page_title: 550th Strategic Missile Squadron
section_title: Combat in Europe
hierarchical_section_title: 550th Strategic Missile Squadron / History / World War II / Combat in Europe
caption_attribution_description: English: B-17 of the 385th Bomb Group, flying out of RAF Great Ashfield, England, on a parachute drop over France, October 1944. Boeing B-17G-40-BO Fortress Serial 42-97079 "Dozy Doats" visible in foreground.
context_page_description: The 550th Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 310th Strategic Aerospace Wing at Schilling Air Force Base, Kansas. The squadron was equipped with the SM-65F Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile, with a mission of nuclear deterrence. The squadron was inactivated on 25 June 1965 as part of the phaseout of the Atlas.
  The squadron was first activated during World War II in December 1942 as the 550th Bombardment Squadron. After training in the United States, it deployed to England, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. The squadron was twice awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions during the war. Following V-E Day, the squadron returned to the United States, where it was inactivated. The squadron was activated in the reserve from 1947 to 1949, but does not appear to have been fully manned or equipped.
context_section_description: The squadron assembled at its combat station, RAF Great Ashfield, England, and began participating in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, flying its first combat mission on 17 July 1943.  The unit carried out attacks on industrial targets, including communications centers as well as air bases in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway, striking targets as far away as Poland.  On 17 August 1943, the squadron participated in an attack on the Messerschmitt aircraft factory at Regensburg, which involved a long flight over heavily defended enemy territory with little protection from escorting fighters.  For this mission, the squadron received the Distinguished Unit Citation.  On 12 May 1944, the squadron flew with the 385th Group as it led the 4th Combat Bombardment Wing  through heavy opposition to attack an airplane repair facility at Zwickau.  An estimated 200 enemy fighters attacked the bomber stream, heavily disordering its formation.  The bombers were able to reform and achieved a high degree of accuracy with their bombs.  For this attack, the 550th received a second DUC.
  Strategic industrial targets for the squadron in Germany included the AGO Flugzeugwerke factory at Oschersleben and the Henschel Flugzeugwerke factory at Marienberg; a battery manufacturing plant at Stuttgart, oil refineries at Ludwigshafen and Merseburg and rail marshalling yards at Munich and Oranienburg. It also attacked Luftwaffe bases at Beauvais/Tille Airfield and Chartres Airfield, France.
  The squadron was occasionally diverted from the strategic bombing mission to perform air support and interdiction missions.  It struck coastal defenses in June 1944 in preparation for Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion, and on D-Day attacked transportation chokepoints and marshalling yards. In late July, it attacked enemy positions to support Operation Cobra, the breakout at Saint Lo.  In late December 1944 and early January 1945, it carried out attacks on German fortifications and transportation to support forces engaged in the Battle of the Bulge.  As the Allies made their final thrust through France into Germany, it attacked troop concentrations and communications targets.
  The squadron flew its last mission on 20 April 1945.  Following V-E Day, the squadron transported prisoners of war from Germany and flew six missions dropping food supplies in the Netherlands.  The air echelon began ferrying its aircraft back to the United States on 19 June and all bombers had departed Great Ashfield by the end of the month.  The ground echelon of the squadron left Europe in August 1945, sailing on the RMS Queen Elizabeth and the squadron was inactivated in the United States at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota on 28 August 1945.
caption: 385th Bombardment Group B-17G Flying Fortress[note 2]
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