Eighth Air Force

The Eighth Air Force was the primary component of the U.S. Army Air Forces based in England during World War II. It carried out bomber operations against Nazi-occupied Europe and the German homeland, bombing by day while the British Royal Air Force carried out night raids. Eighth Air Force fighter aircraft also engaged the German Luftwaffe in intense dogfights for mastery of the skies above Western Europe.

Eighth Air Force

Jimmy Stewart’s rise from Private to Colonel

By Sam McGowan

Jimmy Stewart is arguably the only prewar American actor of superstar magnitude to have served in a sustained combat role during World War II, and the only one to have served in a position of command. Read more

Eighth Air Force

WWII Warplanes: The Superb Supermarine Spitfire

By Sam McGowan

In the annals of World War II, one of the most famous airplanes is the British-developed Supermarine Spitfire, an agile, elliptical-wing fighter that has become synonymous with the Royal Air Force victory in the Battle of Britain. Read more

Eighth Air Force

Mission Critical Overlord Weather

By Gene J. Pfeffer

Operation Overlord, the cross-Channel attack that hit the Nazi-occupied beaches of Normandy in 1944, was the culmination of a grand strategy adopted early in the war, followed sporadically during the years of conflict, and aimed at defeating Hitler’s Reich by striking directly at Germany by invasion. Read more

Eighth Air Force

Tale of the Biscuit Bomber: The C-47 in WWII

By Sam McGowan

Even though, technically at least, it was not a combat airplane, the performance of the Douglas C-47 transport led General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower to label it as one of the most important weapons of World War II. Read more

The fire-bombing raids on Japan constituted all-out war on a civilian population.

Eighth Air Force

War on Civilians

The fire-bombing raids on Japan constituted all-out war on a civilian population. By Sam McGowan

It was a method of warfare that would have been anathema to Americans only a few short years before. Read more

Eighth Air Force

German Antiaircraft Defenses

By Allyn Vannoy

During the Allied air campaign against the Third Reich in World War II, well over a million tons of bombs were dropped on German territory, killing nearly 300,000 civilians and wounding another 780,000. Read more

Courtesy of the Army Air Corps, allied airpower played a significant role in turning the tide at the Battle of the Bulge.

Eighth Air Force

The Army Air Corps at the Battle of the Bulge

by Michael D. Hull

At daybreak on December 16, 1944, three senior officers in the Army Air Corps and a Royal Air Force air vice marshal arrived at an elegant chateau near the town of Spa in southeastern Belgium that was the headquarters of Lt. Read more

A twin-boomed P-38 Lightning flies over snow-capped mountain peaks. With its tremendous range and firepower, the P-38 saw service in every major theater of World War II.

Eighth Air Force

What Made the Lockheed P-38 Lightning So Special?

By Sam McGowan

Due largely to their use in the postwar U.S. Army Air Forces and present proliferation among the air show community, the North American P-51 Mustang is thought of by many as the most important American fighter of World War II. Read more

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