Item:
ONSV21HB312

Original U.S. WWII 8th Air Force Bombardier Lieutenant Class A Jacket with Full Bullion Insignia

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Available. Original WWII U.S. Class A four pocket officer tunic with bullion Lieutenant bars on each shoulder, early bullion 8th Air Force patch, bullion embroidered bombardier wings offered in very good condition.

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to Shoulder: 9.5"
Shoulder to Sleeve: 22"
Shoulder to Shoulder: 17"
Chest width: 19"
Waist width: 15"
Hip width: 16.5"
Front length: 22"

Established on 22 February 1944 by the re-designation of VIII Bomber Command at RAF Daws Hill in High Wycombe, England, the Eighth Army Air Force (8 AAF) was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force in the European Theater of World War II (1939/41–1945), engaging in operations primarily in the Northern Europe area of responsibility; carrying out strategic bombing of enemy targets in France, the Low Countries, and Germany; and engaging in air-to-air fighter combat against enemy aircraft until the German capitulation in May 1945. It was the largest of the deployed combat Army Air Forces in numbers of personnel, aircraft, and equipment.

On 4 January 1944, the B-24s and B-17s based in England flew their last mission as a subordinate part of VIII Bomber Command. On 22 February 1944, a massive reorganization of American airpower

took place in Europe. The original Eighth Air Force was re-designated as the United States Strategic Air Forces (USSTAF). VIII Bomber Command, re-designated as Eighth Air Force, and Ninth Air Force were assigned to (USSTAF).

VIII Bomber Command, after re-designation as Eighth Air Force, was assigned VIII Fighter and VIII Air Support Commands under its command. This is from where the present-day Eighth Air Force's history, lineage and honors derive.

General Carl Spaatz returned to England to command the USSTAF. Major General Jimmy Doolittle relinquished command of the Fifteenth Air Force to Major General Nathan F. Twining and took over command of the Eighth Air Force from Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker at RAF Daws Hill. Doolittle was well known to American airmen as the famous "Tokyo Raider" and former air racer. His directive was simple: "Win the air war and isolate the battlefield."

Spaatz and Doolittle's plan was to use the US Strategic Air Forces in a series of co-ordinated raids, code-named Operation 'Argument' and supported by RAF night bombing, on the German aircraft industry at the earliest possible date.
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