 By this time most of the original Maryland National Guard members had been transferred elsewhere as individual replacements, although a handful were still serving with the unit when it deployed to England in 1943, by which time the 517th Bomb Squadron had been redesignated the 859th Bombardment Squadron, part of the 492d Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force, a B-24 Liberator group.There is no official lineage however, between the 104th Observation Squadron and the 859th Bombardment Squadron.Meanwhile, the 104th Observation Squadron was reactivated with the 59th Observation Group.