History of The 731st
HISTORY OF THE 731ST BOMB SQUADRON (L-NA)
From the 731st Squadron Book
(Published by Hiroshima Publishing Co. 1951)
TO WHOM WE ARE INDEBTED
To the men of the 731st; to those who are together now; to those suffering from the wounds and injuries of the War who have returned home from the conflict, and to those who have made the supreme sacrifice; to all who have given their utmost through the long hours of day and night, in good weather and foul, with unstinting effort and selfless devotion to duty; to the men who surmounted tremendous odds with insufficient and obsolete equipment to compile a magnificent record against the Communist aggressors; to these and their posterity, this book is humbly and respectfully dedicated.
WHOM WE REMEMBER
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them.
| Hayden Vaughn Carter Skare Walter Kepley John Wands Claude Batty D.H. Park A.M. Austin Martin Howell Ralph Yarosh John Lausberg |
Chet Blunk Bernard Specht Sandy Sandberg |
Fred Small Dan Healy Richard Kuhn Tom Loyd Jim Silva |
John Vesser Bob Clarke |
WHO WE ARE
In the beginning, small groups of us met once each month in whatever space was available; schoolrooms, condemned barracks, and on occasion we even sweated out a dog training class so we would have a gathering place. Who would have thought we would take second place to a dog show?
Confusion and indecision as to our purpose was a bitter enemy in those early days, and there was no pay to ease the pain. We persisted, however, because in spite of all, there existed an inner sense of satisfaction of being back in uniform – tight fitting and smelling of moth balls though many of them were – and enjoying once again the spirit of camaraderie we had once known so well.
Little by little the fruits of our labors began to blossom. The long months of uncertainty and changing patterns passed. We were a Squadron, our mission was clear, but there was much work yet to be done. From T-6’s, T-11’s, and B-29’s, we were finally to fly B-26’s. Our headquarters which had been originally the old Van Nuys metropolitan Airport was changed to Long Beach and by 1949 two complete Wings, the 448th and 452nd swung into full-geared operation. An extensive recruiting campaign was initiated to augment our ever-increasing roster of Officers and Airmen.
We were meeting now one full week-end a month. Full pay and allowances plus flight pay had been authorized and two weeks’ active duty for all personnel was soon to arrive. The toddling child of 1946 had donned its first pair of long trousers. Little did anyone at that time expect that he would ere long exchange them for a suit of armor.
On August 10th, 1950, less than 6 weeks from the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, men of both Wings were consolidated into one combat strength unit and sent to George Air Force Base at Victorville, California, to complete an intensified Combat Training course. At Victorville, the 731st was born again. We became the Night Intruders, the radar and electronic eyes of the Tactical Air Force. In the incredibly short time of 60 days, pilots, navigators, and observers trained and became proficient in every phase of night attack work. Support elements not only had to start from scratch, but they were working under the handicap of an Air Base that had been inactive for four years and was just beginning to stir again.
Observers were sent to Mather Field on TDY to learn the rudiments of Radar. Pilots attended long hours of classes during the day and flew through half the night until they felt as much a part of the B-26 as a piston or an aileron. In two weeks the observers returned from Mather and immediately stepped into a schedule crammed full of training flights in B-25’s and C-47’s, many hours of ground school, bomb trainers, navigation and crew training to reach the highest peak of efficiency.
We ferried de-mothballed and modified B-26’s in from Hill Field, Utah to bring our Squadron to full combat strength. Through the cold of the desert night we flew hundreds of hours and many thousands of miles. Hundreds of rockets and bombs and countless rounds of .50 caliber ammunition were expended on low-level attack practice.
By September, four of our crews had completed a stepped-up schedule and with less than 24 hours leave with their families, climbed into their airplanes and took off over the endless miles of ocean for Japan. Arriving there, they were attached to the famous 3rd Bomb Group and the next day flew a mission over Korea. This was the beginning of an outstanding and enviable combat record that was to be written by the 731st.
In a very short time the balance of our airplanes and crews were transported by air and water to join the four advance crews. The transition of almost 5 years from civilians to closely integrated and efficient combat crew members was complete.
From November 1950 until the later part of June 1951 as these words are being written, the 731st has flown a total of more than 9000 hours of combat in racking up 2000 sorties. Under every conceivable disadvantage; weather, patched-up airplanes; mentally and physically weary personnel and no promise of relief, the 731st proved its versatility, and admirably upheld Air Force tradition by achieving highly creditable results on various types of missions including high, medium and low-level bombing, visual and radar bombing, front-line close support, flare drops, armed reconnaissance, strafing and rocketry. Unfortunately, working under the cover of darkness the 731st has been unable to have pictorial proof of results, but in our own hearts, when we knew that fire or explosion on the ground means a little less help for the enemy soldiers, we were well repaid.
Fortunately, this tour of duty has resulted in remarkably light operational losses. Especially so when consideration is given to the high degree of damage and destruction inflicted upon the enemy. It is indeed a further tribute to the skill and ingenuity of both ground and air crews in their fight against a cunning and relentless enemy.
As the first Air Force Reserve unit in History to be recalled to duty intact, and as the first such unit to strike against the enemy in Korea, the 731st has proudly and creditably discharged its duty. Let the spirit, courage and determination live on.
Back in the year of our Lord, 1918, in February at Gerstner Field, Lake Charles, Louisiana, a unit was formed, known as the 279th Service Aero Squadron. The unit sailed for France in July of that year. It is interesting to note that in a transition period in France “numerous aircraft were broken” because of checking out the pilots, who had flown Nieuports in the States, and the fact the landing fields were “extremely rough and rutty”. However, the 8th, 90th, and 104th Aero Squadrons did invaluable service in artillery correction, reconnaissance work, and numerous brushes with the Boche. The 19 black Maltese crosses on the Group Insignia of today denote the enemy aircraft destroyed by the Squadrons in the course of their duties.
Returning to the States the unit was re-designated the 3rd Attack Group. Then followed a number of years service at varied stations in the US. The Group consisted of the 8th, 90th, and 13th Aero Squadrons, the 13th having emerged from the wartime 104th.
In 1934, you may recall, the President cancelled all the civilian Airmail contracts. The 3rd took over the mid-continent division and flew the mail from February until June.
In 1939, the unit was once again re-designated the 3rd Bomb Group (L). It was sent to Australia in February of 1942, at the height of the New Guinea campaign and went immediately into action. The 8th was using A-24’s, the Douglas Dauntless at the time, and the 13th the new B-25’s. The Group flew several missions in support of the Philippines evacuation, flying from secret fields on Mindanao, and on leaving for Australia, ferried personnel out. Flying A-24’s, B-25’s, A-20’s, and later A-26’s, the Group slugged its way up from New Guinea through every major campaign in the Pacific, to the Philippines and the Ryukus. Earning battle stars to the Asiatic-Pacific theatre ribbon and two Presidential Unit citations, the 3rd finally arrived in Japan in September, 1945.
At the outset of the Korean conflict the 3rd was at two Squadron level. Nevertheless, they swung into action, and became the first Air Force Unit to carry out a strike north of the 38th Parallel, on the Airfield at Pyongyang. Since that time the 3rd has been carrying out daily missions with practically all sorties carried out under the cover of darkness. As the First operational Night Attack unit in the Air Force, work has been highly diversified, developing new tactics, experimenting and evaluation. It was at this point we entered the picture with our own organization. We now have become part of this History.
On June 25, 1951, the 731st was redesignated the 90th Bombardment Squadron (Light Night Intruder).
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Thank you to Bob McFarland for most of the content of this web site.
731st Bomb Squadron (L-NA)
Japan/Korea 1950-1951
In Memory of H. Robert “Mac” McFarland
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