8th air force wwii roster

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Visit our 8th Air Force Honor Project with rosters of servicemen who served in the groups of the 8th. 41-24577) of the 358th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, RAF Molesworth. 3d Air Division: 1943-1945. Major General Mark E. Weatherington assumed command of 8th Air Force on 12 June 2020. These Veterans, born in the 1920s and before, were members of the greatest air armada of all time. if ($(".fancybox-caption__body").hasClass("af3-caption-body")) { United States 8th Air Force, WWII Welcome to the 96th Bombardment Group(H) Station 138 - Snetterton, England. Read here to learn more about who the 8th Air Force is. 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. The 305th Bombardment Group was a B-17 Flying Fortress group of the Eighth Air Force and took part in the daylight strategic bombing campaign over Europe. It was reassigned to Savannah Army Air Base, Georgia on 10 February 1942. 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. [citation needed] By 1955, SAC no longer needed its fighters and these fighter units were transferred to Tactical Air Command and utilized in a tactical role. isDesktopInit = false; In Europe, Eighth Air Force was the first USAAF strategic air force, with a mission to support an invasion of continental Europe from the British Isles. Our research database contains information on Bomber, Fighter and Service Groups, their Bases both in England and the United States, Daily Missions and Targets throughout Europe. In January 1945, the Luftwaffe attempted one last major air offensive against the Allied Air Forces. 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. 8th Air Force 448th Bomb Group, England WWII - TaraCopp. Fifteen months after Operation Desert Storm, the Air Force reorganized. $(".fancybox-caption__body").removeClass("af3-caption-body"); For the VIII Bomber Command of 1945-1946, see, Numbered air force of the United States Air Force, Start of offensive operations against Nazi-occupied territory, Target For Today 1943 VIII Bomber Command film, Lineage, assignments, components, and stations, The Eighth Air Force's now commonly-accepted nickname, "The Mighty Eighth", derives from the title of British farmer and life-long Eighth Air Force historian, two American-crewed and one RAF-crewed Bostons against each target, Lineage & Honors, 389th Strategic Missile Wing, through 1965, USAF Historical Research Center, Learn how and when to remove this template message, World War II European-African-Middle Eastern Theater, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, equipping the Mustang with a Rolls-Royce Merlin, United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific, 58th Bombardment Wing (later Air Division), blockade of West Berlin by the Eastern bloc, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), 1st Bombardment (later, 1st Air) Division, 820th Air (later, 820 Strategic Aerospace) Division, 67th Information Operations (later, 67th Network Warfare) Wing, 509th Bombardment (later, 509th Bomb) Wing, Post-Attack Command and Control System Facility, Hadley, "Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (ACC)", "WWII 8thAAF COMBAT CHRONOLOGY - JANUARY 1944 THROUGH JUNE 1944", "Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces - May 1944", "USAF Historical Research Agency Document 00219137", "Command of Eighth Air Force changes hands", "E-4Bs realign under 8th Air Force, 595th CACG stands up", "History of the 445th Bomb Group, Revised Edition", "Factsheet 100 Air Refueling Wing (USAFE)", "Factsheet 322 Air Expeditionary Group (USAFE)", "Lineage and Honors History of the 385 Air Expeditionary Group (AMC)", "Factsheet 386 Air Expeditionary Wing (ACC)", "Factsheet 479th Flying Training Group (AETC)", "Factsheet 492 Special Operations Wing (AFSOC)", "8th Air Force to become new cyber command", USAF Fact Sheets: Eighth Air Force History, Eight Air Force tactical mission report of Operation Shuttle, Establishment of the Eighth Air Force in the United Kingdom, The Ruhr one of the main target of the 8th USAAF in Europe, 19431945, Map of 8th Air Force airfields in England 19421945, A 1956 LIFE photo of every plane in the Eighth Air Force's arsenal, 4th Fighter Group Association, 65 Fighter Wing, 8th Air Force World War II, National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, House Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Strategic Air Command in the United Kingdom, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eighth_Air_Force&oldid=1137214118, 1942 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state), Air Forces of the United States Army Air Forces, Military units and formations in Louisiana, Military units and formations of the United States in the Cold War, Numbered air forces of the United States Air Force, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles lacking in-text citations from November 2010, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with self-published sources from September 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2014, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from public domain works of the United States Government, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 3 June 2008 present (as Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic)), Fort Worth Army Air Field (Later Carswell Air Force Base), Texas, VIII Air Force Composite Command: 22 Feb 1944 1 Feb 1945, VIII Air Force Service Command: 22 Feb 1944 16 Jul 1945, 608th Air Operations Center (formerly 608th Air Operations Group and 608th Air and Space Operations Center), 1 Jan 1994 present, Air Force Information Operations: 1 May 2007 present, Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts, 13 Jun 1955, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, 1 Jan 1975 present, This page was last edited on 3 February 2023, at 12:09. First seen by Allied airmen during the late summer of 1944, it wasn't until March 1945 that German jet aircraft started to attack Allied bomber formations in earnest. It also . // device detection $(".fancybox-button").css("display", "block"); Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force in February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945. clearTimeout(debounceTimer); }, On 8 March, another raid of 600 bombers and 200 fighters hit the Berlin area again, destroying the VKF ball-bearing plant at Erkner. 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]. The B-1 force consists of 62 bombers assigned to the active duty 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, Texas and the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. 8 th AirForce.com. '

' + Later in Dec 1941 headquarters and some crews and planes moved to Australia . This air power includes the heart of America's heavy bomber force, deploying the Rockwell B-1 Lancer, Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit and the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. By mid-1944, the 8th AF had reached a total strength of more than 200,000 people. debounceTimer = setTimeout(function () { This ongoing project documents a basic service history of participating individuals. getDetailsURL($(this).parent()) + Since 1994, the Eighth has participated in a string of contingency operations, such as the 1996 Operation "Desert Strike" against Iraq] the 1998 Operation "Desert Fox" (similarly named but in no way associated with Field Marshal Erwin Rommel) against Iraq, which featured the B-1 Lancer in its combat debut, and 1999 Operation "Allied Force" against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which involved the B-2A Spirit. captionToggle(); detailSize = "full"; $(".af3-caption-body").addClass(detailSize); Many bodies were exhumed and returned to the U.S. at the request of families and many families opted to allow their loved ones to remain in U.S. Military and other cemetaries in the United Kingdom and the Continent. On at least eighteen occasions, the Merseburg refineries in Leuna, where the majority of Germany's synthetic fuel for jet aircraft was refined, was hit. Cold and clear weather was predicted for the last week of February 1944. Nick was a life member of the Commemorative Air Force, a World War II aircraft heritage society, a charter member of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and a charter member of . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The 8th lost 31 bombers, the 15th lost 33. The command serves as Air Forces Strategic Global Strike, one of the air components of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). function isMobile() { Eighth Air Force was established as VIII Bomber Command on 19 January 1942 and activated at Langley Field, Virginia on 1 February. VIDEO (silent): 8th AF mission to Muenster, Germany. 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. else { } Eighth Air Force carried out strategic daytime bombing operations in Western Europe from airfields in eastern England as part of the Combined Bomber Offensive. An advanced detachment was established in England on 23 Feb and units began arriving from the US during the spring of 1942. His directive was simple: "Win the air war and isolate the battlefield. 2023 Dues are due in January. We are a 501C3 organization and all donations are tax-deductible. $(".fancybox-content").css("width", newImgWth + "px"); Then in April 1970, SAC moved the Eighth without personnel or equipment to Andersen AFB Guam, absorbing resources of the 3d Air Division. However, the Luftwaffe was successful in shooting down 46 bombers in a very unequal fight.[10]. let detailSize = "full"; Over 300 German fighters attacked the bomber forces, losing almost half its aircraft, with claims of upwards of 47 Luftwaffe fighters by American fighter pilots. The Me 262A was a difficult foe for the P-47s and P-51s, possessing a distinct speed advantage. Redesignated Eighth AF on 22 Feb 1944. For the Mighty Eighth, that change heralded an interesting future, one that bring further restructuring, different aircraft systems, and a new challenging mission to the NAF. Altogether, the Eighth's bombers flew 325 sorties to drop over 7 million pounds of ordnance on a nation slightly smaller than the state of Colorado. 5 months ago. "[citation needed]. afterLoad: function (instance, current) { return ' ' + Later 8th air force wwii roster Dec headquarters... 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