There will be some Buff flying in the next one......
From 1942 to 1945 the sky over the continent of Europe witnessed the greatest air battle ever fought, between the American 8th Air Force and the German Luftwaffe. This battle, conducted in the numbing cold 5 miles over Germany, resulted in the destruction of the German Air Force, and the devastation of its cities and industries.
During the 1920s it was thought that aerial bombardment would be a decisive tactic in future wars. It was thought that bombers could fly over the battlefield deep into enemy territory and bomb vital strategic targets into oblivion. The Italian Gen. Giulio Douhet, along with Lord Trenchard in Britain and General William Mitchell in America, pushed for the construction of strategic bombers. This theory was very controversial and only the strategic bomber programs of the United States and Great Britain had survived the inter-service rivalries and budget cuts.
British Bomber Command was given the first opportunity to demonstrate its prowess when Germany declared war on Poland in September 1939. On 18 December 1939, 22 Wellington Bombers from No. 9, 37, and 149 Squadrons set out to find and destroy German ships operating in the Heligoland Bight. The British bombers were detected on German radar and intercepted by 32 Messerschmitt Me-109s and 16 Me-110s. In a matter of minutes 12 bombers were destroyed with no loss to the interceptors. Unprepared to accept the staggering losses of daylight bombing Bomber Command converted to night bombing.
General Henry H. Arnold, the Commander of the Army Air Corps, and his staff evaluated the British experience. They found that bombing by night was safer, but the accuracy of night bombing was atrocious. In some cases they found that the early night bombing missions did not get a bomb within five miles of the intended target. It was decided that in order to use the heavy bomber effectively it would need to perform its attacks by day.
General Arnold appointed Major General Carl Spaatz to command the Army Air Forces in Europe. He was given the 8th Air Force, which was established on January 28th 1942. Their mission – to carry out a strategic bombing campaign against Germany. Arriving in England in April 1942 the 8th Air Force flew its first mission in August that same year when a group of 12 B17’s heavily escorted by RAF fighter bombed the railway yards in Rouen, France. The missions flown between November 1942 and May 1943 were close to the coast or within range of heavy RAF fighter protection. This gave the crews invaluable experience and minimized losses.
Luftwaffe fighter squadrons Jagdgeschwader (JG) 2 and 24, which defended the area frequented by the American bombers on these early raids, also tested a variety of different tactics to find the weak spots in the new bomber. They found a head-on attack was the best method due to the weak armament up front. The Luftwaffe continued to refine their tactics and fighter planes to counter the threat of strategic daylight bombing.
In April 1943 the 8th Air Force was ready to conduct daylight precision raids against strategic targets in the Reich. The targets included ball bearing plants, fuel refineries and airplane manufacturing facilities. After suffering heavy losses the 8th Air Force returned to attacking targets closer to home and added close escort fighters to its bombing strategy. The heavily armed Republic P47 Thunderbolt and the Lockheed P38 Lightning were in short supply and the P47 was not able to escort the bombers deep into Germany. Without long-range protection, the Luftwaffe would defeat the bomber offensive.
The new North American P-51 Mustang fighter was just arriving. Equipped with drop tanks, the new fighter had a 2,300-mile range allowing it to escort the bombers deep into Germany. With the arrival of the Mustangs, the loss rate of the bombers fell from 9% to just over 3% per mission in a matter of weeks. Throughout 1944 and into 1945, the strategic bombing offensive pummeled the Reich. The industrial cities of the Ruhr were systematically devastated, synthetic fuel production facilities were leveled, and transportation nets were obliterated by the armada of allied bombers that roamed the day and night sky over the Reich
The bombing campaign did not win the war as many experts had predicted, but the offensive contributed substantially to victory. It robbed the Germans of the initiative in the air, crushed many of their vital industries, and demoralized the German people.
The price for this three-year campaign over Europe was substantial. Approximately 30,000 bomber crew lost their lives fighting the Luftwaffe. Seventeen Medals of Honor went to men of the 8th in WWII. By war’s end they awarded a number of other medals: 220 Distinguished Service Crosses, 852 Silver Stars, 7,000 Purple Hearts, 46,000 Distinguished Flying Crosses and 442,000 Air Medals. Many more awards were made after the war. They remain uncounted. There were 261 fighter aces in the 8th Air Force in WWII, 31 of them had 15 or more aircraft kills.
