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  • "26th Mission": War Bond Tour

    “You are being sent on another mission, perhaps the most important of the many on which you have flown in this famous plane...It is to carry a message which should hearten a great people.”      —Gen Jacob Devers, Commander, US Army European Theater of Operations, Summer 1943 “26th Mission”: War Bond

  • Fighter Escort: “Little Friends”

    During the first half of the strategic bombing campaign, the USAAF lacked fighters that could escort its heavy bombers on strikes against targets in Germany.  As a result, heavy bomber crews took devastating losses that threatened the continuation of the campaign.  By early 1944, improvements to the

  • Combined Bomber Offensive: Summer 1943 to Victory

              In the summer of 1943, the daytime American and nighttime British bombing campaigns became loosely aligned as the “Combined Bomber Offensive.”  This plan formally established “around the clock” bombing of the enemy.   Until D-Day in 1944, the priority targets were Germany’s fighter force

  • Blind Bombing: “Mickey”

    During the frequently cloudy conditions over Europe, USAAF bombers could not bomb visually.  In these conditions, USAAF heavy bombers used a radar system called H2X and code-named “Mickey.”   Mickey-equipped “pathfinder” aircraft gave formations the signal to bomb.  On B-24 pathfinders, the H2X

  • Memphis Belle Crew

    The young men assigned to the Memphis Belle represented a typical Eighth Air Force heavy bomber crew.  They ranged in age from 19 to 26 and came from states across the US, including Washington, Indiana, Texas, and Connecticut.  Like their Eighth Air Force counterparts—and contrary to a popular

  • Gunners

    US Army Air Forces gunners defended B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers against fighter attacks with machine guns aimed by hand (“flexible guns”) and electrically-powered gun turrets.  Typically, gunners made up half of a bomber crew, manning a top turret, ball turret, two waist guns,

  • D-Day Support

    “I, personally, am convinced that without your air force...the invasion would not have succeeded...”            —Generalleutnant Adolf Galland, Luftwaffe General of FightersBy May 1944, the strategic bombing campaign had crippled the Luftwaffe’s fighter force, making the Normandy invasion possible. 

  • The Memphis Belle: American Icon

    The Memphis Belle and its crew became timeless symbols of the service and sacrifice of the heavy bomber crews and support personnel who helped defeat Nazi Germany.  This famed aircraft was the first US Army Air Forces heavy bomber to return to the United States after completing 25 missions over

  • Enabling Technologies

    Advanced USAAF technology made the daylight strategic bombing campaign possible.  Key technologies included four-engine bombers, turbosuperchargers, and the Norden bombsight.  Four-Engine Bombers: B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator Four-engine B-17s and B-24s provided the range, payload,

  • Epilogue: Sacrifice and Victory

    Starting with only a theory and a handful of aircraft, the USAAF faced early setbacks and devastating losses.  Still, heavy bomber crews time and time again resolutely fought through enemy defenses to hit their targets.  With their courage and sacrifice, the USAAF created a massive, unstoppable