The 439th BS, it was formed in mid-1942 in Louisiana and were equipped since the very beginning with the B-26. They were assigned to the European Theatre of Operations in September 1942 where they flew various missions over France and Belgium before being assigned to the Twelfth Air Force and sent to Algeria in order to serve in Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. During the advance in Algeria, they provided air support for the ground troops and, in March 1943 they were rebased to French Morocco in order to be re-equipped with a more modern version of the B-26 and later, in June 1943 they moved on to Tunisia in order to attack Italian islands like Sicily, Sardinia or Pantelleria, among others. In November they were rebased to Sardinia to bomb targets in Central and Northern Italy and during 1944 they remained there providing air support in, among others, the Battles of Anzio, Montecassino and Operation Dragoon. They returned to the United States in January 1945 where they were re-equipped with the Douglas A-26 Invader in order to serve in the Pacific.
In the case of the 554th Bombardment Squadron, they were activated equipped with the Martin B-26 at the south-eastern USA and were assigned to the European Theatre of Operations in June 1943 serving with the VIII Air Support Command and then, in 1944, with the IX Bomber Command. They performed tactical bombardments through all the campaign, from England first and from advanced bases in France and Belgium later. When the war ended in Europe, they were taken back to the USA, re-equipped with the Douglas A-26 Invader in order to take part in the Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of Japan that never took place, so they were disbanded in November 1945.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/554th_Fighter-Bomber_Squadron
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/439th_Operations_Group
4. Signal Squadron - Aircraft in Action 50 - Martin B-26 Marauder in Action
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