91ST BOMBARDMENT GROUP, 322ND BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON PATCH

About the 91^st Bombardment Group (Heavy):

At this point we feel we should talk about command structure. In the military there is a chain of command. In the Marines, the smallest fighting unit is the fire team. From there it moves to squads, platoons, companies, battalions, etc. In the Army Air Corps, the smallest fighting unit was the plane, commanded by the pilot. This exists even to this day, not only in the military but in civilian aviation.

In the Air Corps, the structure was aircraft, squadron, group, and wings that made up an Air Force. The 91^st was part of the 8^th Air Force that was assigned combat operations, mostly from England, for the European  Campaign. The war against Germany in World War II.

The 91^st consisted of four squadrons, the 322^nd, the 323^rd, 324^th, and the 401^st.  All of these squadrons flew out of the same base in England. The Group structure was in place to coordinate such allocated items as planes, plane parts, fuel, and replacement crews members, both individual and crews as a unit. In the early campaign of day light precision bombing there were heavy loses both due to crewmen being wounded and entire planes being shot down. Either by fixed ground artillery or fighter aircraft. And early in the war, we had no aircraft capable of extended flight or extreme altitude to cover bombers from other fighters.

The 91^st, as well as other groups of its type acted as the base command structure. A squadron was responsible for it’s area of work on the ground. Groups were responsible for such things as the perimeter fences and gates that allowed access to the base.

Other areas of possible interest might be the structure of a bombing operation into Europe. Planes took off as a squadron a formed up as three  planes, then as nine with a trailing plane as the end of a wedge. The three squadrons formed into a wedge with a trailing squadron to for the group. All of this had to be done with precision as air space was limited, as was time. Time being hurried because of fuel use with a bomber being loaded to maximum limits of lift with bombs.

Info:    Uncle Sam dropping bombs
Size:    5 inches

Item Number:    WG1009                                                                                                                                                                    Price:    $29.95

About the 322^nd Bombardment Squadron:

This Squadron was constituted January 28, 1942. Fifty Two days after Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. Activation was four months later on April 15, 1942., as part of the 91^st Bombardment Group. For more information see 91^st Bombardment Group. Activated at Harding Field, La. Activation is a term that means a Commanding Officer has been assigned and equipment issued to the unit.

The first aircraft type that was assigned to the squadron was the B-17, Flying Fortress. Each plane had a crew of ten men. Commanded by the pilot, there was a co-pilot, bombardier, navigator, radio operator, and four gunners. The top turret gunners acted as the enlisted plane captain and flight engineer. The navigator , bombardier, and radio operator acted as gunners in close combat situations.  Bombardier’s and navigator’s had 30 caliber machine guns in the nose. Radio operator’s fired 50 caliber machine guns mounted in a dorsal position  that was fixed between the top turret and the waist guns. The full time gunners were the left and right waist gunners, the ball turret gunner, and the tail gunner.

From Harding Field, the 322^nd was moved to bases in Florida and Washington state. Where they continued training as a squadron and group. On September 13,1942., they arrived in theater at Kimbolton, England. The next day they moved to their permanent base at Bassingbourn, England. Where they began combat operations that continued until April 25,1945. They returned to the United States on July 3,1945. where the squadron was deactivated on November 7,1945.

The Squadron used the radio call signs O thru W during combat operations. These were painted in twenty four inch letters below the tail number, or FSN. The squadron code, which was painted on the fuselage forward of the comrade on both sides. This code was the letter s LG.

Awarded the Distinguished Flying Citation as a squadron for March 4,1943. over Hamm, Germany. With a second award for German combat operation on January 11,1944.