Established as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomb squadron in early 1942; trained under Third Air Force in the southeastern United States with final training under Second Air Force in Washington. Deployed to European Theater of Operations (ETO), assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England, being one of the first heavy bomb squadrons arriving in England. The 322d was one of the most highly decorated strategic heavy bomb squadrons in the European Theater, flying combat missions over Nazi Germany and Occupied Europe until the German capitulation in May 1945. Most personnel demobilized in England immediately after the end of the war in Europe, Squadron returned to the United States with a small headquarters staff and was planned to be re-equipped and remanned as a B-29 Superfortress squadron. Ja