8th air force wwii roster

Two days later, on 23 January, the 27th FEW participated in the raid on Sinuju Airfield in North Korea and shot down four more MiG-15s. ), Data from Air Force Combat Units of World War II By Maurer, Maurer, Published 1986. Air Offensive, Europe ; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace ; Central Europe; Asiatic-Pacific Theater. 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 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. 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. var newImgWth = (origImgWth * ratio); function getDownloadURL(fbObj) { If you don't know of anyone in your family who served during the war, consider asking your family or looking at your family tree for those who would have been the right age to have registered for the draft or who may have served. 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. By the time of the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, Eighth Air Force consisted of the following units: On 25 June 1950, the armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) invaded South Korea. On 25 February, both Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces hit numerous targets at Frth airfield, Augsburg and Regensburg, attacking Messerschmitt Bf 110 and Bf 109 plants. $(".af3-caption-body").animate({ height: displayhgt }, 800); They numbered 350,000 men and women with over 54,000 killed in combat or taken prisoner. // Animation complete. Eighth Air Force also supports STRATCOM's Joint Force Headquarters Information Operations and serves as the command element for Air Force wide computer network operations. In 2000, the Air Force decided to integrate information operations into Eighth Air Force. The 1948 blockade of West Berlin by the Eastern bloc and the outbreak of the Cold War caused the United States to deploy SAC's B-29 bomber force back to the United Kingdom and West Germany. 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. 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. It was a last-ditch effort to keep up the momentum of the German forces during the stagnant stage of the Battle of the Bulge (Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein). 4th Bombardment Wing: 1942-1943. / Its flexible, conventional and nuclear deterrence mission provides the capability to deploy forces and engage enemy threats from home station or forward positioned, anywhere, any time. return isMobile; The VIII Bomber Command launched its first raid in North-western Europe on 4 July 1942, when six RAF Douglas A-20 Havocs flown by crews of the 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light) (accompanied by another six Bostons from the more experienced No. 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. 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. History. As part of this realignment, most SAC bomber forces west of the Mississippi River were reassigned to 15th AF. 8th AF 448th BG World War II. The mission of "The Mighty Eighth" is to safeguard America's interests through strategic deterrence and global combat power. Thirty-one of these aces had 15 or more aircraft kills apiece. 8th Air Force commander relieves two commanders at Minot. 8 th AirForce.com. With the loss of two American crews, this first mission . caption += '

' + Annual Dues fund our work including the magazine* and reunions. SAC fighter wings assigned to Eighth Air Force were: Fighter escorts were no longer needed once SAC was equipped with Boeing B-47 Stratojet and then Boeing B-52 Stratofortress jet bombers carrying nuclear bombs. His directive was simple: "Win the air war and isolate the battlefield. Fighters from both Eighth and Ninth Air Forces made wide sweeps over the area, mounting strafing missions at airfields and rail networks. See What the 8th Air Force is up to Today! Why pay every year? In all, twelve aircraft factories were attacked, with the B-17s heading to Leipzig (Allgemeine Transportanlagen-Gesellschaft[de] Junkers Ju 88 production and Erla Maschinenwerk[de] Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters), Bernburg-Strenzfeld (Junkers Ju 88 plant) and Oschersleben (AGO plant making Focke Wulf Fw 190A fighters), while the B-24s hitting the Gothaer Waggonfabrik (production of Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters), the Fw 190 Arado Flugzeugwerke plant at Tutow and Heinkel's "Heinkel-Nord" headquarters at Rostock (production of He 111 bombers). Eighth Air Force bomb wings, stationed in the Persian Gulf region, also attacked Iraq's Republican Guard forces and numerous key strategic targets, while other units provided air refueling and tactical reconnaissance throughout the conflict. Eighth Air Force has five Regular Air Force bomb wings, two Air Reserve Total Force Integration bomb wings (one in Air Force Reserve Command and one in the Air National Guard), and one detachment in the continental United States. 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. In 1965, Eighth Air Force entered combat again, this time in Southeast Asia. Within a few years, B-47 medium and B-52s heavy bombers replaced the Eighth's older B-29, B-50, and B-36 bombers. Throughout the first six months of Enduring Freedom, the Mighty Eighth's bombers were instrumental in the eradication of many targets and opposing combatants in Afghanistan. 301st Fighter Wing: 1945- 1946. Activated in the US on I Feb 1942. We welcome members of the 388 FBW (Korea) the 388 TFW (VietNam) and the 388 FW (today). The reorganization transformed the Eighth into the only information operations and bomber NAF in the Air Force. This is from where the present-day Eighth Air Force's history, lineage and honors derive. Description Ask questions about records of the U.S. Army, Air Force, . Although there were many available which were returned from Twentieth Air Force in the Pacific Theater they were war-weary from the many long combat missions flown during the war. Cold and clear weather was predicted for the last week of February 1944. return ' 0 && $(".af3-caption-body").css("height") != undefined) { Under Air Force Global Strike Command since 1 Feb 2010, Eighth Air Force controls strategic bomber (e.g., B-2 Spirit and B-52 Stratofortress, and B-1 Lancer) forces throughout the United States and overseas locations. $(".fancy-photo-detail-link").addClass("photo-detail-gradient"); As a contrast, the Luftwaffe was undertaking the sixth major raid of the "Baby Blitz" the following night (20/21 February), with only some 165 German aircraft sortieing against British targets. The USAAF now finally had an aircraft that could compete on equal terms with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and the later models of the Messerschmitt Bf 109. 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]. Altogether, the Eighth's bombers flew 325 sorties to drop over 7 million pounds of ordnance on enemy targets in that campaign. Constituted as VIII Bomber Command on 19 Jan 1942. 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. 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. Another 305 enlisted gunners were also recognized as aces. afterShow: function (instance, current) { let displayhgt = "95vh"; } Dear Val Burgess, Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! 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. The Eighth's combat record also shows 566 aces (261 fighter pilots with 31 having 15 or more victories and 305 enlisted gunners), over 440,000 bomber sorties to drop 697,000 tons of bombs, and over 5,100 aircraft losses and 11,200 aerial victories. These bomb wings were drastically undermanned and under equipped. Importantly, the Eighth's bombing effectiveness influenced the North Vietnamese to end hostilities. Contact Us. 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-. 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. The other American-flown Boston had been shot down over De Kooy[6]. '

' + return; Commanding Officers Connections Men born between about 1877 and . Click here to view more information on the tours, American Ex-Prisoners of War Service Foundation. This was largely so that the Air Force could perpetuate the names of groups that had distinguished themselves in World War II. 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. U.S. Military Personnel that Served in WWII. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Located at Hunter Field, Colonel Asa N. Duncan was the first commander. fbObj.find(".actions .details").attr("href") + . $(".fancy-photo-detail-link").html($(".fancy-photo-detail-link").html().replace("SHOW", "CLOSE")); Constituted as Philippine Department AF on 16 Aug 1941. During World War II, under the leadership of such generals as Ira Eaker and Jimmy Doolittle, the VIII BC (then Eighth Air Force) formed the greatest air armada in history. 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. 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. } 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). During World War II, the offensive air forces of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) came to be classified as strategic or tactical. closeDetails(); 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. 316th Bombardment Wing: 1945- 1946. $currentSlide.find(".fancy-detail-link").on("touchstart", function() { captionToggle(); }); 2023 Dues are due in January. Notably, the Eighth's units played a key role in the 42-day Gulf War in 1991. 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. Seventeen Medals of Honor went to Eighth Air Force personnel during the war. $(".af3-caption-body").addClass(detailSize); In late 1943, the P-51B Mustang was introduced to the European Theater by the USAAF. Activated in the US on I Feb 1942. From May 1942 to July 1945, the Eighth planned and precisely executed America's daylight strategic bombing campaign against Nazi-occupied Europe, and in doing so the organization compiled an impressive war record. It was created from a. ROSTER OF AIRMEN. showFBShare() + Eighth Air Force 139. $(".closing-box, .closingx").on("touchstart", function() { captionToggle(); }); The first escort mission for the bombers was not flown until 5 December. The assets of the former training units were simply assigned to Eighth Air Force. Fifteenth Air Force relocated to March Air Force Base, California. 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. 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. let debounceTimer; After the Southeast Asian war, Eighth Air Force moved on 1 January 1975 to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. It became operational on 7 November 1942 (along with the 44th, 91st and 303rd . During the Cold War (1945-1991), 8 AF was one of three Numbered Air Forces of the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC), with a three-star general headquartered at Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts commanding USAF strategic bombers and missiles on a global scale. The 27th was relieved of its duties supporting U.N. forces in Korea and returned to Bergstrom AFB on 31 July 1951, but was redeployed to Misawa AB, Japan during 6 October 1952 13 February 1953 to provide air defense. 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. else { Although some personnel and combat units were assigned before V-J Day, the Eighth did not participate in combat against Japan. Rolls-Royce engineers rapidly realized that equipping the Mustang with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine with its two speed, two stage supercharger would substantially improve performance. For this reason, Eighth Air Force is commonly known as the "Mighty Eighth." INSIGNE. } fbObj.find(".actions .download").attr("href") + The nuclear arms race shifted into high gear. The Eighth's combat record also shows 566 aces (261 fighter pilots with 31 having 15 or more victories and 305 enlisted gunners), over 440,000 bomber sorties to drop 697,000 tons of bombs, and over 5,100 aircraft losses and 11,200 aerial victories. It was the largest of the deployed combat Army Air Forces in numbers of personnel, aircraft, and equipment. $(".fancybox-caption__body").prepend(prependClosing()); Login; Frequently Asked . 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. 8th Air Force (ETO) Operational Units. That same day, the VIII BC became Eighth Air Force. function isMobile() { During World War II, under the leadership of such Generals as Eaker and Jimmy Doolittle, the 8th AF became the greatest air armada in history. After the war in Europe, the Mighty Eighth moved to Okinawa in July 1945, where the unit started to train new bomber groups for combat against Japan. It played an important role in many missions now recognized as key to winning WWII such as D-Day, Munster, Schweinfurt, and the raid on Berlin. debounceTimer = setTimeout(function () { In the 1980s, the Eighth participated in several key operations such as running the tanker task force for Operation Urgent Fury in 1983 and directing all air refueling operations for Operation El Dorado Canyon in 1986 and Operation Just Cause in 1989. The command conducted the heavy bombardment operations of Eighth AF from 17 Aug 1942 until early in 1944. To reduce the risk to its bomber fleet in the United States, Eighth Air Force aircraft stood nuclear alert, providing a deterrent against an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union. 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. 2d Bombardment Wing: 1942-1943. These data were taken from the Loading Lists of the 385th BG combat missions missions, preserved in the U. S. National Archives in College Park, MD. 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. showFBShare(); 5 months ago. Vast fleets of B-24s and B-17s escorted by P-51Ds and long-range P-38Ls hit refineries in Germany and Czechoslovakia in late 1944 and early 1945. . Less than a week after "Big Week", Eighth Air Force made its first attack on the Reich's capital, Berlin. This air force lost most of its men and equipment in the defense of the Philippines after 7 Dec 1941. Start here! On 6 March 1944, over 700 heavy bombers along with 800 escort fighters of the Eighth Air Force hit numerous targets within Berlin, dropping the first American bombs on the capital of the Third Reich. let detailSize = "full"; Visit our 8th Air Force Honor Project with rosters of servicemen who served in the groups of the 8th. 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. Men and women continue the fight for liberty and peace serving in the 8th Air Force now headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport, Louisiana. We need help with transcribing data. It was reassigned to Savannah Army Air Base, Georgia on 10 February 1942. On 27 June, the United Nations Security Council voted to assist the South Koreans in resisting the invasion. 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. function prependClosing() { Afterward, engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic targets in Europe. } Eighth Air Force Bomb Group Tail Markings Prior to 13 September 1943 -- Several Groups were not yet assigned. Redesignated Ninth AF in Apr 1942. Eighth Air Force remained in Okinawa until 7 June 1946. Last Name Beginning With (B) Updated 6/2/12. 8th and 15th AF flight, ground crew and crash photos: B-24, B-17, P-51, B-26, P-47, P-38. 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. An official website of the United States government, Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil. var dstTop = Math.floor((winHgt - newImgHgt)) / 2; 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. 12th Bombardment Wing: 1942-1944. Read here to learn more about who the 8th Air Force is. The P-51 Mustang first entered squadron service in Europe with the British in early 1942; the Allison V-1710-engined P-51A (Mustang I) having much success with the RAF, although it found the aircraft's performance inadequate at higher altitudes. Kegelman's aircraft lost altitude and even bounced off the ground, but he was able to bring the damaged bomber home and received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) from General Spaatz on 11 July. return '

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