page_title: 89th Attack Squadron
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: 89th Attack Squadron / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Douglas B-18 parked on the flying field
context_page_description: The 89th Attack Squadron is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 432d Wing as a tenant unit at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. It has been active as a remotely piloted aircraft squadron there since 2011.
  The squadron was first activated as the 89th Aero Squadron at Kelly Field, Texas during World War I. It deployed to France in 1917, where it constructed fields and trained observers, In 1918 it briefly trained as an observation unit, but the unit did not move to the front before the Armistice.
  It was consolidated in the mid 1930s with the 89th Observation Squadron as the 89th Reconnaissance Squadron but remained inactive until 1940, when it was attached to the 17th Bombardment Group at March Field, California and equipped with medium bombers. In 1942 members of the squadron participated in the Doolittle Raid against Tokyo. The squadron, now named the 432d Bombardment Squadron, moved to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and participated in combat until 1945, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm before returning to the United States in late 1945 and being inactivated.
context_section_description: The second predecessor of the 89th was constituted as the 89th Observation Squadron on the inactive list in 1935.  In October 1936, the two squadrons were consolidated as the 89th Reconnaissance Squadron, but remained inactive until 1940.  The squadron was activated and assigned to General Headquarters Air Force at March Field, California, but attached to the 17th Bombardment Group.   The squadron was reassigned to Northwest Air District in June 1940, with its primary mission being reconnaissance with a secondary mission of bombardment.   It was initially equipped with Douglas B-18 Bolos, but soon converted to Douglas B-23 Dragons.
  In 1941, the squadron replaced its B-23s with North American B-25 Mitchells.  After Japan attack on Pearl Harbor, the 89th flew antisubmarine patrols off the Oregon and Washington coastline.
  The 89th moved to Lexington County Airport, South Carolina in early 1942 to perform antisubmarine patrols over southeast Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico.  There it became the fourth bombardment squadron of the 17th group as the 432d Bombardment Squadron.  Meanwhile, aircrews from the squadron trained with its B-25s at Hurlburt Field, Florida for the Doolittle Raid.  Some aircrews from the squadron participated in the raid, while the balance of the squadron transitioned into Martin B-26 Marauders, and completed training in Louisiana before being deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations shortly following Operation Torch, the North Africa invasion.
  During December 1942 the squadron became part of XII Bomber Command.  It engaged in combat operations over North Africa supporting American and later Allied ground forces in Tunisia.  The unit flew interdiction and close air support, bombing bridges, rail lines, marshalling yards, harbors, shipping, gun emplacements, troop concentrations and other enemy targets, helping defeat Axis forces in North Africa.
  During 1943, the 432d participated in the reduction of Pantelleria.  It supported Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily and Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy.  During the drive toward Rome, the squadron was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its attacks on airfields near Rome on 13 January 1944.  It was also awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for its operations in Italy between April and June.
  The unit provided tactical air support in the liberation of Sardinia and Corsica.  From airfields in Corsica, the 432d supported Allied ground forces during Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France in August 1944.  It moved to Southern France and bombed enemy targets during the Allied drive northward.  It earned a second Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing attacks on enemy defenses near Schweinfurt, Germany just before the end of the war on 10 April 1945.
  The squadron remained in Europe after German capitulation.  It became part of the occupation forces, and participated in the disarmament of Germany after V-E Day.  It was assigned to the American Occupation Zone in Austria.    The squadron returned to France to stage for its return to the United States, where it was inactivated in late November 1945.
caption: Douglas B-18s as flown by the 89th Reconnaissance Squadron
exif: {}