8th air force wwii roster

The operation was a pyrrhic success for the Luftwaffe as the losses suffered by the German air arm were irreplaceable and over 300 Luftwaffe aircraft were shot down, mostly by Allied anti-aircraft guns. buttons: ['share'], In 2000, the Air Force decided to integrate information operations into Eighth Air Force. [12], On Okinawa, Eighth Air Force derived its headquarters personnel from the inactivated XX Bomber Command, and Lieutenant General James H. Doolittle assumed command, being reassigned from England on 19 July. U.S. Military Personnel that Served in WWII. Half of the U.S. Army Air Forces' casualties in World War II were suffered by Eighth Air Force (more than 47,000 casualties, with more than 26,000 dead). In the year 2000, the Air Force decided to integrate information operations into Eighth Air Force. It was reassigned to Savannah Army Air Base, Georgia on 10 February 1942. This is from where the present-day Eighth Air Force's history, lineage and honors derive. Communist victories in the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 meant that the United States would have to expand SAC to address these potential threats both in Europe as well as Asia. } The Me 262 was also less maneuverable than the P-51 and so trained Allied pilots could turn tighter than an Me 262A. Divisions, Wings & Groups Following the end of the war in Europe in May 1945 plans were made to transfer some of the B-17/B-24 heavy bomber groups of Eighth Air Force to the Pacific Theater of Operations and upgrade them to Boeing B-29 Superfortress Very Heavy (VH) bomb groups. Commanding Officers Connections Activated in the US on I Feb 1942. } The losses of the Allied Air Forces were replaced within weeks. 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. 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. getDetailsURL($(this).parent()) + 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. On 21 January 1951, Lt. Col. William Bertram, commander of the 523rd Fighter-Escort Squadron, shot down the first MiG-15 for the wing and became the first F-84 pilot with a confirmed MiG kill. Eighth Air Force was relieved from assignment to Strategic Air Command and assigned to the new Air Combat Command (ACC) on 1 June 1992. Afterward, engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic targets in Europe. That same day, the VIII BC became Eighth Air Force. That buildup limited the Eighth's Korean War involvement to the deployment of its 27th Fighter Escort Wing. var winWth = $(window).innerWidth(); At Andersen AFB, the Eighth took over the direction of all bombing and refueling operations in Southeast Asia. The next day, the largest formation of German jets ever seen, most likely from the Luftwaffe's specialist 7th Fighter Wing, Jagdgeschwader 7 Nowotny, made attacks on Eighth Air Force bomber formations over Dresden and the oil targets at Essen, shooting down a total of three bombers. Unit records are useful in piecing together stories about a unit or group, as well as about individuals who served in them. Major General James C. Dawkins Jr. assumed command of 8th Air Force on 20 August 2018, after having served as the Deputy Director for Nuclear, Homeland Defense, and Current Operations on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.[13] On 12 June 2020, he was succeeded by Major General Mark E. Weatherington, who had previously served as deputy commander of Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio in Randolph, Texas.[14]. let $this = $('[data-fancybox]').fancybox($.extend(true, {}, $.fancybox.defaults, { The operation failed to achieve air superiority, even temporarily, and the German Army continued to be exposed to air attack. Further ground fire caused damage to his right wing, and the engine caught fire. The 8th AF was primarily engaged in the bombardment of strategic targets in Europe. On 7 May, another 1,000 bombers hit additional targets along the English Channel coast, hitting fortifications, bridges and marshaling areas. 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. Archived from the original on 4 December 2003. Thirty-one of these aces had 15 or more aircraft kills apiece. The next day, over 900 bombers and 700 fighters of Eighth Air Force hit more aircraft factories in the Braunschweig area. Less than a week after "Big Week", Eighth Air Force made its first attack on the Reich's capital, Berlin. return caption; The Japanese, however, surrendered before the Eighth's first combat sortie in the Pacific. In late 1943, the P-51B Mustang was introduced to the European Theater by the USAAF. The Eighth's units played a key role in the 42-day Gulf War in 1991. Last Name. The photograph shows housing destroyed by the RAF during night raids. In a prelude to the invasion of France, American air attacks began in February 1944 against railroad junctions, airfields, ports and bridges in northern France and along the English Channel coastline. These missions, however, carried a high price. The Luftwaffe countered by installing flak alleys along the approach lines in order to protect the Me 262s from the ground and providing top cover with conventional fighters during takeoff and landing. The original Eighth Air Force was redesignated as the United States Strategic Air Forces (USSTAF). } $(".fancybox-caption").removeClass("af3-caption-bg"); Contact Us. afterLoad: function (instance, current) { Of the. 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. The 398th was formed in the United States in 1943 and was stationed in Nuthampstead, England from April 1944 until June 1945. var newImgWth = (origImgWth * ratio); var newImgHgt = (origImgHgt * ratio); Compiled by Bill Varnedoe. var ratio = Math.min(winWth / origImgWth, if (isMobile()) { Later in Dec 1941 headquarters and some crews and planes moved to Australia . The Air Force retired nearly all of its piston-engined B-29/B-50s and they were replaced by new Boeing B-47 Stratojet aircraft. '

' + 316th Bombardment Wing: 1945- 1946. Eighth Air Force, with headquarters at Barksdale Air Force Base in the Bossier City Shreveport, Louisiana metro area, supports U.S. Strategic Command, and is designated as U.S. Strategic Command's Task Force 204, providing on-alert, combat-ready forces to the president. However, the Luftwaffe jets were simply too few and too late to have any serious effect on the Allied air armadas now sweeping over the Reich with near-impunity. Dates shown are when the Group was operational. A handful remained in service performing non-combat duties through the mid-1950s as air-sea rescue aircraft (SB-17, SB-24); photo-reconnaissance aircraft (RB-17, RB-24), and as unmanned target drones (QB-17) and their controllers (DB-17). At MacDill, Eighth Air Force headquarters were manned chiefly by personnel from the 58th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, stationed at Fort Worth Army Air Fied, Texas. As part of this plan, Eighth Air Force headquarters was reassigned to Sakugawa (Kadena Airfield), Okinawa, on 16 July 1945, being assigned to the United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific without personnel or equipment. In addition, almost 300 German aircraft of all types were destroyed in strafing attacks. caption += $(this).find('figcaption').html() + Moved to Egypt and began operations on 12 Nov 1942, participating in the Allied drive across Egypt and Libya, the campaign in Tunisia, and the invasions of Sicily and Italy. In 1965, Eighth Air Force entered combat again, this time in Southeast Asia. After Korean War, on 13 June 1955 SAC moved the unit to Westover AFB, Massachusetts, where it transitioned to the jet age. We must have a valid email address! Air Offensive, Europe ; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace ; Central Europe; Asiatic-Pacific Theater. Men born between about 1877 and . afterShow: function (instance, current) { On 24 February, with the weather clearing over central Germany, Eighth Air Force sent over 800 bombers, hitting Schweinfurt and attacks on the Baltic coast, with a total of 11 B-17s being lost. We need help with transcribing data. Some 230 B-24s hit the Messerschmitt Bf 110 assembly plant at Gotha with a loss of 24 aircraft. }); 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. was activated on 28 January 1942 at the Chatham Armory in Savannah, Georgia. 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]. Eighth Air Force also provides conventional forces to U.S. Joint Forces Command and provides nuclear capable bombers, specified Global Strike assets, and C2ISR capabilities to U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM). Regular combat operations by the VIII Bomber Command began on 17 August 1942, when the 97th Bombardment Group flew twelve Boeing B-17E Flying Fortresses on the first VIII Bomber Command heavy bomber mission of the war from RAF Grafton Underwood, attacking the Rouen-Sotteville marshalling yards in France. in World War II. In 1965, Eighth Air Force entered combat again, this time in Southeast Asia. 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. World War II U.S. Military Records Search. During World War II, Eighth Air Force earned a reputation as a great warfighting organization. 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. 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. 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. 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. With each step through 2002, the Eighth continues to add more feats to its growing legacy. The command serves as Air Forces Strategic Global Strike, one of the air components of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). $(".af3-caption-body").removeClass(detailSize); winHgt / origImgHgt); Looking for Roster of American Officers in the 3rd Army at Operation Dragoon during WWII 0. By 6 June, Allied fighter pilots had succeeded in damaging or destroying hundreds of locomotives, thousands of motorized vehicles, and many bridges. The Mighty Eighth's modern history is equally impressive. Constituted as Philippine Department AF on 16 Aug 1941. 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 . Read more about Supporting the AALCM. 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. Stations: Langley Field, Va, 1 Feb 1942; Savannah AB, Ga, c. 10 Feb 1942; Daws Hill, England, 23 Feb 1942; High Wycombe, England, 15 May 1942-16 Jul 1945; Okinawa, 16 Jul 19457 Jun 1946; MacDill Field, Fla, 7 Jun 1946; Ft Worth AAFld, Tex, I Nov 1946; Westover AFB, Mass, Jun 1g55-. 1st Bomb Division Markings 2nd Bomb Division Markings 3rd Bomb Division Markings Sources: About 23 February, the VIII BC moved to England, first to Daws Hill and later to High Wycombe, where it established its wartime headquarters in the Wycombe Abbey school for girls. We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Performance and Statistics Charts, 1943-1945 for the Eighth Air Force in the Records of the Army Air Forces (Record Group 18) that may contain some relevant information. '
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8th air force wwii roster