17th August 1943 - 8th Air Force Anniversary Raid

[Jessie The Jeep]

Regular combat operations by the VIII Bomber Command began on Aug 17, 1942, when the 97th Bombardment Group flew 12 B-17Es on the first VIII Bomber Command heavy bomber mission of the war attacking the Rouen-Sotteville marshalling yards in France.

 

Paul Tibbetts piloted the lead bomber on this first Eighth Air Force bombing mission, and later flew combat missions in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations until returning to the U.S. to test fly B-29 Superfortresses. He went on to fly the second last US bombing mission of the war.

 

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August 17th 1943 - First Anniversary mission of the 8th AF.

 

On 17 August, the first attack on the ball-bearing industry at Schweinfurt took place, with a diverionary attack on Regensburg was carried out to draw the Luftwaffe away from the main force heading to Schweinfurt. Luftwaffe defenses and AAA "flak" was intense, weather delayed the second strike force allowing German fighters to land and refuel, and the few P-47 fighters available to escort the bombers could not possibly cover all seven groups in the attack. The 1st Wing force headed to Schweinfurt and lost thirty-six B-17s, the 4th Wing which hit Regensburg, had twenty-six Fortresses shot down. ( Taken from Wiki )

Edited August 17, 2009 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Edited and bumped up for today.

 

Steve