Activated on the 15th of April 1942 as the 401st Reconnaissance
Squadron (Heavy) it was redesignated the 401st Bombardment Squadron
(Heavy) on the 22nd of April 1942 and with the closing of WWII,
inactivated on the 7th of November 1945. Assigned to the 91st
Bombardment Group the 401st BS was stationed in England at Kimbolton
and then Bassingbourn, during WWII. Fling the ever popular B-17,
the 401st BS flew combat operations in the European Theater of
Operations (ETO) in the Air Offensive, Europe; Normandy; Northern
France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe and Air combat
in the European-African-Middle Eastern campaigns.
Decorations: Distinguished Unit Citations: Hamm, Germany,
4 Mar. 1943; Germany, 11 Jan. 1944
In June of 1943, the Memphis Belle became the first B-17 to complete its crew's quota of 25 missions. A film crew had gone along on the Memphis Belle's mission to Wilhelmshaven and this film was widely shown throughout the war. After the last mission, the Memphis Belle returned to the United States and carried out a morale-building tour selling U.S. War Bonds.
