813th Fighter-Bomber Squadron 813th Fighter-Bomber Squadron The 813th Fighter-Bomber Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with 482d Fighter-Bomber Group at Dobbins Air Force Base, Georgia. During World War II, the squadron was activated in England as the 813th Bombardment Squadron (Pathfinder). Its Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft were equipped with first generation radars to guide other bombardment units to targets obscured by cloud cover over Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation in January 1944. In March 1944, it was removed from combat to focus on training pathfinder aircrews and develop tactics, although
RAF Bomber Command aircrew of World War II have those black shoes" and similar comments. Airmen shared accommodation blocks and it was normal to have spare beds or even a half-empty hut after a night operation. A total of 57,205 members of RAF Bomber Command or airmen flying on attachment to RAF Bomber Command were killed or posted missing in World War II. It was not unusual for the heavy bombers to complete their operational sortie and return home with members of their crew dead or dying aboard the aircraft, or with the rear gun turret blown off. Flight Sergeant Jim Rossiter of the Royal Australian Air Force