47th Airlift Flight

The flight as activated at Daniel Field, Georgia in June 1942 as the 47th Transport Squadron, when the 313th Transport Group expanded from a headquarters and a single squadron, the 29th Troop Carrier Squadron, to a four squadron group.[4][5] The squadron trained under Air Transport Command as a Douglas C-47 Skytrain squadron. A few weeks after the squadron's activation, the Army Air Forces gave the "transport" designation to its strategic airlift units, and the squadron became the 47th Troop Carrier Squadron under I Troop Carrier Command. The 47th trained in the southeastern United States until April 1943, when it deployed to North Africa.[1][5]

The squadron began flying combat missions from Oujda Airfield in French Morocco. It performed troop carrier and transport airlift of supplies to ground forces advancing through Algeria into Tunisia as part Twelfth Air Force. it also evacuated wounded from the battle area.[5]

The 47th, along with the 29th and 48th Squadrons of the 313th Group, took part in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. Although blown far off course on the first airdrops on the island by strong winds, managed to drop their paratroops near Avola, where they were able to assist British forces in seizing that town.[6] Two days later, 11 July 1943, the squadron was part of a formation of troop carrier units of the 52d Troop Carrier Wing bringing reinforcements, planning to drop paratroops near Gela. Planes of the 313th Group led the stream of troop carriers. However, attacks in the Gela area by enemy aircraft had sunk two ships and forced other ships in the invasion force to disperse. The heaviest enemy attack came at 2150 hours. Fifty minutes later, the first 313th Group aircraft approached the drop zone. The 47th was able to successfully make its drop on Farello Airfield. Mistaking the troop carriers for another enemy attack, ships of the assault force and antiaircraft units ashore began a heavy fire on squadron's C-47s as they departed. Of the 144 planes of the 52d Wing that participated in the mission, 23 were shot down and an additional 37 were heavily damaged.[7][8] For its completion of this mission the squadron earned its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC).[1]

47th Troop Carrier Squadron C-47

In September, the squadron moved to Sicily to prepare for Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy. It dropped troopers of the 82d Airborne Division near Salerno on 13 September and brought reinforcements to the area in the following days. It then resumed theater airlift missions for the remainder of 1943.[5]

47th Troop Carrier Squadron C-46 Commando[note 1]

In February 1944, the squadron moved to RAF Folkingham, England, where it became part of IX Troop Carrier Command and began training for the assault on the continent of Europe. On D-Day the squadron dropped paratroopers near Picauville, Normandy and dropped reinforcements the following day. The squadron's efforts during Operation Overlord earned it a second DUC.[5]

On 17 September, the squadron participated in Operation Market Garden, the airborne assault on the Netherlands, when it dropped troopers near Arnhem and Nijmegen. In February 1945, the squadron moved to Achiet Airfield in France, where it began converting to Curtiss C-46 Commandos in preparation for Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine. On 24 March 1945 it dropped elements of the 17th Airborne Division near Wesel.[5]

The squadron continued to operate from Achiet during 1945, performing transportation of personnel and supplies within Europe. It evacuated wounded and former prisoners of war and brought gasoline, ammunition to forward areas. After V-E Day, it continued to transport medical equipment and other supplies. In September, the squadron's personnel returned to the United States and it was inactivated on arrival at the port of embarkation.[1][5]

C-54 landing at Tempelhof Central Airport in 1948

The squadron was reactivated at Capodichino Airport near Naples, Italy[1] where it served as part of the European Air Transport Service, returning to operating the C-47. In June 1947, the squadron was moved (less its personnel and equipment) back to the United States.[5] In July, it moved to Bergstrom Field, Texas, where it was manned and began to train with Fairchild C-82 Packet aircraft and gliders.[5]

In October 1948, the squadron left its Packets behind and moved to RAF Fassberg, Germany to reinforce United States Air Forces in Europe in the Berlin Airlift as winter approached and the demand for supplies increased. At Fassberg, the squadron was equipped with Douglas C-54 Skymasters, with which it flew food, medicine and coal into Berlin. Berlin Airlift operations continued until the end of September 1949, when with the Soviet blockade of Berlin ended, and faced with President Truman's smaller 1949 defense budget, the Air Force was required to reduce the number of its groups to 48. The 313th Group and its squadrons, including the 47th, were inactivated on 30 September 1949.[1][5][9]

The squadron was activated at Mitchel Air Force Base, New York on 1 April 1953, when it assumed the mission, personnel, and Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars of the 336th Troop Carrier Squadron, a reserve unit that had been called to active duty for the Korean War.[10] That October, the 47th moved to Sewart Air Force Base, where it performed airlift missions under the control of Eighteenth Air Force until inactivating in June 1955.[1]

C-130 as flown by the squadron at Forbes and Dyess

In October 1964 the squadron was reactivated at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas as a Lockheed C-130 Hercules squadron[1] when Tactical Air Command replaced Strategic Air Command as the base operator and the squadron's parent 313th Troop Carrier Wing became the host wing. The squadron frequently deployed crews and aircraft to support the requirements of overseas commanders. With the forthcoming closure of Forbes in 1973,[11] the squadron moved to Dyess Air Force Base, Texas in July 1973, where the 463d Tactical Airlift Wing was adding a third Hercules squadron.[12] However, on 1 August, the squadron was inactivated[1] and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron, which moved to Dyess on paper from Mactan Air Base in the Philippines as the United States withdrew forces from Southeast Asia.

The squadron was redesignated the 47th Airlift Flight and activated on 31 May 1993 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. It transported personnel, primarily for the Aeronautical Systems Center and Air Force Materiel Command, using Learjet C-21s. In April 1997, Air Mobility Command assumed control of operational support airlift within the United States and the squadron became part of the 375th Airlift Wing, while retaining the same mission. The squadron was awarded three Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards for performing this mission.[2] It was inactivated on 30 September 2004, and its mission, personnel and aircraft were transferred to the 54th Airlift Squadron, which moved without personnel or equipment from Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama to Wright-Patterson.[13]

• 313th Transport Group (later 313th Troop Carrier Group), 15 June 1942 – 22 September 1945
• 313th Troop Carrier Group, 30 September 1946 – 18 September 1949
• 313th Troop Carrier Group, 1 February 1953 – 8 June 1955
• Tactical Air Command, 15 June 1964 (not organized)
• 313th Troop Carrier Wing (later 313th Tactical Airlift Wing), 1 October 1964
• 463d Tactical Airlift Wing, 6 July – 1 August 1973
• 645th Logistics and Operations Group, 31 May 1993
• 88th Air Base Wing, 1 October 1994
• 88th Operations Support Squadron, 1 July 1995[14]
• 457th Airlift Squadron, 1 April 1997 – 30 September 2004[13]

Explanatory notes

Citations

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Anderson, Capt. Barry (1985). Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL yes: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
• Garland, Lt Col Albert N.; Smyth, Howard McGaw (1993) [1964]. Sicily and the Surrender of Italy (PDF). United States Army in World War II: The Mediterranean Theater of Operations (50th Anniversary Commemorative ed.). Washington DC: Center of Military History. ISBN 978-1508422389. LCCN 64-60002. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
• Johnson, 1st Lt. David C. (1988). U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO) D-Day to V-E Day (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
• Knaack, Marcelle Size (1978). Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems (PDF). Vol. 2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-59-5. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Warren, John C. (September 1955). "Airborne Missions in the Mediterranean, 1942-1945, USAF Historical Study No. 74" (PDF). Research Studies Institute, USAF Historical Division, Air University. Retrieved 15 January 2018.