Captain Charles W. "Smithy" Smith, with assistance from co-pilot Merle P. Brown, skillfully guided the crippled B-17 for about 2500 feet before it came to rest. The crew members, all ten of them, were stunned but unhurt. It was 4:55 in the afternoon....
Lasse Svensson, a little boy who lived in the tiny village of Hemse on the island of Gotland, heard the noise of a plane flying low. Because his Dad owned a photoshop in Hemse, there was always a camera nearby, and it was always loaded...
The pilot knew they could never make it back to England. It was impossible for the wounded fortress to stay in the formation, and as a straggler, it would be an easy target for enemy fighters. In order to hide, Smithy quickly flew the Liberty...
I have reached a point in my research where I need to study and delve more extensively. On Friday I spent an incredible day at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Savannah, GA. ...
The German city of Schweinfurt was the major center for ball bearing production during the war. When it was bombed by the 8th AF in 1943, the losses of bombers and men were devastating. October 14, 1943, which became to be known as "Black Thursday,"...
Day three of Big Week. The Liberty Lady crew's target is Bernburg where there was a factory for Junkers JU88 fighter planes....
Monday, February 21st. the target was Lippstadt Airfield. A 7 ½ hour trip for the Liberty Lady crew. This was a difficult mission because of the thick overcast. When the cloud cover obscured their principal targets, the heavy bombers had to go to secondary targets...
February 20th was on a Sunday. This was the 1st day of Operation Argument, Big Week, the Allies' week-long offensive against the enemy aircraft industry. For the first time, the 8th Air Force sent more than 1,000 bombers deep into Germany....
(2006) Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller. This excellent resource is a remarkable history of the Eighth Air Force....
Favorite (1949) A classic film, based on true events, about 8th Air Force flight crews. Gregory Peck as General Frank Savage commands the “918th” bomber squadron....