8th AF Order of Battle
(orbat)
In December 1944, 8th AF comprised of 26 B-17 & 14 B-24 bomber groups.
They were all based in East Anglia, United Kingdom
These groups were divided into 3 Air Divisions:
1st Bombardment Division equipped with B-17’s
2nd Bombardment Division equipped with B-24’s
3rd Bombrdment Division equipped with B-17’s
Each Bombardment Division was divided up into Combat wings.
Most of them had 3 Bomb groups assigned to each combat wing. But due to reorganization earlier in 1944, 1 combat wing consisted out of 5 Bomb groups; combining 2 combat wings together. In total, each Bombardment Division had 4 Combat wings assigned thus making 12 combat wings. A Bomb group consisted out of 4 flying Bomb squadrons and several other squadrons in support. Each bomb Squadron could be equipped with up to 16 Aircraft, which means a Bomb group theoretically could dispatch up to 60+ Bombers on 1 mission. Each group was located on their own airfield.
IWM Roger Freeman Collection http://www.americanairmuseum.com/media
IWM Roger Freeman Collection http://www.americanairmuseum.com/media