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By mid-1944, Eighth Air Force had reached a total strength of more than 200,000 people (it is estimated that more than 350,000 Americans served in Eighth Air Force during the war in Europe). At peak strength, Eighth Air Force had forty heavy bomber groups, fifteen fighter groups, and four specialized support groups.
The story of the B-17 would become the story of the VIII Bomber Command (later Eighth Air Force) strategic heavy bombardment campaign of the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during World War II Initially equipped with B-17Es in 1942, the Eighth Air Force received B-17Fs in Jan 1943 and B-17Gs in Nov 1943.
The Army Air Forces also employed two composite groups with their own TO&Es: the 28th Bomb Group (15 B-24 and 30 B-25), and the 509th Composite Group (15 B-29 and 5 C-54). 19 heavy groups and one light bomb group were to be converted to very heavy groups for duty against Japan, but the war ended before the plan was carried out.
The 453rd Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit that was first organized in June 1943, during World War II, as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber group. After training in the United States, it deployed to England in December 1943, and, starting in February 1944, participated in the strategic bombing campaign ...
The group moved to England, August– September 1942, and was assigned to Eighth Air Force. It was assigned to the 2d Combat Bombardment Wing. The group flew its B-24 Liberator aircraft with a tail code of "Circle B". The 93d was the first Liberator-equipped bomber group to reach the Eighth Air Force.
Meanwhile, Eighth Air Force began organizing a new ground echelon for the group in England, directing each of the four groups assigned to its 2d Bombardment Division to form a squadron ground echelon. [8] [note 3] The group's air echelon moved to Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado to complete its training with the 471st Bombardment Group. [6]
Masters of the Air tells the story of the young men who served in the 100th Bomb Group within the U.S. Eighth Air Force (aka the “Bloody Hundredth”), during World War II, and how they played ...
B-24s of the 493d Bomb Group at Debach. The group was established at Debach by mid-May and flew its first combat mission on D-Day, 6 June 1944, making it the last in Eighth Air Force to become operational.