page_title: 513th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: 513th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Ground personnel of the 406th Fighter Group refuel P-47 Thunderbolts, including (serial number 44-33057). Handwritten caption on reverse: '406 FG, tail colours.'
context_page_description: The 513th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 86th Air Division, based at Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base, France, where it was inactivated on 8 January 1961.
  The squadron was first activated as the 629th Bombardment Squadron in 1943. While retaining its mission as a ground attack, unit, it became the 513th Fighter-Bomber Squadron a few months after activating. After training in the United States, it moved to the European Theater of Operations in the spring of 1944. It entered combat soon thereafter, and following D-Day, moved to the continent of Europe, where it gave close air support to American ground forces advancing across Europe. It earned two Distinguished Unit Citations for its actions during the war. Following V-E Day, the squadron served in the Army of Occupation until 1946, when it was inactivated and its personnel and equipment transferred to another unit.
  The squadron was reactivated in 1952, when it replaced an Air National Guard unit that had been mobilized for the Korean War. The following year it assumed an air defense mission and continued with that mission until inactivated.
context_section_description: The squadron was first activated as the 629th Bombardment Squadron at Key Field, Mississippi on 1 March 1943.  It was one of the four original squadrons of the 406th Bombardment Group and was initially equipped with a variety of attack, pursuit, and trainer aircraft.  Although its mission did not substantially change, the squadron became the 513th Fighter-Bomber Squadron in August.  It moved to Congaree Army Air Field, South Carolina and equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts before the end of the year.  The 513th trained with its "Jugs" until March 1944, when it departed the United States for the European Theater of Operations.
  The squadron arrived at RAF Ashford in England in early April and flew its first combat mission the following month, preparing for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy.  It attacked military airfields, bridges and marshalling yards in France.  On D-Day, the squadron flew patrols in the vicinity of the invasion beaches and armed reconnaissance and dive bombing missions.
  The squadron supported Operation Cobra, the Allied breakthrough at Saint-Lo on 25 July, then moved to Tour-en-Bessin Airfield in France a few days later. The 513th participated in the reduction of Saint-Malo and Brest, France and supported the drive across France.  On 7 September, flying from Saint-Léonard Airfield, the squadron operated with the other units of the 406th Fighter Group in destroying a column of tanks, armored vehicles and motor transport that were trying to escape to southeastern France through the Belfort Gap.  This attack earned the squadron the Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC).  The squadron cooperated with ground forces and flew air interdiction sorties in the area of the Mosel and Saar Rivers.
  When the Germans launched the counterattack that resulted in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, the squadron shifted operations to the Ardennes to relive the embattled garrison at Bastogne.  For four days in late December, the squadron flew attacks on German vehicles, gun emplacements and defensive positions close to Bastogne, for which it was awarded a second DUC.   The squadron flew escort, interdiction, and air support missions in the Ruhr Valley early in 1945 and to assist Allied ground forces in the drive to and across the Rhine.
  Following, V-E Day, the squadron moved to AAF Station Nordholz, Germany, where it became part of the Army of Occupation.  The squadron was inactivated on 20 August 1946, and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the 526th Fighter Squadron. which was activated the same day.
caption: 513th Squadron P-47D refueling
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