8th air force bombing missions in wwii

' + The 93rd Bomb Group was activated on March 1, 1942, under the command of Colonel Edward J. Timberlake at Barksdale Army Air Field in Louisiana. Under ACC, the Eighth received control over active duty, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard units in the central U. S. and two overseas locations. function captionToggle() { Bombers from the US Eighth Air Force carrying out a raid across Germany in 1943 in footage shot by director William Wyler in 1943 and restored after being recovered from the National Archives. let isDesktopInit = false; Most crews never made it past their fifth. Flying Royal Air Force (RAF) Boston light bombers, six American crews of the 15th Bombardment Squadron, and six RAF crews of 226th Squadron attacked German Luftwaffe (air force) airfields. While posturing itself for that mission change, the Eighth also supported Operation ENDURING FREEDOM against terrorists in Afghanistan, and NOBLE EAGLE for the homeland defense of America. With the end of combat in Southeast Asia, the Eighth Air Force moved without personnel or equipment to Barksdale Air Force Base Louisiana on 1 January 1975, absorbing the resources of Second Air Force. By wars end, the AAF had built the 8th Air Force in England into a major contributor to final victory. 305th Operations Group - Wikipedia 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. In the aftermath of the Battle of Kasserine Pass, US II Corps passed to the command of General Harold Alexanders 18th Army Group. The intensive bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong during 11 days in December 1972, known as Operation Linebacker II, was but one highlight of those war years. 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. Many had dozens of aerial victories; some had over 100. On 22 February 1944, a massive reorganization of American airpower took place in Europe. A strategic air force was that with a mission to attack an enemy's war effort beyond his front-line forces, predominantly production and supply facilities, whereas a tactical air force supported ground campaigns, usually with objectives selected through co-operation with the armies. '">DETAILS'; Fighting the Allies during the North African campaign of 1942-1943, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommels Afrika Korps (DAK) was resupplied by a concerted air and sea lift effort. While the pioneers of American military aviation had not anticipated all the challenges of the campaign, determination, technical acumen, flexible leadership, and thorough planning drove success. A popular saying at the time was that to fly in the Eighth Air Force then was like holding a ticket to a funeral your own.Abnormal behavior became more common. October 8s target was the shipyard in dreaded Bremen, known as Flak City by the aircrews. (Heavy Bombers) and as an historical record of events that took place in Europe during World War II. By 1945, all but one of the Eighth Air Force fighter groups were equipped with the P-51D. Airmen were asked to complete a 25-mission quota at a time when the life expectancy of a crew didn't surpass six missions. In the grisly battle for European air supremacy, the Luftwaffe proveda deadly foe to Allied bombers. 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. 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. caption += '