Seeing old episodes of the 12 O’Clock High TV series (1964-67) has rekindled my interest in 8th AF history.
I broke out my (read long ago) books that I assumed would have some information…and much to my surprise, Freeman’s classic The Mighty Eighth and his later Mighty Eighth War Manual, do not have a concise breakdown of the basics…the breakdown of the wings, groups and squadrons.
What I’m looking for is the number of men and aircraft pre squadron, how many squadrons in a group, how many groups in a wing, and the number of wings..and why they were organized the way they were.
Could anyone point me towards a that information?
Perhaps, The Mighty Eighth War Diary or some other Freeman work?
I’m the very proud owner of an autographed copy of The Mighty Eighth (1986 edition) and Airfield of the Eighth.
When I was at Bentwaters, I sugested to the library that he be invited to the base to give a talk, and since he lived just south of Ipswich, it was certainly easy for hime to visit the base.
His talk was very well attended, with a lot of pilots attending.
He was a very nice man and it was a real honor to meet him.
By: John C - 4th February 2013 at 13:06
‘Fields of Little America’ by Martin W Bowman had a useful appendix on the 2nd Air Division showing organisation and tail markings etc. Good book if you come across it.
By: T-21 - 4th February 2013 at 09:10
This is an interesting site showing the organization : http://www.8thafhs.com/db/index.php
By: Flying-A - 3rd February 2013 at 05:07
Seeing old episodes of the 12 O’Clock High TV series (1964-67) has rekindled my interest in 8th AF history.
Fans of that series in the United States should find this interesting:
By: jack windsor - 2nd February 2013 at 19:09
hi,
could not belive that sort of info would not be in any of his books,so just had a quick look before tea,not all you mentioned but…
The Mighty Eighth- p.110-assignment of BG,s to CW,s.
p.154-map showing bases,AD,s,BG,s.
p.237-unit histories-make-up of.
The Mighty Eighth War Manual-p.257-8th bomber command bases.
hope this of use,regards
jack…
By: J Boyle - 2nd February 2013 at 17:32
He did in the Joint ‘Freeman/After the Battle’ book Airfields of the Eighth.
Thanks for pointing that out. I looked in both of my other Freeman books, but not that one. 😮
Yes, it’s a useful graph but still not quitwe what I was hoping for in terms of detail on number of aircraft and personnel assigned.
By: Arabella-Cox - 2nd February 2013 at 11:05
…..I still can’t believe Freeman didn’t include that basic info…..
He did in the Joint ‘Freeman/After the Battle’ book Airfields of the Eighth.
By: alohha1234 - 2nd February 2013 at 08:58
Living in East Anglia and helping my local radio station out on a documentary about the 8th air force i found these two websites very helpful
http://www.taphilo.com/history/8thaf/index.shtml
http://www.303rdbg.com/links.html
By: J Boyle - 2nd February 2013 at 04:33
silly-o’clock in the morning. 😉
All the best,
PB
Thanks for the info….
I still can’t believe Freeman didn’t include that basic info.
BTW: “Fighters at silly-o’clock high”.:D
By: P Bellamy - 2nd February 2013 at 01:54
Very generally speaking, as aircraft numbers increased as time went on etc.:
Twelve bombers to a Bomb Squadron
Four Bomb Squadrons to a Bomb Group
Three Bomb Groups to Combat Bomb Wing
Sixteen fighters to a Fighter Squadron
Three Fighter Squadrons to a Fighter Group
Five or six Fighter Groups to a Fighter Wing
Four or five Combat Bomb Wings plus a Fighter Wing to a Bomb/Air Division
Three Bomb/Air Divisions in the 8AF (five were originally planned)
Much of the relevant info is in the War Diary, but as you say not necessarily in a concise format.
I’ll expand on this better when it’s not quite so silly-o’clock in the morning. 😉
All the best,
PB
By: BlueNoser352 - 2nd February 2013 at 01:06
Roger Freeman Books
J Boyle :
Saw your post and so glad I bought all his books back in the 1980’s, here is a shop I have bought many books from here in the US..I see that have two of his works for sale …. the man was a tremendous researcher and his efforts have produced a marvelous record of the Eighth and its time in the UK & ETO.
Already looking forward to the new film about the Eighth with SS & Tom Hanks ..guess its in the planning stages now. Great to see the old Twelve O’Clock High TV series out now on dvd. Still the Peck film remains my all time favorite film. Guess and Amazon & Ebay search will prove fruitfull for you.
Good luck on your search !!!
BlueNoser352 !
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February 1, 2013 at 11:32 pm