As you know I have been researching our Fathers last mission in Germany. These are the accounts of that day that I have learned and I would like to share. On the morning of 24/Feb/1944 05:30 hours the 445th BG, of the 8th Air Force went into briefing to learn their target mission for that day was the Messerschmitt factories at Gotha Germany. This was mission # 28 for the 445th; this was to take place deep into enemy territory. It was the 5th mission of that week known as "Big Week". The 703rd (Jimmy Stewarts squadron) was designated lead squadron, (Jimmy did not fly this day as he stayed back to coordinate operations). As I have learned the men of the 445th had a bad feeling about this particular mission quite apprehensive, yet as trained seasoned flyers they went on prepared there aircraft, and preflight checks as usual. The 8th Air Force, 701st, 702nd, 703rd, 704th, BS, 445th BG put 30 B-24 H Liberators in the air that day. They were flying out of Tibenham England the home of the 445th BG. As the sun rose that day the bombers with the distinct throaty roar of their engines breaking through the thick morning haze taxied onto the tarmac. These grey intimidating war birds sat lined nose to tail as if they were quietly suspended in time waiting for the green flair signaling take off. These bomber crews sat quietly knowing exactly what they were in for and the difficulty of this mission. In the matter of 15 minutes the 30 B-24's were circling the air field as they formed the bombing formation of their group. The 8th Air Force put many planes in the air that day. They were to fly to the coast and meet with the 15th Air Force and the rest of the combat wing, where they were to circle once more forming a much larger formation consisting of both B-24's and the older yet sleeker B-17's. (This was a little friendly battle between the air crews the B-24 was faster carried a bigger payload and flew more missions in WW2 but not as popular with the press because it was considered ugly). It was a very clear and cold day over the icy waters of the North Sea.
The purpose of this speech for the class is to gain better knowledge of one of the most tragic and devastating battles of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge.
radio, it had been said that Hiroshima suffered of an attack by a few B-29. Many
The Doolittle Raid, as it is commonly referred to as today, was officially classified as the First Special Aviation Project (Shepherd). This project was planned with extreme secrecy. The crew was made up of pilots who volunteered without knowledge of mission details. Only a few officers were fully briefed and not even the captain of the aircraft carrier was briefed until shortly before deployment (Shepherd). In the initial phase of the planning the Army practiced flying B-25 Michells on an airfield meant to simulate the flight deck of a naval aircraft carrier (WorldWar2.com). Eventually the takeoffs were attempted on an actual aircraft carrier, the USS Hornet (WorldWar2.com). The problem they had to solve was to reduce the weight of the bombers so they could take-off from the flight deck of the carrier (WorldWar2.com). When it was determined that pilots could overcome this obstacle the command of the project was given to Lieutenant Cornel James Doolittle (Shepherd).
The British were outnumbered 900 fighters to 640 fighters plus the Germans had an additional 1,300 bombers. With these statistics, the Luftwaffe thought that they would have a very easy time defeating the Royal Air Force. Even though the British were outnumbered, they had a few advantages that the Luftwaffe was unaware of. First, they develope...
“AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR. THIS IS NO DRILL.” This is the message sent out by radioman Kyle Boyer at 7:58 a.m. Sunday December 7, 1941; a date which will live in infamy. The empire of Japan had attacked the United States’ Pacific Fleet based in Pearl Harbor. For months the US Intelligence community, as well as others around the world, had been intercepting and decoding transmissions from mainland Japan to their diplomats and spies in the US. We had cracked their Purple Code, and knew exactly what military intelligence was being transmitted back and forth. The Dutch also cracked Purple and informed our government of the Japanese plan and were shocked to hear reports that we were taken by surprised. Even more disturbing, months before the attack a British double agent, Dusko Popov, codenamed Tricycle, turned over to the F.B.I. detailed plans of the Japanese air raid, which he had obtained from the Germans. The government had the information, and did nothing with it.
Throughout history, a Canadian by the name of William Avery “Billy” Bishop was considered one of the best fighter pilots of World War I. Bishop was a courageous, daring and dedicated hero, credited with 72 kills. However, the subject of his claims has always been a controversial topic for historians. Some say Bishop cheated and lied about the events that took place during the war, including his number of victories. The heart of this debate rests on the mission Bishop flew at the crack of dawn on June 2nd, 1917. After flying off on his own, he claims that he found a German aerodrome and took on seven planes on his own, shooting down three. The facts do not always add up, so it makes people wonder if and how he accomplished
"I made my first visit to them as chaplain on Sunday morning. The scene beggars all description. Some of them were comparatively young men. But they made the fatal mistake. They had only twenty-four hours to live.... Here was a wife to say farewell to a husband forever. Here a mother to take the last look at her ruined son, and then a sister who had come to embrace for the last time the brother who had brought disgrace upon the very name she bore by his treason to his country."
Martin was a civilian relief volunteer during the war. He gave me an account of
This was to prepare for a ground invasion called Operation Sea Lion. “Eagle-day” is then planned to be begun by the Germans, which is a continued destruction of the RAF and a plan to install radar. However, this is delayed with poor weather conditions. Bombing continues in Britain, but the RAF are not yet defeated. They defend themselves aggressively, destroying at least 104 German aircrafts with a continued defeat of 330 German aircrafts. The British are constantly killing thousands of German troops, and Hitler eventually postpones Operation Sea Lion, with a new interest in dominating Russia. From both sides of the battle, more than 3,000 aircraft were destroyed; 1,023 from the British side, and 1,887 from the Luftwaffe. 544 RAF command pilots died, and 2,500 Luftwaffe aircraft were killed. During the relentless bombing known as “The Blitz”, 40,000 British citizens tragically died in the process. Britain had a much higher advantage in the war, due to its high performing navy, compared to Germany’s non-existing navy due to losses in Norway. If the Germans never gave up on this battle and won, the United States would probably become involved much deeper in the war. The Battle of Britain officially ended on October 31,
The Allied forces did not have the resources to carry out a strike. The Allies, especially the Air Force, were heavily engaged in actions elsewhere; any non-military mission could have possibly cost the Allies the winning of the war, and would have, at th...
Lawson, Robert L., and Barrett Tillman. U.S. Navy Air Combat: 1939-1946. Osceola, WI: MBI Pub., 2000. Print.
It’s a beautiful sunny morning, on a tropical island that everyone would love to take a vacation at. It’s approximately 6:00 am, December 7, 1941, when a first group of 181 kamikaze planes attacked; targeting key naval bases stationed at Hawaii; a sustained crippling of U.S. naval forces for about 6 months. The death toll was 2,500. Out of the 9 battleships, 8 were heavily damaged by the assault on Pearl Harbor and out of the 8, three were unrepairable, USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and the USS Utah. 160 aircrafts were put out of commission, and nearly 130 were heavily damaged. This was the first incident in which there was an act of war, committed on U.S. soil, outside of the American Revolution and the Civil War. The world was at war, and the U.S. remained neutral until now. Before the attack, the U.S. was in great debate whether to enter the war or to stay out of it. The act of war forced the U.S. into the War and triggered a controversial debate in whether to retaliate against Japan with the use of nuclear arms.
Before the landings were to begin, the coastal German defenses had to be adequately prepped, and softened by a combination of a massive battering by United States ships, and bombing by the United States Air Force. Between the hours of 0300 and 0500 hours on the morning of June 6, over 1,000 aircraft dropped more than 5,000 tons of bombs on the German coastal defenses. As soon as the preliminary bombing was over, the American and British naval guns opened fire on the Normandy coastline (D' Este 112). A British naval officer described the incredible spectacle he witnessed that day: "Never has any coast suffered what a tortured strip of French coast suffered that morning; both the naval and air bombardments were unparalleled. Along the fifty-mile front the land was rocked by successive explosions as the shells of ships' guns tore holes in fortifications and tons of bombs rained on them from the skies. Through billowing smoke and falling debris defenders crouching in this scene of devastations would soon discern faintly hundreds of ships and assault craft ominously closing the shore.
In the summer of 1940, World War II had been in progress for nearly a year. Adolf Hitler was victorious and planning an invasion of England to seal Europe’s fate. Everyone in the United States of America knew it. The Germans were too powerful. Hitler's Luftwaffe had too many planes, too many pilots and too many bombs and since Hitler was Europe's problem, the United States claimed to be a neutral country (Neutrality Act of 1939). Seven Americans, however, did not remain neutral and that’s what this book is about. They joined Britain's Royal Air Force to help save Britain in its darkest hour to fight off the skilled pilots of Germany's Luftwaffe in the blue skies over England, the English Channel, and North Europe. By October 1940, they had helped England succeed in one of the greatest air battles in the history of aviation, the Battle of Britain. This book helps to show the impact of the few Americans who joined the Battle of Britain to fight off an evil that the United States didn’t acknowledge at the time. The name of Kershaw’s book was inspired from the quote, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to sow few,” which was said by British Officer and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
It was a beautiful day like any other with the clear blue sky and the