On 23 December 1943 aircraft from the 27th Bombardment Squadron became the first American heavy bombers to use Hawkins Field on Tarawa, when the squadron used it as a staging base while escorting US Navy reconnaissance aircraft to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands during the preparation for the invasion of that atoll.
27th United States Congress | The Sabre Squadron | No. 33 Squadron RAF | No. 263 Squadron RAF | squadron | Pacific Squadron | No. 45 Squadron RAF | No. 127 Squadron RAF | No. 617 Squadron RAF | No. 43 Squadron RAF | No. 38 Squadron RAF | No. 107 Squadron RAF | German East Asia Squadron | Far East Squadron | David Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford | Squadron (aviation) | No. 77 Squadron RAAF | No. 71 Squadron RAF | No. 49 Squadron RAF | No. 48 Squadron RAF | No. 2 Squadron RAF | No. 233 Squadron RAF | No. 133 Squadron RAF | Asiatic Squadron | 44th Fighter Squadron | 24th Tactical Air Support Squadron | 160th Fighter Squadron | Volunteer Gliding Squadron | Squadron Sinister | No. 65 Squadron RAF |