var winWth = $(window).innerWidth(); An advanced detachment of VIII Bomber Command was established at RAF Daws Hill, near RAF Bomber Command Headquarters at RAF High Wycombe, on 23 February in preparation for its units to arrive in the United Kingdom from the United States. Aircraft and ground crew of Boeing B-17F-25-BO Fortress "Hell's Angels" (AAF Ser. An advanced detachment was established in England on 23 Feb and units began arriving from the US during the spring of 1942. caption: function (instance, item) { Established on 22 February 1944 by the redesignation of VIII Bomber Command at RAF Daws Hill in High Wycombe, England, the Eighth Army Air Force (8 AAF) was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force in the European Theater of World War II (1939/411945), engaging in operations primarily in the Northern Europe area of responsibility; carrying out strategic bombing of enemy targets in France, the Low Countries, and Germany;[3] and engaging in air-to-air fighter combat against enemy aircraft until the German capitulation in May 1945. var newImgWth = (origImgWth * ratio); let detailSize = "full"; } He established the 8th Air Force Headquarters at Bushy Park (Teddington, Middlesex), 15 miles west southwest of the center of London on 25 June 1942. were missing in action and never accounted for as to their whereabouts. The losses of the Allied Air Forces were replaced within weeks. On 1 January, the entire German fighter force in the West, comprising combat aircraft from some eleven Jagdgeschwader day fighter wings, took off and attacked 27 Allied airfields in northern France, Belgium and the southern part of the Netherlands in an attempt by the Luftwaffe to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries of Europe. Altogether, the Eighth Air Force dropped over 4,800 tons of high explosive on Berlin during the first week of March. By mid-1944, Eighth Air Force had reached a total strength of more than 200,000 people (it is estimated that more than 350,000 Americans served in Eighth Air Force during the war in Europe). The 131st Bomb Wing is operationally-gained by AFGSC and 8 AF from the Air National Guard, while the 307th Bomb Wing is operationally-gained from Air Force Reserve Command and 10th Air Force.[4][5]. On 7 April, Eighth Air Force dispatched thirty-two B-17 and B-24 groups and fourteen Mustang groups (the sheer numbers of attacking Allied aircraft were so large in 1945 that they were now counted by the group) to targets in the small area of Germany still controlled by the Nazis, hitting the remaining airfields where the Luftwaffe jets were stationed. It was created from a. ROSTER OF AIRMEN. The integration process started on 1 February 2001, when the Air Force realigned the Air Intelligence Agency (AIA) under ACC and assigned the 67th Information Operations Wing and the 70th Intelligence Wing to the Eighth. General Resources and Sites. 3d Bombardment Wing: 1942-1943. } '
8th air force wwii roster
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In 1949, a realignment of responsibilities for SAC's two air forces occurred. There is an entry for each credited mission which that individual flew. Air Offensive, Europe ; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace ; Central Europe; Asiatic-Pacific Theater. INSIGNE. closeDetails();
With each step through 2002, the Eighth continues to add more feats to its growing legacy. On 2 March, when Eighth Air Force bombers were dispatched to attack the synthetic oil refineries at Leipzig, Messerschmitt Me 262As attacked the formation near Dresden. Another 305 enlisted gunners were also recognized as aces. // Animation complete. }
Although some personnel and combat units were assigned before V-J Day, the Eighth did not participate in combat against Japan. Nick was a life member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society, the 15th Air Force Association and the 414th Bombardment Squadron, 97th Bombardment Group Association. History. 1st Air Division: 1943-1945. }
After the Southeast Asian war, Eighth Air Force moved on 1 January 1975 to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. 301st Fighter Wing: 1945- 1946. Elements of 8 AF engaged in combat operations during the Korean War (19501953); Vietnam War (19611975), as well as Operation Desert Storm (19901991) over Iraq and occupied Kuwait in the First Persian Gulf War. Please visit the websites of our wonderful partners in history. By the end of 1944, only three out of ninety-one refineries in the Reich were still working normally, twenty-nine were partially functional, and the remainder were completely destroyed.
The raids on the German aircraft industry comprising much of "Big Week" caused so much damage that the Germans were forced to disperse aircraft manufacturing eastward, to safer parts of the Reich. Cold and clear weather was predicted for the last week of February 1944. This was largely so that the Air Force could perpetuate the names of groups that had distinguished themselves in World War II. return '';
Both Davis-Monthan and Fort Worth Army Airfields were B-29 training bases during World War II, and the Eighth Air Force Bomb Groups were simply activated at the same field and on the same day as the original Army Air Force Continental Air Forces training bomb groups were inactivated. At first, the Eighth deployed its B-52 bomber and KC-135 tanker units from the U.S. to operating bases in Guam, Okinawa and Thailand. However, the P-51B was introduced as a tactical fighter, so the first deliveries of the P-51B in November 1943 were assigned to three groups in the tactical Ninth Air Force at the expense of VIII Bomber Command, whose need for a long range escort fighter was critical. Eighth Air Force carries out its warfighting missions under U.S. Strategic Command and the air component commands of the other regional Unified combatant commands. The Eighth Air Force was specifically charged with the atomic mission; however, only the 509th Composite Group at Roswell AAF had B-29s that had the capability to drop nuclear weapons the 7th Bomb Group at Fort Worth AAF was modifying their aircraft to carry the atomic bomb. The 398th was part of the 8th Air Force 1st Air Division during WWII and was one of many B-17 Bomb Groups stationed in England. B-17s hit the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen in Czechoslovakia, while B-24s bombed rail complexes in Bad Reichenhall and Freilassing, surrounding Hitler's mountain retreat at Berchtesgaden. At the same time, a smaller force hit an Fw 190 repair depot at Zwickau. Contact Us, If you have any data on servicemen and their units and would like to submit it to our digital library; please Contact Us, Copyright, Army Air Corps Library and Museum, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 549 Bomb Squadron Although the Luftwaffe could, and did, mount effective attacks on the ever-larger formations of Allied heavy bombers, the sheer numbers of B-17s and B-24s attacking enemy targets was overwhelming the German fighter force, which simply could not sustain the losses the Eighth Air Force bombers and fighters were inflicting on it. By the time the group rotated back to the United States, they had flown more than 23,000 combat hours in more than 12,000 sorties.
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Luftwaffe airfields that were identified as jet and rocket bases, such as Parchim and Bad Zwischenahn, were frequently bombed, and Allied fighters patrolled over the fields to attack jets trying to land. An Eighth Air Force unit, the 2d Bomb Wing, spearheaded the air campaign by dispatching B-52s from Barksdale to launch conventional air-launched cruise missiles against Iraqi targets. 316th Bombardment Wing: 1945- 1946. '">DETAILS';
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The reorganization transformed the Eighth into the only information operations and bomber NAF in the Air Force.
Nevertheless, in March and April 1945, Allied fighter patrol patterns over Me 262 airfields resulted in numerous losses of jets and serious attrition of the force. The Eighth's weapons inventory also changed to include KC-135 air refuelers and intercontinental ballistic missiles (the Atlas, Titan I and Titan II, and all Minuteman models.). 385 th Bomb Group, 8 th Air Force.
was activated on 28 January 1942 at the Chatham Armory in Savannah, Georgia. '
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-Lt. General Jimmy Doolittle, Commanding General, 8th Air Force. 8th and 15th AF flight, ground crew and crash photos: B-24, B-17, P-51, B-26, P-47, P-38.
Throughout the first six months of ENDURING FREEDOM, the Mighty Eighth's bombers were instrumental in the destruction of key targets and illusive enemy forces in Afghanistan. During the 17 months this unit was deployed to England, they flew 281 combat missions between 13 Dec 43 and 25 Apr 45.
Later in Dec 1941 headquarters and some crews and planes moved to Australia . This 8th Air Force WWII Decal is die cut - which means it is cut to the exact shape of the image, and made in the USA at our facilities in Chino Valley, Arizona. There were 261 fighter aces in the Eighth Air Force during World War II. The photograph shows housing destroyed by the RAF during night raids. Notably, the 1 June 1992 change inactivated SAC and the Tactical Air Command (TAC), and reassigned the Mighty Eighth to the new Air Combat Command (ACC). showFBShare() +
The Eighth Air Force includes the heart of America's heavy bomber force: the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the Rockwell B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber, and the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber aircraft.
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Transferred, without personnel, equipment, and combat elements, to Okinawa on 16 Jul 1945. On 22 February 1944, the Army reorganized its Air Forces in Europe by renaming Eighth Air Force as the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe (now known as the United States Air Forces in Europe). The 91st Bomb Group Memorial Association's (BGMA) purpose is to keep alive the spirit of the 91st BG (H) and to maintain the fellowship of all those who fought together in WWII . VIII Bomber Command, after redesignation as Eighth Air Force, was assigned VIII Fighter and VIII Air Support Commands under its command. $(".fancybox-caption").removeClass("af3-caption-bg");
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