fbObj.find(".actions .details").attr("href") + The following day, on 9 March, H2X radar-equipped B-17s mounted a third attack on the Reich capital through clouds. The 91st Bomb Group Memorial Association's (BGMA) purpose is to keep alive the spirit of the 91st BG (H) and to maintain the fellowship of all those who fought together in WWII . } 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. We must have a valid email address! Eighth Air Force Historical Society 8th Air Force Bases in England Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB Air Force Personnel Center Barksdale AFB, Louisiana (Current 8th AF headquarters) Department of Veterans Affairs Fold 3 by Ancestry.com MacArthur Memorial Kassel Mission National Archives and Records . 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. var winWth = $(window).innerWidth(); Allied bomber escort fighters would fly high above the bombers diving from this height gave them extra speed, thus reducing the speed difference. 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 305th was activated in the United States in March 1942 and moved to England in August-October. Were proud to be able to present archival issues below: INSTRUCTIONSStart here! These missions, however, carried a high price. Beeby, John O. 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. 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. A Tradition Since 1942. 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. As part of this realignment, most SAC bomber forces west of the Mississippi River were reassigned to 15th AF. They numbered 350,000 men and women with over 54,000 killed in combat or taken prisoner. . }, The command serves as Air Forces Strategic Global Strike, one of the air components of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). It could fly as far on its internal fuel tanks as the P-47 could with drop tanks. Eighth Air Force was relieved from assignment to Strategic Air Command and assigned to the new Air Combat Command (ACC) on 1 June 1992. The modern day Eighth Air Force traces its lineage to the VIII BC, which came to life on 1 February 1942 at Langley Field, Virginia. However, the only reliable way of dealing with the jets, as with the even faster Me 163B Komet rocket fighters, was to attack them on the ground and during takeoff and landing. }, For the Mighty Eighth, that change heralded an interesting future, one that bring further restructuring, different aircraft system purchases, and a new challenging mission to the NAF. var isMobile = false; //initiate as false }, Eighth Air Force's effort was over 1,000 B-17s and B-24s and over 800 fighters and the RAF provided sixteen squadrons of North American P-51 Mustangs and Supermarine Spitfires in addition. From 1946 through 1949, what little money became available was used to buy new planes (Boeing B-50 Superfortress, Convair B-36 Peacemaker) for SAC, and as the newer aircraft became available, the older B-29s were sent to storage depots or sent to Air Force Reserve units for training missions. Email. Ruddy, Gerard A. HQ Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute . $(".fancybox-button").css("display", "block"); The organization reported administratively to the Fifteenth Air Force at Colorado Springs, Colorado. In addition, German airfields in France and Belgium were attacked. getDetailsURL($(this).parent()) + 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. Eighth Air Force remained in Okinawa until 7 June 1946. Our Society is one of many organizations across the country that honor and preserve the legacy of the Mighty Eighth. It was created from a. ROSTER OF AIRMEN. $(".af3-caption-body").addClass(detailSize); 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. Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Gebara, commander of 8th Air Force, relieved two commanders today from their positions of leadership at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, due to a loss of confidence in their ability to complete their assigned duties."These personnel actions were necessary to maintain the very afterClose: function () { Please include this amount with your annual renewal or new membership! The Eighth Air Force includes the heart of America's heavy bomber force: the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the Rockwell B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber, and the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber aircraft. $(".af3-caption-body").removeClass(detailSize); caption += $(this).find('figcaption').html() + , founded in 1975 by an original 8th Air Force pilot, Lt. Col. John Woolnough, serv as a central organization for its individual State Chapters and Wings. 8th Air Force 448th Bomb Group, England WWII - TaraCopp. REGISTRATIONRegister for the 2023 Reunion, REUNION SCHEDULEClick here to view the schedule, TOUR INFORMATIONClick here to view more information on the tours. $(".fancybox-caption__body").removeClass("half"); By the late 1940s, the B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators used in the European Theater of the war were thoroughly obsolete as combat aircraft and were mostly sent to the smelters. let displayhgt = "95vh"; Personnel and group records to digital. 'Tooey' Spaatz (right). Eighth Air Force did not strike at oil industry targets until 13 May 1944 when 749 bombers, escorted by almost 740 fighters, pounded oil targets in the Leipzig area and at Brx in Czechoslovakia. if ($(".fancybox-caption__body").hasClass("af3-caption-body")) { getDownloadURL($(this).parent()) + debounceTimer = setTimeout(function () { 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]. The 8th AAF suffered 26,000 deaths out of the 350,000 officers and men. 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. Login; Frequently Asked . 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. $(".af3-caption-body").animate({ height: displayhgt }, 800); let detailSize = "full"; Read more about Supporting the AALCM. Read here to learn more about who the 8th Air Force is. 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. Later in Dec 1941 headquarters and some crews and planes moved to Australia . Afterward, engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic targets in Europe. As a professional researcher and World War II historian, Bill Beigel provides research services to genealogists, historians, authors, and civilians who are looking for information found in WW2 military unit records. As the nuclear weapons carried by the bombers were so powerful that only one plane was assigned to a target that might have previously needed a whole bomb group of aircraft. winHgt / origImgHgt); Contact Us. It became operational on 7 November 1942 (along with the 44th, 91st and 303rd . $(".fancybox-caption").removeClass("af3-caption-bg"); These Veterans, born in the 1920s and before, were members of the greatest air armada of all time. 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. Documenting History Since a complete roster of World War II Eighth Air Force veterans has never existed, the Research Center is compiling its own list known as the Veterans' Database. Commanders: Maj Gen Ira C Eaker, 23 Feb 1942; Brig Gen Newton Longfellow, 2 Dec 1942; Maj Gen Frederick L Anderson, I Jul 1943; Lt Gen James H Doolittle, 6 Jan 1944; Maj Gen William E Kepner, 10 May 1945; Maj Gen Westside T Larson, 21 Jun 1945; Lt Gen James H Doolittle, 19 Jul 1945; Maj Gen Earle E Partridge, 12 Sep 1945; Brig Gen Patrick W Timberlake, 30 Nov 1945-unkn; Col Neil B Harding, c. 16 Aug 1946; Brig Gen Roger M Ramey, I Nov 1946; Maj Gen Clements McMullen, 12 Nov 1946; Maj Gen Roger M Ramey, 16 Dec 1946; Maj Gen Archie J Old Jr, 15 Jun 1950; Lt Gen Samuel E Anderson, 14 Aug 1950; Maj Gen John B Montgomery, 8 May 1953;Maj Gen James C Selser Jr, 13 Jun 1955; Maj Gen Walter C Sweeney Jr, 6 Aug 1955-. As the new commander of the Eighth Air Force from January 1944 onwards, Major General Jimmy Doolittle's major influence on the European air war occurred early that year when he made a critical change to the policy requiring escorting fighters to remain with the bombers at all times. 3d Air Division: 1943-1945. }); At its peak, the 8th AF had the ability to launch more than 2,000 four-engine bombers and 1,000 fighters on a single mission. Importantly, the Eighth's bombing effectiveness influenced the North Vietnamese to end hostilities. During the Cold War (19451991), 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. 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