HISTORY

the 8th Air Force and along with it, as part

of the ‘new’ VIII. Bomber Command, existing

bomber groups. Simultaneously, the VIII. Fighter

Command was created, whose main task was to

provide protection for the bombers.

The 8th AF reached its peak strength in the

summer of 1944. By the end of August of that

year, it consisted of three Bomb Divisions (later

Air Division) with forty Bombardment Groups (or

simply Bomb Groups) spread among fourteen

Bombardment Wings and a separate Fighter

Command, with three Fighter Wings with sixteen

fighter Groups, each with three squadrons. In

addition to these, the 8th AF included several

reconnaissance and special operations, training

and other support units. This was a force that

was able to send 1,200 four-engine bombers

and around 500 escort fighters over Germany in

one day. Since the summer of 1944, the German

Luftwaffe had rarely been able to effectively

oppose such a force.

In 1945, all but one of the Fighter Groups of

the 8th AF were armed with P-51D aircraft, or

the P-51K.

It is not without interest that the last combat

operation of the 8th AF was a mission to Pilsen,

Czechoslovakia on April 25th, 1945. A few days

later, the bombers of the 8th AF participated in

Operation Mana to supply food to the population

of the Netherlands, which was on the brink of

starvation, after German troops cut off the food

supply.

15th Air Force

The Second US strategic air force in Europe

was the 15th Air Force, formed in November 1943

in North Africa from parts of the tactical 12th

and 9th AFs. It was only in December 1943 that

the newly formed units of the 15th AF received

four-engine bombers and a successful series

of bombing missions could thus be undertaken,

although the first raid by heavy bombers of the

15th AF on the west coast of Italy on January 22,

1944 had more of a tactical support flavor to it.

Major missions were to come mainly after the

transfer of the 15th AF to Italy (January - March

1944), when their bombers could reach deeper

into occupied Europe and into Germany itself. At

the end of the war, the 15th AF had four B-24

Liberator Bomber Wings and one B-17 Flying

Fortress Wing. Fighter support was provided

by two Fighter Wings with P-38, P-47 and, later,

P-51 aircraft. The last mission of the 15th AF

came on May 1st, 1945, the target being Salzburg

in Austria.

66th Fighter Wing

As noted above, in August 1944, the 8th

AF had sixteen Fighter Groups. These were

incorporated into three Fighter Wings, namely

the 65th FW, 66th FW and 67th FW. The affiliation

of specific fighter groups to a given Wing was

July 2023

Range of RAF and USAAF fighters during escort missions over the continent on a WWII map.

more or less stable. At the same time, these

Wings usually provided escort for bombers of

specific divisions from the 8th AF (65th FW for

Liberators from the 2nd BD, 66th FW escorted

B-17s from the 3rd BD and 67th FW B-17s from

the 1st BD).

The 66th FW was formed around

five Fighter Groups

55th FG

Nuthampstead September

1943 – April 1944

Wormingford April 1044 – May 1945

For the first six months of its operational

activity, the unit was based at Nuthampstead

Base north of London, which it later had to

leave to make way for the newly arrived 398th

INFO Eduard

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