For instance, the Eighth suffered about half of the U.S. Army Air Force's casualties (47,483 out of 115,332), including more than 26,000 dead. It could, and often did, dispatch more than 2,000 four-engine bombers and more than 1,000 fighters on a single mission to multiple targets. } At all heights, the rate of climb was approximately doubled. Targets that directly affected the German war machine became priorities. The right propeller of Kegelman's Boston was shot away by flak while over the target at De Kooy Airfield[7][self-published source?] Continuing with the 12 B-17s that flew Mission #1 of the 8th AF, Aug 17, 1942, target Rouen marshalling yard. 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. Over 950 fighters had been sent west from the Eastern Front for "Operation Bodenplatte". It was reassigned to Savannah Army Air Base, Georgia on 10 February 1942. Many more awards were made to Eighth Air Force veterans after the war that remain uncounted. They were just aimlessly flying around. The fact that the aerial commander made four passes at the target astounded many of the crew. if (detailSize === "half") { As the bomber formation circled the target, the tight combat boxes of B-17s became easy targets for enemy fighters. The Wilhelmshaven bombings: A mission of valor - 8th Air Force/J-GSOC $(".fancybox-caption__body").prepend(prependClosing()); 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. 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. Three more daytime raids went out on August 19, 20, and 21. After the Southeast Asian war, Eighth Air Force moved on 1 January 1975 to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. Cold and clear weather was predicted for the last week of February 1944. strategic bombing during World War II - Britannica Fifteenth Air Force relocated to March Air Force Base, California. Major General Jimmy Doolittle relinquished command of the Fifteenth Air Force to Major General Nathan F. Twining and on January 6, 1944, took over command of the Eighth Air Force from Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker at RAF Daws Hill. Casualties among bomber crews began to mount steadily as B-17s were being blown out of the sky with growing consistency. The buildup of the 8th Air Force in England was a gradual process and reached a peak on December 24, 1944 when 2034 Bombers and 853 Fighters pounded Germany from the Air. var isMobile = false; //initiate as false On this mission, he sat in the co-pilot's seat of the lead B-17, Butcher Shop[8][self-published source] The pilot in command and leader of this historic mission was Paul Tibbets, who on 6 August 1945, dropped the first Atomic Bomb, Little Boy, on Hiroshima from the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, Enola Gay. 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. 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. The next day, over 900 bombers and 700 fighters of Eighth Air Force hit more aircraft factories in the Braunschweig area. 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. The next day proved to be an even longer day, followed by another, and another. The ALLIED FORCE campaign also marked the Eighth's return to Europe and the participation of U.S. bombers in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) first combat operation. Beginning on October 8 and continuing until October 14, Eighth Air Force crews attacked targets all over Germany in an attempt to continue the pressure on the Germans. [12], Eighth Air Force's mission in the Pacific was initially to organize and train new bomber groups for combat against Japan. The other more feared threat was the German Luftwaffe. } The reorganization transformed the Eighth into the only information operations and bomber NAF in the Air Force. By 1955 the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress would be entering the inventory in substantial numbers, as prop B-36s were phased out of heavy bombardment units rapidly. This operation involved German pilots of the unit ramming their worn-out Bf 109Gs, each barely armed with only one MG 131 machine gun and 50 rounds of ammunition, into American bombers in order to get the Allies to suspend bombing raids long enough for the Germans to make a significant amount of Me 262A jet fighters. By March 1945 the AAF would make raids with more than 500 heavy bombers, accompanied by American fighters deep into Germany. / The other American-flown Boston had been shot down over De Kooy[6]. if (isMobile()) { Eighth Air Force was relieved from assignment to Strategic Air Command and assigned to the new Air Combat Command (ACC) on 1 June 1992. Bombing of Wilhelmshaven in World War II - Wikipedia Theory was one thing. Activated in the US on I Feb 1942. Says Matzen, "The Eighth Air Force was determined to knock out the German aircraft manufacturing capabilities, so they looked for one week where they could have clear weather to have a series. Phone: 703-584-1501. during the four year period from January 1, 1942 through As a result, Eighth Air Force was incorporated into the new SAC. 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. Initially, Eighth Air Force under SAC consisted of the following: Personnel and equipment from the inactivated 449th Bomb Group were reassigned to the 7th Bomb Group (later 7th Bomb Wing). let isDesktopInit = false;
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