333rd Troop Carrier Squadron


The 333rd Troop Carrier Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was activated during World War II as the 12th Combat Cargo Squadron and served in India and Burma before inactivating after V-J Day. The squadron was reactivated in Germany in 1948 and served in the Berlin Airlift until inactivating in 1949.

History

World War II

The squadron was first activated at Sylhet Airfield, India in June 1944 as the 12th Combat Cargo Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the 3rd Combat Cargo Group. It drew its personnel and Douglas C-47 Skytrains from resources already in the theater. It supported ground forces in the battle for northern Burma and the following drive southward, operating from Dinjan Airfield from August 1944.
The squadron flew Allied troops and materiel to the front, transporting gasoline, oil vehicles, engineering and signal equipment and other items. The squadron either airdropped supplies, or when airfields were available landed them in Burma. It flew aeromedical evacuation missions, flying wounded troops to medical facilities in India. In June 1945, the squadron moved to Myitkyina, Burma, and at about the same time, replaced its C-47s with more capable Curtiss C-46 Commandos. The squadron hauled gasoline and other supplies to bases in western China, flying over the Hump.
Following V-J Day, the 3rd Combat Cargo and its squadrons were redesignated as troop carrier units, with the squadron becoming the 333rd Troop Carrier Squadron. It moved to Shanghai, China in October 1945 and in December, departed for the United States. Upon arrival at the Port of Embarkation, it was inactivated.

Berlin Airlift

Shortly after the beginning of the Berlin Airlift, the United States Air Force began to augment the C-47s that had been used at the beginning of the airlift with Douglas C-54 Skymasters. C-54s drawn from various Military Air Transport Service units were formed into the 1422nd Air Transport Group at Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany on 1 August 1948. On 19 November 1948, the provisional group was replaced by the 513th Troop Carrier Group, and the 333rd was reactivated as one of the group's squadrons. In December, the squadron moved to Wiesbaden Air Base, German, where it was attached to the 60th Troop Carrier Group for airlift operations.
The squadron transported food, coal and other supplies to Berlin. Transport of coal posed particular problems, because it eroded equipment, increasing maintenance requirements to keep up the airlift's demanding schedule. Airlift operations officially ended on 30 September 1949, and the squadron returned to Rhein-Main, ending its attachment to the 60th Group. The end of the airlift coincided with President Truman's reduced 1949 defense budget, which required a reduction in the number of groups in the Air Force to 48. The squadron's C-54s were also needed elsewhere. While its planes were on loan for the airlift, MATS had only been able to meet 60% of its air transport obligations apart from the airlift. As a result, the 333rd was inactivated on 16 October 1949.

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 12th Combat Cargo Squadron on 1 June 1944

Assignments

Stations

Aircraft