MacDill Field, Florida and trained with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses. While training in Florida, the squadron also flew antisubmarine patrols off the Florida coast. The squadron's air echelon departed Sarasota Army Air Field for Westover Field, Massachusetts on 19 June 1942, flying on to Dow Field, Maine on 29 June. The squadron then ferried their B-17s across the North Atlantic via Newfoundland starting between 12 and 15 August. They flew directly from Newfoundland to Prestwick Airport, Scotland. The 92nd Group was the first to fly their bombers non-stop across the Atlantic. Meanwhile, the ground echelon left Bradenton on 18 July, arriving at Fort Dix, New Jersey in the New York Port of Embarkation two days later. It sailed aboard the on 2 August and docked at Liverpool on 18 August, moving to Bovingdon the same day.
Operations in the European Theater
The buildup of Eighth Air Force in England required the establishment of a combat crew replacement and training center, but a lack of qualified personnel and aircraft hampered its development. As a result, the decision was made to use the 92nd Group and its squadrons as a temporary crew training unit, acting as the main component of what became the 11th Combat Crew Replacement Center Group. However, the 92d was the first group to arrive in England with improved B-17Fs, and with the training mission came an exchange of these newer models for the older B-17Es of the 97th Bombardment Group to use in training. On 6 September, to provide the squadron with combat experience, it flew its first combat mission against the Potez aircraft factory at Meaulte, France. Although remaining a replacement crew training unit until May 1943, the squadron initially flew occasional combat missions. In January 1943, he squadron moved to RAF Alconbury.
In 1942 and 1943, there were no fighters capable of escorting bomber formations on deep strike missions. The Army Air Forces tested heavily armed bombers to act as escorts and protect the bomb-carrying aircraft from enemy fighters. As it ended its training duties, The 327th became the only squadron to be equipped with the experimental Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress gunship from May through July 1943. Twelve of the YB-40s were dispatched to Alconbury for testing and evaluation. The first operational YB-40 sortie took place on 29 May 1943 against submarine pens at Saint-Nazaire, France. Very early on, it was found that the additional drag of the turrets and the extra weight of the guns, armor, and additional ammunition reduced the speed of the YB-40 to a point where it could not maintain formation with the standard B-17s on the way home from the target once they had released their bombs. The YB-40 could protect itself fairly well, but not the bombers it was supposed to defend. Consequently, the surviving YB-40s were converted back to standard B-17F configuration or used as gunnery trainers back in the United States. The squadron ended YB-40 operations after fewer than 10 missions on 29 July 1943.
In May 1943, the squadron's training mission was transferred and the 327th began flying combat missions. Through May 1944 its targets included shipyards at Kiel, ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt, submarine pens at Wilhelmshaven, a tire manufacturing plant at Hannover, airfields near Paris, an aircraft factory at Nantes and a magnesium mine in Norway.
The squadron earned a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) on 11 January 1944, when it successfully bombed aircraft manufacturing factories in Oschersleben Germany despite adverse weather, a lack of fighter protection and heavy flak. It participated in Big Week, the intensive attack against German aircraft industry in late February 1944. It took part in Operation Crossbow, attacks on launch sites for V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets. It struck airfields and industrial sites in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. After October 1944 it concentrated on transportation and oil industry targets. On 11 September, it earned a second DUC for a mission against petroleum facilities at Merseburg.