how many 8th air force died in ww2

[40][n 14] Accelerated programs followed in the Air Corps that repeatedly revised expansion goals, resulting in plans for 84 combat groups, 7,799 combat aircraft, and the annual addition to the force of 30,000 new pilots and 100,000 technical personnel. Flight clothing varied widely by theater of operation and type of mission. [90] New graduates of training schools fleshed out the satellite group and also restored the parent group to its overstrength size. Marshall implemented a compromise that the Air Corps found entirely inadequate, naming Arnold as acting "Deputy Chief of Staff for Air" but rejecting all organizational points of his proposal. However, when women's versions of these items were not available, as was often the case during the war, men's issue items were used instead. [145] The oval service cap was fitted with a spring stiffening device called a grommet, and prior to World War II uniform regulations authorized officers to remove the grommet to permit the use of headsets. Most jackets featured a Mouton fur or shearling collar, but a popular variation known as the "tanker jacket" had a wool knit collar that was less confining. The balance of the force included 26 Pursuit groups (renamed fighter group in May 1942), 9 Observation (renamed Reconnaissance) groups, and 6 Transport (renamed Troop Carrier or Combat Cargo) groups. His plane was salvaged not scrapped due to damage suffered in 1945 0n a reconnisence mission. [73] The leases were negotiated for the AAF by the Corps of Engineers, often to the economic detriment of hotel owners in rental rates, wear and tear clauses, and short-notice to terminate leases. However considerable opposition to a large peacetime military establishment, and to the financial cost of such an establishment, resulted in planning cuts to 48 groups. [17][21] The three components replaced a multiplicity of branches and organizations, reduced the WDGS greatly in size, and proportionally increased the representation of the air forces members on it to 50%. The colors essentially mirrored those of their male counterparts of corresponding rank in the equivalent service uniform although fabrics differed. [11] The commanding general of AFCC gained control of his stations and court martial authority over his personnel,[12] but under the new field manual FM-5 the Army General Headquarters had the power to detach units from AFCC at will by creating task forces, the WDGS still controlled the AAF budget and finances, and the AAF had no jurisdiction over units of the Army Service Forces providing "housekeeping services" as support[n 4] nor of air units, bases, and personnel located outside the continental United States. 7, p. 514), The 15 new slots consisted of a lieutenant general, four major generals, and ten brigadier generals. 29, 33, 40, 41, 43, and 68. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFutrell1951 (, Mooney and Williamson (1956), chart p. 30. USAF Historical Study No. Note: the placement of the Bomb Groups on the map does not accurately indicate their actual locations in England. Either shirt could be worn under the coat; however, the cotton shirt could not be worn as an outer garment with the wool trousers. The term "Air Force" also appeared prominently in Frank Capra's 1945 War Department indoctrination film "War Comes to America", of the famous iconic "Why We Fight" series, as an animated map graphic of equal prominence to that of the Army and Navy. Army Regulations No. Craven and Cate, Vol. [67][n 21] By the end of World War II, 320 generals were authorized for service within the wartime AAF. A strategy stressing precision bombing of industrial targets by heavily armed, long-range bombers emerged, formulated by the men who would become its leaders.[5]. He was stationed in Thurleigh as part of the 306th Bombardment Group (H). WebThese missions, however, carried a high price. A rebuilt air force of 70 groups, the authorized peacetime strength, was anticipated, with reserve and national guard forces to be available for active duty in an emergency. [136] The wool necktie for the winter uniform was black and the summer necktie was khaki cotton, originally. [152] Flight clothing such as the A-2 jacket was not authorized to be worn off the camp or post unless required for flight duty. The committee also reported that its recommendation was approved by "Generals of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower, Fleet Admirals Chester W. Nimitz and William F. Halsey and numerous other leading military and naval personnel". 2; Section II, para. An initial "25-group program", announced in April 1939, called for 50,000 men. (, 39,323 WACs were assigned to the AAF in January 1945. Generally, very heavy bombardment (B-29) and fighter groups had three flying squadrons assigned while all other types had four. 6, pp. [160] On 23 February 1942, the GHQ AF patch was discontinued and the service-wide AAF sleeve insignia ("Hap Arnold Emblem") approved. WebPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt The Mighty Eighth Air Force The 8th Air Force was a bomber command unit formed at the Army Air Base in Savannah, Georgia on January 28, The uniform was worn with either the ANC light blue or white shirt and black tie. The map below indicates all the the 8th Air Force Bomb Groups stationed in England during the war. [63] Nearly 40,000 women served in the WAACs and WACs as AAF personnel,[64][n 20] more than 1,000 as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), and 6,500 as nurses in the Army Air Forces, including 500 flight nurses. Whenever the shirt was worn as an outer garment the necktie was tucked between the second and third button of the shirt. When the U.S. entered the war, however, the number of groups actually trained to a standard of combat proficiency had barely surpassed the total originally authorized by the first expansion program in 1940. [126][75][n 60]. WebThe 8th Air Force loses six Mustangs and 13 bombers while the Lutwaffe, using the new jet powered Me 262s and air-to-air rockets, lose only two planes, despite being outnumbered WebThat record, however, carried a high price. Soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, in recognition of importance of the role of the Army Air Forces, Arnold was given a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the planning staff that served as the focal point of American strategic planning during the war, in order that the United States would have an air representative in staff talks with their British counterparts on the Combined Chiefs. Officers could wear trousers matching the color and fabric of the coat, or optionally they were allowed taupe colored, officially called "drab shade 54", trousers of the same material as the coat, nicknamed "pinks", leading to the nickname "pinks and greens" for the iconic combination. We directly support the repository at WW2.ORG, and several other worthwhile projects that add to the historical record. Your email address will not be published. Approximately $671 billion in 2016 dollars, calculated from 1945. The, Created 10 June 1942 from an expanded Air Corps Ferrying Command established 19 May 1941. National WWII Glider Pilots Association, Inc. House Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Army_Air_Forces&oldid=1162763023, Military units and formations of the United States in World War II, 20th-century military history of the United States, Military units and formations established in 1941, Military units and formations disestablished in 1947, 1947 disestablishments in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with dead external links from December 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with dead external links from February 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0. [81][n 27], The six support commands organized between March 1941 and April 1942 to support and supply the numbered air forces remained on the same chain of command echelon as the numbered air forces, under the direct control of Headquarters Army Air Forces. Webh. 139: Greenfield, Col. Kent Roberts (1948). Awards earned by personnel of 8th Air On 1 July 1942 the War Department first set a one-year tour of duty for all AAF combat crews, but a simple, uniform policy service-wide was unrealistic and never put into effect. However, working closely with General Arnold and engaging the capacity of the American automotive industry brought about an effort that produced almost 100,000 aircraft in 1944. [112] Replacement limitations and operational requirements caused the modification of basic AAF policy several times during the war. (Nalty, p. 235). The 8th AF became the greatest air armada in history, and by mid-1944 it reached a total strength of more than 200,000 people. WebThe United States Army Air Forces incurred 12% of the Army's 936,000 battle casualties in World War II. 5, pp. Correll, "The US Army Air Forces at War", p. 32. [39], Following the successful German invasion of France and the Low Countries in May 1940, Roosevelt asked Congress for a supplemental appropriation of nearly a billion dollars, a production program of 50,000 aircraft a year, and a military air force of 50,000 aircraft (of which 36,500 would be Army). [86][97] With the partial demobilization of the forces in Europe, the total of active groups in the AAF had been reduced to 213. However, when war broke out in September 1939 the Air Corps still had only 800 first-line combat aircraft and 76 bases, including 21 major installations and depots. 6, pp. The 381st lost seven of 18 deployed. Aerial warfare branch of the United States Army from 1941 to 1947, For the current active service branch, see, Toggle Organization and equipment subsection, Srpskohrvatski / , Unity of command problems in the Air Corps, Night fighter squadrons were not organized into groups, For reconnaissance units, the organization of squadrons rather than groups is shown because groups did not have a standard number or types of squadrons assigned, Identification patch for flying personnel in combat areas, Wing emblems of the United States Air Force, Group emblems of the United States Air Force, Squadron emblems of the United States Air Force, Three examples of the negative effects of this long-ingrained policy, even after creation of the AAF, occurred in Hawaii in the six months preceding the Japanese. 176 and 378. (Craven and Cate, Vol. Command of Headquarters AAF resided in a Chief of Air Staff and three deputies. Arnold began to build reserves in tactical units to provide enough personnel for multiple crews for each aircraft but was hampered by the rotation policies, particularly among those fighting in Europe. [57], Air crew needs resulted in the successful training of 43,000 bombardiers, 49,000 navigators, and 309,000 flexible gunners, many of whom also specialized in other aspects of air crew duties. He was one of the founding members of the 8th Air Force Historical society founded at the Marco Polo Hotel in Miami FL IN 1975. [85] The Army Air Forces fielded a total of 318 combat groups at some point during World War II, with an operational force of 243 combat groups in 1945.[86]. [6] GHQ Air Force organized combat groups administratively into a strike force of three wings deployed to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts but was small in comparison to European air forces. ). [140], The male officer's winter service uniform consisted of a coat of finer wool fabric in olive drab shade No. [56] Pilot standards were changed to reduce the minimum age from 20 to 18, and eliminated the educational requirement of at least two years of college. A division of the GHQ Air Force into four geographical air defense districts on 19 October 1940 was concurrent with the creation of air forces to defend Hawaii and the Panama Canal. [92] The creation of an "operating staff" on 9 March 1942 reorganization of the AAF and the dissolution of the AFCC halted the planned establishment of an Operational Training Command to oversee the program. By 1944, this pool became surplus, and 24,000 were sent to the Army Ground Forces for retraining as infantry, and 6,000 to the Army Service Forces. Includes air service. [55], The requirements for new pilots resulted in a massive expansion of the Aviation Cadet program, which had so many volunteers that the AAF created a reserve pool that held qualified pilot candidates until they could be called to active duty, rather than losing them in the draft. USAF Historical Study No. The following were the most numerous types in the USAAF inventory, or those that specifically saw combat. The second was the belief that despite the unqualified success of training methods that had expanded the Air Forces, the United States would never again have the time to mobilize and train the reserve components as they had in 1940, necessitating that reservists and National Guardsmen be immediately ready for service in case of national emergency. Correll, "The US Army Air Forces at War", p. 36. Ralph Ingersoll wrote in late 1940 after visiting Britain that the "best American fighter planes already delivered to the British are used by them either as advanced trainersor for fighting equally obsolete Italian planes in the Middle East. [90], To avoid this probable crisis, an Operational Training Unit (OTU) system was adopted as it had been by the RAF. After a slow and often costly effort to bring the necessary strength to bear, joined in 1944 by the Fifteenth Air Force stationed in Italy, strategic bombing finally began to get results, and by the end of the war, the German economy had been dispersed and pounded to rubble. ", The United States Army Air Forces incurred 12% of the Army's 936,000 battle casualties in World War II. In early 1942, in a controversial move, the AAF Technical Training Command began leasing resort hotels and apartment buildings for large-scale training sites (accommodation for 90,000 existed in Miami Beach alone). Its free, and you can find information about your grandfather by using the Search Option. [79][n 22] The latter was formally organized as the Continental Air Forces and activated on 15 December 1944, although it did not formally take jurisdiction of its component air forces until the end of the war in Europe. [97], The basic permanent organization of the AAF for combat elements was the squadron. [2], USAAF uniforms for all members consisted of a winter service uniform of olive drab wool worn in temperate weather and a tropical weather summer service uniform of khaki cotton the same as those of other U.S. Army forces. Fighters the unit lost during World War II: 1,931. To denote the special training and qualifications required for air crew and technical personnel in the USAAF, in most categories known as being rated, the following military badges (known familiarly but ubiquitously throughout the service as "wings") were authorized for wear by members of the Army Air Forces:[155]. [124], Total sorties flown by the AAF during World War II were 2,352,800, with 1,693,565 flown in Europe-related areas and 669,235 flown in the Pacific and Far East.[125]. "[2], The roots of the Army Air Forces arose in the formulation of theories of strategic bombing at the Air Corps Tactical School that gave new impetus to arguments for an independent air force, beginning with those espoused by Brig. He asserted that wartime expedients that had overcome these defects proved to be the difference between victory and defeat.
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