393rd Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy

  February 1944 to July 1948

  United States of America

TYPE: USAAF unit

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: Dalhart AAF, TX (1944), Fairmont AAF, NE (1944), Wendover Field, UT (1944-1945), North Field, Tinian, Marianna Islands (1945), Roswell AAF later Walker AFB, NM (1945-1948)

FORMER NAME: Nil

SUBSEQUENT NAME: 393^rd Bombardment Squadron, Medium

The 393^rd Bombardment Squadron was constituted on 28 February 1944 and activated on 11 March 1944. It was initially assigned to the 504^th Bombardment Group at Dalhart AAF, TX and equipped with B-17s due to a lack of available B-29s. By the time their training at Faimont AAF, NE was nearing completion, Col. Paul W. Tibbets Jr. took command of the unit. It was then transferred to the 509^th Composite Group and assigned to Wendover AAF, UT. Only when all crews had reached that secluded base were they briefed on the top secret mission they had been selected for: the atomic bombing of Japan. Training continued at Wendover, as the squadron started receiving B-29s. In January 1945, the squadron moved to Cuba and trained for overwater navigation to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Norfolk, VA. The squadron came back to Wendover in April 1945, and started moving to Tinian, Marianna Islands in June 1945 with C-54s. From there, a few conventional bombing missions were flown to Japan from 20 July 1945, until the squadron made history when it nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August.

October 1944* to March 1945*

Several Commandos served the 393^rd when it was based at Wendover AAF, UT, probably in squadron support role. The Commandos may have accompanied the B-29s during their early 1945 training in Cuba. The Commandos were replaced by C-54s in the spring of 1945 before the squadron deployed to the Pacific theatre of operations, and they were redeployed to the CBI theatre.

• Curtiss C-46A-5-CK Commando: 43-47024, 43-47031, 43-47032
• Curtiss C-46A-55-CK Commando: 43-47034, 43-47035, 43-47036, 43-47037