13th Troop Carrier Squadron

  July 1942 to October 1946

  United States of America

TYPE: USAAF unit

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: Lockbourne AAB, OH (1942), Plaine Des Gaiacs Airfield, New Caledonia (1942), Tontouta Airfield, New Caledonia (1942-1943), Luganville Airfield, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides (1943-1944), Los Negros Island, Admiralty Islands (1944), Wakde Airfield, Wakde, Netherlands East Indies (1944), Mokmer Airfield, Biak, Netherlands East Indies (1944-1945), Dulag Airfield, Leyte, Philippines (1945-1946), Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines (1946), Nichols Field, Luzon, Philippines (1946)

FORMER NAME: 13^th Transport Squadron (until inactivated December 1940)

SUBSEQUENT NAME: 913^th Air Refueling Squadron (consolidated September 1985)

The 13^th Troop Carrier Squadron was one of the 403^rd Troop Carrier Group's eight squadrons during the second part of World War II. It was activated on 4 July 1942 at Lockbourne AAB, OH with a fleet of Douglas C-47 and C-53. Commandos started flying along with them from 1945 until inactivation in 1946.

The squadron was initially assigned to the 61^st Troop Carrier Group and initially trained stateside for overseas duty at various bases with the rest of the Group. It moved to the Southwest Pacific theater of operations in the fall of 1942, initially based in New Caledonia under the auspices of the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command (SCAT) and later 13^th Air Force. It supported US forces on Guadalcanal from various New Caledonia bases, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation.

From August 1943 the Squadron was assigned to the 403^rd Troop Carrier Group and remained so until 1946. It then moved to Espiritu Santo, from where it supported the New Guinea and Philippines campaigns by transporting men and cargo to combat areas. The 13^th evacuated casualties and dropped or airlanded supplies to guerrilla forces in the Philippines. On 23 February 1945, the squadron dropped paratroopers into Laguna de Bay, Luzon to free civilians held prisoner by the Japanese. The unit moved to the Philippines in 1945 and remained there after the Japanese surrender as part of Far East Air Forces (FEAF). It flew occupation troops to Japan, evacuated prisoners of war and flew cargo and personnel between Australia and Japan. In early 1946, the squadron began to transition to the Douglas C-54 Skymaster.

In October 1946 the 403^rd Troop Carrier Group was replaced on theatre by the 374^th Troop Carrier Group. As a result, the 13^th was inactivated and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the 22^nd Troop Carrier Squadron.

Unknown date to October 1946

• Curtiss C-46D-5-CU Commando: 44-77374
• Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando: 44-77745, 44-77782, 44-77784