8th air force bombing missions in wwii

' + }); var ratio = Math.min(winWth / origImgWth, By the end of the mission, the Eighth Air Force had lost 30 bombers and 300 men. As a headquarters, the Eighth had another important role in victory over Iraqi forcesoperating the logistics supply and air refueling bridge between the U.S. and gulf region. General Robert Travis, aerial commander of the mission, made the decision to circle the target and wait for the clouds to move. Spaatz defined to Gen. George C. Marshall and Secretary of War Henry Stimson the strategy of tactical air forces augmenting and protecting ground forces while strategic air forces bombed industry and infrastructure. It was famous for bringing crews home, even when three of its four engines failed. getDetailsURL($(this).parent()) + The Me 262A was a difficult foe for the P-47s and P-51s, possessing a distinct speed advantage. Back in the United States, American air forces expanded with annual goals for pilot trainingjumping from 300 in 1939 to 30,000 by late 1940. The intensive bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong during 11 days in December 1972, known as Operation Linebacker II, was but one highlight of those war years. At the same time, a smaller force hit an Fw 190 repair depot at Zwickau. Yet, despite the opposition, the bombers continued toward the Bosch factory. As a headquarters, the Eighth had another important role in victory over Iraqi forces--operating the logistics supply and air refueling bridge between the U. S. and gulf region. As the bomber formation circled the target, the tight combat boxes of B-17s became easy targets for enemy fighters. This strategic vision matched the technical ability of the American aviation industry. It dispersed its planes to a large number of bases across the United States so as not to have too many concentrated at a single location. } On 7 June 1946, Headquarters Eighth Air Force was reassigned without personnel or equipment from Okinawa to MacDill Field, Florida, becoming SAC's second numbered air force. return 'SHARE'; let detailSize = "full"; In the planned invasion of Japan, the mission of Eighth Air Force would be to conduct B-29 Superfortress raids from Okinawa in coordination with Twentieth Air Force operating from airfields in the Mariana Islands.[12]. On July 4th, 1942 the first American bomber mission flown from England by the U.S Army Air Forces (AAF) flew towards the occupied Netherlands. The pre-war U.S. Army Air Corps assumed a smaller force of long-range bombers could cover wide areas, and redeploy swiftly for more distant strikes. 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. This strategy fatally disabled the twin-engined Zerstrergeschwader heavy fighter wings and their replacement, single-engined Sturmgruppen of heavily armed Fw 190As, clearing each force of bomber destroyers in their turn from Germany's skies throughout most of 1944. $(window).on("resize", function (event) { The 100th Bomb Group lost 17 of 19 deployed. As the Americans flew further into Europe and Germany, the missions became deadlier. $(".fancy-photo-detail-link").html($(".fancy-photo-detail-link").html().replace("CLOSE", "SHOW")); Warbirds in flight, tanks on parade, PT-305 in the water. As they approached the initial point, or IP, the fighters pressed even closer. The exhibit opens with an examination of the rise of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany and the Battle of Britain. Fifteen months after Operation DESERT STORM, the Air Force reorganized. Before war broke out in Europe, American military aviation had embraced the idea of long-range, daylight, pattern bombing by tight, high-altitude formations. Many had dozens of aerial victories; some had over 100. As summer turned to autumn in 1943, the Americans felt that, despite the casualties, the air war would ramp up in intensity. Movement of 29 Apr 2023 22:23:59 Major General Mark E. Weatherington assumed command of 8th Air Force on 12 June 2020. Men and Machines of the US 8th Air Force.' by Roger A. Freeman (1989). getDownloadURL($(this).parent()) + October 27-29 at New Orleans Lakefront Airport. For its Korean War service, the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing received the Distinguished Unit Citation, covering the period of 26 January through 21 April 1951, for their actions in Korea. There are (46894) servicemen of the 8th AF Bomber Groups in this archive. On 7 April 1945, the Luftwaffe flew its most desperate and deadliest mission, with the dedicated aerial ramming unit Sonderkommando Elbe. Also after the deployment of forces to Far East Air Force to engage in combat over Korea, the history of Eighth Air Force becomes indistinguishable from that of SAC. Importantly, the Eighth's bombing effectiveness influenced the North Vietnamese to end hostilities. 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 }, Spaatz and Doolittle's plan was to use the US Strategic Air Forces in a series of co-ordinated raids, code-named Operation 'Argument' (popularly known as 'Big Week' ) and supported by RAF night bombing, on the German aircraft industry at the earliest possible date. captionToggle(); In the year 2000, the Air Force decided to integrate information operations into Eighth Air Force. Arming wire tag from one of the bombs dropped by the Eighth Air Force in its first heavy bomber raid against Nazi-occupied Europe, against the Rouen-Sotteville railway yards in France on August 17, 1942. However, the Luftwaffe was successful in shooting down 46 bombers in a very unequal fight.[10]. $(".af3-caption-body").stop(true, false).animate({ height: "0vh" }, 800, function () { Many more awards were made to Eighth Air Force veterans after the war that remain uncounted. At the same time, aerial refueling techniques were improved to the extent that Eighth Air Force bombers could still reach targets in Europe and Asia even if overseas bases were destroyed by an enemy attack. The first air attacks against Warsaw start. The command staff and all personnel of the 58th Bomb wing were eliminated on 1 November 1946 and the organization was reduced to a paper unit. } Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum - New Georgia Encyclopedia 350,000 Americans served in 8th AF during the war in Altogether, the Eighth's bombers flew 325 sorties to drop over 7 million pounds of ordnance on enemy targets in that campaign. } These operations by light airplanes were small compared with those of World War II, but they did demonstrate the efficacy of the strategic air offensive. With Doolittle's permission, American fighter pilots on bomber defense missions would primarily be flying far ahead of the bombers' combat box formations in air supremacy mode, literally "clearing the skies" of any Luftwaffe fighter opposition heading towards the target. While posturing itself for that mission change, the Eighth also supported Operation Enduring Freedom in which the Air Force operates against targets in Afghanistan, and Operation Noble Eagle for the defense of North American airspace. In addition, almost 300 German aircraft of all types were destroyed in strafing attacks. A popular saying at the time was that to fly in the Eighth Air Force then was like holding a ticket to a funeral your own.Abnormal behavior became more common. Twelve B-17s of the 8th Air Forces 97th Heavy Bombardment Group raided the Sotteville-ls-Rouen railroad yards, while six more made a diversionary strike. The German fighters reaped a devilish harvest in the skies over Bremen, a harvest repeated in the next few missions in what became called Black Week by those fortunate enough to live through it. By the late 1940s, the B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators used in the European Theater of the war were thoroughly obsolete as combat aircraft and were mostly sent to the smelters. (National Archives) Meanwhile, the losses to the bomb groups continued unabated. By mid-1944, the unit had a total strength of more than 200,000 people, and it could send more than 2,000 four-engine bombers and 1,000 fighters on a single mission against enemy targets in Europe. Eighth Airforce headquarters was established in England on April 15, 1942 and Spaatz took over in June. 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. Conversely, the Eighth was in the crosshairs of the Luftwaffe, determined more than ever to defend their cities and facilities. This was largely so that the Air Force could perpetuate the names of groups that had distinguished themselves in World War II. The 452nd Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Deopham Green, Norfolk, from January 1944. var origImgHgt = $(".fancybox-image").prop("naturalHeight"); '