page_title: 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Army Air Force Consolidated B-24L-10-FO Liberator, s/n 44-49710, named "STEVENOVICH II", of the 779th Bombardment Squadron, 464th Bombardment Group, shot down by Flak during an attack on ground troops near Lugo, Emilia Romagna, Italy, on 10 April 1945.[1], see official loss report MACR 13711 [2]
context_page_description: The 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force squadron, which served for various periods between August 1943 and May 2011.
  The squadron was created on 1 August 1943 during World War II as the 777th Bombardment Squadron. It flew Consolidated B-24 Liberators in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations for its actions. When the war ended, the squadron helped transport troops back to the United States, and was inactivated in July 1945.
  Reactivated in 1953 as the 777th Troop Carrier Squadron, it replaced the 72d Troop Carrier Squadron, a reserve unit recalled to active duty for the Korean War at Lawson Air Force Base, Georgia. It moved to Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, operating first Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars, then Fairchild C-123 Providers. It was deployed to Vietnam in 1962 as part of Project Mule Train, before transferring its deployed crews and planes to the 311th Troop Carrier Squadron in 1963.
  On returning to Pope, it converted to Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft, participating in Operation Dragon Rouge in 1964, and Operation Power Pack in 1965.
context_section_description: Media related to 464th Bombardment Group at Wikimedia Commons
  The 777th Bombardment Squadron was activated on 1 August 1943 at Wendover Field, Utah as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment unit.  The squadron was one of the 464th Group's four original squadrons, After gathering its initial cadre, the squadron moved to Gowen Field, Idaho for training with II Bomber Command. After training in Idaho and Utah, the squadron began its move to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in February 1944.
  The 777th deployed to southern Italy in February 1944, where it became part of Fifteenth Air Force's 55th Bombardment Wing. The air echelon trained for a few weeks in Tunisia before joining the remainder of the group in Italy and entering combat in April.
  The group engaged in long range strategic bombing missions to enemy military, industrial and transportation targets in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia, bombing railroad marshaling yards, oil refineries, airdrome installations, heavy industry, and other strategic objectives.
  Notable missions of the Oil Campaign of World War II included Operation Tidal Wave, bombing of the Concordia Vega Refinery near Ploiești on 18 May 1944, the marshaling yards and oil refinery at Vienna on 8 July 1944, for which the squadron was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC), and the Pardubice oil refinery and nearby railroad tracks on 24 August 1944, for which it also was awarded a DUC.
  The squadron sometimes engaged in support and interdiction operations. It supported Allied forces during Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France in August 1944. It hit railroad centers to assist the advance of the Red Army in southeastern Europe in March 1945. It bombed enemy supply lines to assist Operation Grapeshot, the advance of the US Fifth and British Eighth Army in northern Italy in April 1945.
  After V-E Day, the squadron was assigned to the Green Project, the movement of troops from Europe to the United States via the South Atlantic Transport Route. B-24s were modified with sealed bomb bays, removal of all defensive armament and internal fuselage equipped with seating to carry approximately 30 personnel. It was assigned to Air Transport Command (ATC) at Waller Field, Trinidad. The group moved personnel from Natal, Brazil and Atkinson Field, British Guiana to Morrison Field, Florida. It provided air transport until the end of July when the unit was inactivated, and most of its personnel assigned to the South Atlantic and Caribbean Wings of ATC.
caption: 464th B-24 hit by Flak
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