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Group Echelon (Philippines Campaign: 27 Jan 45–22 Feb 45) Flight Echelon (Philippines Campaign: 31 Jan 45–22 Feb 45) Advance Echelon (Philippines Campaign: 10 Mar 45–4 Jul 45) Rear Echelon (Philippines Campaign: 17 Mar 45–4 Jul 45) CO, MAG-32; Col Clayton C. Jerome (until July 1945) Col Stanley E. Ridderhof. ExO, MAG-32; LCol John L. Smith
The air echelon of the squadron was evacuated to Batchelor Field, Australia on 24 December 1941, while the ground echelon stayed to fight at Clark Field, as infantry in the Philippines as part of the Battle of the Philippines under the command of 5th Interceptor Command.
Air echelon flew Group's Douglas C-47 Skytrains to New Guinea, via Hawaii, the Fiji Islands, and Australia, August–September 1943, and began operations with Fifth Air Force. Ground echelon sailed from the West Coast on 25 September 1943, arriving in Australia on 10 October 1943.
A bombardment group or bomb group was a unit of organizational command and control group of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. A bombardment group was normally commanded by a colonel. The table of allowances (TOA) for personnel, aircraft and equipment grew steadily over the course of the war doubling from 35 aircraft ...
When the United States entered World War II the squadron was deploying to the Philippines. Its ground echelon fought as infantry , with most members surrendering at Bataan , while the air echelon fought in the Netherlands East Indies, earning the squadron three Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC)s.
The squadron sustained its first loss of personnel when Sergeant Joseph Archembault died on 29 August 1942, at Florence, S.C., as a result of injuries received in a motor vehicle accident. In September 1942, seventy-two officers and enlisted men formed an air echelon and departed for Hamilton Field, California, for overseas transition training.
With the surrender of the United States Army on Bataan, Philippines on 8 April 1942, the remaining air echelon of the 24th Pursuit Group withdrew to Mindanao Island and began operating from Del Monte Airfield with whatever aircraft were remaining. The last of the group's aircraft were captured or destroyed by enemy forces on or about 1 May 1942.
An advance echelon of Company B departed Del Carmen Field for Orani, Bataan, on 20 December 1941, and the rear guard evacuated the field on 25 or 26 December. The 24th left shortly thereafter. [ 3 ] After its occupation, it was used by Japanese aircraft as a satellite field for the Clark area.