From Savannah to Glory

Eighth Air Force in World War II

From Savannah to Glory – VIII Bomber Command

By the end of World War II in Europe, the United States Eighth Air Force was the most famous unit in the United States Army Air Forces and, until the massive B-29 raids against Japan in the spring of 1945, the most powerful. After more than two years of aerial bombardment of targets in Germany and Occupied Europe, the Eighth had come to symbolize heavy bombing.  But while the Eighth is known as THE heavy bombardment outfit, it didn’t start out that way. When it was first established on January 2, 1942, the unit that became famous as the Eighth Air Force was actually designated as Fifth Air Force. However, this designation had already been reserved for a numbered air force in the Far East, so it was changed to the Eighth. Nor was the Eighth conceived as an aerial bombardment command – its original mission was tactical in nature. The Eighth came into existence to serve as an air element to support GYMNAST, the planned invasion of Northwest Africa, which was scheduled to take place later in the year.

On January 28, 1942, Eighth Air Force Headquarters activated at Savannah Army Airfield, Georgia under the command of Colonel Asa N. Duncan. The new command drew heavily on Southerners for staffing, civilians who were brought into the Army with direct commissions often without formal military training. To provide military order, a number of Regular Army NCOs were commissioned. Over the next few weeks, the Eighth underwent several changes. GYNMAST was canceled due to the emergency situation in the Pacific, eliminating the need for the new unit as it had originally been conceived and leaving the Eighth without a mission. One of the Army plans called for the establishment of an Army Air Force in Great Britain. On March 31 Major General Carl Spaatz, commander of the Army Air Force Combat Command, proposed that the task-less Eighth Air Force be made available for duty in England. Spaatz also decided that it would be under his direct command. General Ira Eaker was already in England with an Army Air Forces advance party, and Spaatz decided that it would pave the way for his new command.

The emphasis of the Army Air Force in Great Britain would be on long-range strategic bombing as the Allies prepared for a cross-channel invasion. Previously, Colonel Duncan had requested the assignment of three heavy bomber groups, two groups of medium bombers and three fighter groups. The reorganization increased the planned size of the Eighth to twenty-three heavy, three medium and five light bomber groups, along with four groups of dive bombers and thirteen pursuit groups. Two troop carrier groups would also be added. The dive bomber groups would never materialize. In April Duncan, now a Brigadier General, was made subordinate to Spaatz and the headquarters was split into two echelons. Administrative functions remained in Savannah while operations moved to Bolling Field on the outskirts of Washington where General Spaatz had his headquarters. Spaatz took formal command on May 5 and preparations began to move the Eighth to England.