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"Preserving the memory of their sacrifices!" Preface ( Dec 1941 - Jun 1942 ) The history of the 11th Bombardment Squadron begins June 26, 1917, when it was organized at Kelly Field, Texas, under the designation of the 11th Aero Squadron. The Squadron served overseas in the first World War from December 17, 1917, to May 1, 1919. It participated in four major battles. Battle honors carried by the 7th Bombardment Group, that the 11th won in World War I were: Lorraine; St. Mihiel; and Meuse-Argonne. George McManus, famous creator of 'Jiggs' comic strip, was a member of the unit and the designer of the Squadron insignia, which shows Jiggs hustling along with a bomb under one arm and an expression indicating fine plans of mischief afoot for someone. In 1921 the Squadron was re-designated 11th Squadron (Bombardment), and in 1922 as the 11th Bombardment Squadron. The 11th furnished the cadre to activate the 22nd when they were constituted as the 11th and 22nd Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), activated and assigned to 7th Bombardment Group at Hamilton Field, California on 20 October 1939. These future 'Flying Falcons' operated the B-18 bomber and the A-17 attack aircraft. After gathering personnel and equipment at Hamilton Field and conducting training the units then re-equipped with the B-17 Flying Fortress, moving on to Fort Douglas, Utah on 7 September 1940, and later to Salt Lake City, Utah in June 1941. Both Squadrons performed rescue and patrol duties from Fort Douglas, UT, c. 21 Jun - 13 Nov 41. In November 1941 the Squadrons prepared for reassignment to the Philippines. The ground echelons sailed from San Francisco on 21 November with the air echelons expected to remain in the States until the ground echelon arrived in the Philippines. Before their arrival, however, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, and shortly thereafter began the campaign against the Philippines. This caused the ship bearing the ground echelon to divert to Australia. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the air echelons of the 11th and 22nd conducted anti-submarine patrols along the California coast from Muroc, California from 8 to 12 December 1941 before moving on out into the Pacific Theater. Assigned to detached duty to USN at Brisbane, Australia, 22 Dec 41, the Squadron flew combat while operating from Hickam Field, HI, 18 Dec 41 - 5 Jan 42; Singarosi, Java, 13 - 19 Jan 42. The air echelons of the 11th and 22nd moved to Jogjakarta, Java, about 19 Jan 1942. By the end of the month, the ground echelon rejoined the air echelon. The Squadrons moved on to the Fiji Islands on 14 Feb 42. Japanese forces attacked the Netherlands East Indies at about the same time the air echelons of the 11th and 22nd arrived, beginning a battle that ended in the withdrawal of United States forces in early March. During the unsuccessful defense of the Indies, the main body of the Squadrons flew from Jogjakarta, meanwhile a detachment operated under Navy control from the Fiji Islands and then from Australia. On/about 4 March 1942 the 11th and 22nd Squadrons withdrew to Melbourne, Australia, where they remained for about a month. In April 1942 the Squadrons transferred all of their equipment and personnel to the 19th Bombardment Group. Then, via official paperwork, the Squadrons were "transferred without personnel" from Australia to the United States. After the Squadrons were "paper transferred" from Australia to U.S. they were reconstituted as the '11th Bombardment Squadron (Medium)' and the '22nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium)', organized and attached to 17th Bombardment Group (Medium) at Columbia AAB, South Carolina on 26 April 1942. Cadre personnel were drawn from the the 17th Bm Grp, which, incidentally, had also provided the volunteer crews for the "Doolittle Raid" on Tokyo, which had occurred on 18 April 42. ( May - June 1942) The very first Army Air Corps unit to operate the 'Mitchell' was the 17th Bombardment Group, which had been flying the B-18 'Bolo' bombers. The 17th was equipped with North American Aviation's B-25 in early 1941, receiving the B-25A while stationed at McChord Field, Tacoma, Washington. Two months later they received and began operating the "bent wing" B-25B model. The unit had reached full strength in September, and was embarked on fully task qualifying all its personnel, when several aircraft and crews were sent to Jackson, Mississippi, to participate in the Army's "very large maneuvers." Ted Lawson's Squadron had returned to March Field, California when war broke out. Almost immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the Declaration of War, the Group's 34th, 35th and 95th Bombardment Squadrons began flying their B-25s on antisubmarine patrols from McChord Field, Washington, as well as from Pendleton, Oregon. Lt. Col. William C. Mills, Commander, received orders, on February 3rd, 1942, to transfer the 17th Bombardment Group to Columbia Army Air Base, Columbia, South Carolina. Mills was also instructed to pass the word among the men of the four squadrons that volunteers were needed for an extremely dangerous mission, which would be of great value to the war effort and would require the highest degree of skill. By the time the entire Group had arrived at Columbia, the overwhelming response was that every man who had gotten the word had volunteered for the secret mission, which was to be called the 'B-25B Special Project.' Following Lt. Col. Mills' recommendation, Col. James Doolittle selected Maj. John A. Hilger, Commander 89th Recon Sqdn, as his Project Deputy. Doolittle informed Hilger that he was responsible for taking 24 qualified crews and required ground personnel to Eglin Field, Florida, and to get started on a training program stressing very short takeoff runs. The three Bomb Squadron Commanders, Captain Edward J. 'Ski' York, Captain Al Rutherford, and Captain Karl Baumeister had been delegated the task of choosing men for this mysterious mission. Although, like all of their men, all three Commanders volunteered for the mission, Lt. Col. Mills only allowed York to go. The Commanders drew up rosters for the 24 crews, with approximately an equal number coming from each of the four Squadrons. In addition, mechanics, armorers, radio men and ground support personnel were also selected. The crews and support personnel were ordered to Eglin Field, Florida, as rapidly as aircraft were made available to transport them. The major part of the B-25 Special Project arrived at Eglin Field between 27 Feb and 3 Mar 1942. Remaining crews and support personnel of the 17th Bombardment Group at Columbia were tasked to establish training and orientation programs for incoming personnel, which would prepare them for operating and maintaining B-25s assigned a combat role. Many of fully qualified aircrew members of the Group, joined by newly arriving personnel, were selected to form the cadre for "Project 157", which became key to the history of the as yet nonexistent 341st Bombardment Group. They were then ordered to Morrison Field, Florida. The "plan" of the Project was that these crews, and the ground support personnel which would follow, would join up with the crews of the 'B-25 Special Project', in China, to form the bomber portion of the U.S. Army Force support, the "China Air Task Force," which President Roosevelt had promised to Chiang Kai Shek. In the middle of April 1942, B-25 combat crews of Project 157 began to arrive at Morrison Field, Florida. The entire Project was placed under the command of Major Gordon C. Leland. As the crews arrived at Morrison Field they were assigned a brand-new, B-25C, airplane. Some two weeks were spent outfitting the planes, testing all the apparatus, and getting the crews accustomed to working together. The night of May 2, the first aircrews left for overseas. The planes were not only completely fitted and ready for immediate combat, but were loaded with a great variety of extra ground equipment and men for maintaining planes. Every one of aircraft was least 500 pounds over the maximum overload for safe flight, and the route they were to take had never before been flown over by combat crews, though part of the trip had been made in the same type plane by ferry pilots, with lighter loads. The 11th and 22nd Squadrons Bombardment Squadrons were reactivated, as Medium units after the Java campaign, on 3 May 1942 at Columbia, South Carolina, being reactivated. They drew experienced, volunteering personnel from the 17th Bombardment, continuing organization and training until 28 May 42. During the organizational stages both the 11th and the 22nd were independent units, i.e. not assigned to any group. With the cadre units in place at Columbia, other personnel began to arrive from various parts of the U.S., by far the biggest contingent coming in from Keesler Field, Miss. While this build up was going on an advance cadre of the 11th were establishing the organization in the China-Burma-India Theater. That cadre arrived at Karachi, India, 20 May 1942, working their way to their staging base at Allahabad, India, by 27 May, and moving on to Kunming, China by 14 Jun. The planes of Project 157 followed the regular ferry route to India, routing through Brazil, across the South Atlantic to Africa via Ascension Island, then across Africa to Karachi. At Accra, on the Gold Coast of Africa, several of the B-25s picked up formations of six to eight P-40s, which landed there after being transported on a Navy carrier. The B-25s led these fighters across Africa to India by way of Asia Minor. Many of these fighters and pilots would later fly escort missions for the bombers, in China. Several planes never reached India and some arrived several months after the others. Although unaware of their assignment destination, the personnel forming the support nucleus of the 22nd and filling in the ground support of the 11th, sailed from Charleston on 25 May, 1942. The members of the 11th traveled aboard the troop transport, 'SS Santa Paula', and members of the 22nd aboard the 'SS Mariposa'. By the last of May most of the aircraft and crews of Project 157 had arrived at Karachi and were assigned to the 11th Bombardment Squadron (M), which was being reactivated after the Java campaign as a medium outfit, though the Squadron remained part of the 7th Bombardment Group (H). The 11th was attached to the newly formed China Air Task Force (CATF), and would be operating in a country already invaded by the enemy and whose very existence was continually threatened. The Squadron was to support Gen. Claire Chennault's forces… the American Volunteer Group (AVG), and then the CATF, at its activation on July 4th, 1942. The prime responsibility for the 11th Squadron in China was the destruction of the enemy land transport system. Rail yards and rolling stock would come under almost constant attack by the B-25s of the 11th and the CATF fighters. On 27 May Maj. Leland, now Commanding the 11th, led a flight of 6 planes to Allahabad, India, where the bomb bay fuel tanks were removed and 6 - 500 pound bombs mounted into each bomb bay in preparation for their first sorties. Thirty special maintenance personnel from the 88th Recon Sq., attached to the 7th Bm Grp, were transferred to the 11th. Fifteen of them were sent to Kunming by transport on 2 June, as ground personnel for the aircraft there. Also on 2 June , Maj. Leland, leading his six B-25s, departed Dinjan, India, on the first combat mission assigned to the new Squadron. They were to bomb the Japanese held airfield at Lashio, Burma and continue on to their new station at Kunming, China. They encountered adverse weather conditions on the way to the target and the plane piloted by 1Lt. William T. Gross became separated from the flight. Maj. Leland was the first of the other five aircraft to attack the target, and as they were departing. Lt. Gross was arriving for his bomb run. Gross's aircraft was attacked by Jap fighters. Although they were eventually able to get away from the fighters and land at Kunming, radio operator Sgt Wilmer Zeuske was killed during this action. The first combat casualty for the unit. Unfortunately, the casualties increased significantly soon after. Maj. Leland was leading the flight of five on to Kunming, flying through a solid overcast at 10,000 feet, when his aircraft crashed into the side of a mountain. No. 2 in the lead element and No. 1 in the second element followed him in. Close enough, for just a moment, to see trees and grass through the heavy clouds, the other two ships by only a fraction. They also saw the flash caused by the others crashes. These two became separated in the weather. One made it to Kunming, the other ran out of gas some miles north of the field. The crew bailed out without mishap, reaching Kunming about two weeks later. Among the casualties in three 11th Bomb Squadron aircraft, which struck the mountain, were three men who only six weeks before had participated in the the Tokyo Raid. They were Lt. Eugene McGurl, Sgt Melvin Gardner, and Sgt Ohmer Duquette. They were the first of the surviving Raiders to be lost during the continuing war, but not the last. Three more aircraft with complete crews joined the two at Kunming on 10 June. On the 16th, three more ships arrived. These crews were led by Maj. William Bayse, arriving as Commander of the 11th, and seven members of the famed Doolittle Raiders; Capt. Everett W. Holstrom - pilot of #4, 1Lt. Lucian N. Young Blood - copilot on #4, 1Lt. Clayton J. Campbell - Navigator on #3, 1LT. Horace E. Crouch - navigator on #9, MSgt Edwin W. Horton, Jr. - gunner on #9, TSgt Adam R. Williams - gunner on #13, and SSgt Douglas V. Radney - gunner on #2. 18 June, ten more enlisted men arrived to augment the ground personnel. The remainder of the month was spent smoothing out the Squadron organization and working on equipment. The lower turrets of the B-25 were considered of little use and were taken out. Lt Elmer L. Tarbox, as Armaments Officer, in addition to his pilot duties, had twin 30 caliber machine guns mounted in the remaining opening. Plentiful opportunities to test the installation in combat proved the arrangement satisfactory. The only tools available the ground crewmen had brought with them, and the only spare parts available were those stripped from planes as they were damaged and retired. Since one of the recently arrived aircraft had leaking fuel tanks it was cannibalized for parts to keep the others operational as, for nearly two months, no new parts would arrive. Beginning on 28 June 1942, there was a detachment of the 11th working out of Dinjan, India. The detachment's orders placed their operations under control of the Ferry Command, and Lt. Col. J. R. Joplen, who gave them a free hand. Immediately they began to run missions into northern Burma. In addition to the cannibalized plane, another needing repair work was left behind at Kunming, when on 30 June six ships took off for Kweilin, China, for operations in that section of the theatre. Necessary ground crews were sent ahead by transport. This was to be the real beginning of the 11th Bomb Squadron's operations in China, using guerilla tactics for which Gen. Claire Chennault was already famous, tactics in which the 11th soon became expert. |
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