National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force
Last year, I traveled to Savannah and had the opportunity to visit several museums and historical sites, one of which was the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force. It is not widely known that the Eighth Air Force began its existence in Savannah, so it is fitting that the Eighth Air Force Museum makes its home in Savannah. For anyone interested in World War II or aviation history, the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force is certainly worth a visit.
The Eighth Air Force deserves its place in history. Just getting planes from the United States to Great Britain was an extraordinary feat. In 1942, when the Eighth Air Force pilots flew their machines to the British Isles, transatlantic flights were not yet routine. Charles Lindberg made the first solo nonstop flight from New York to Paris in 1927 - little more than a decade before World War II began in Europe. Although many planes crashed in Greenland en route, the Eighth Air Force slowly built its strength and prepared to take the war to the Third Reich.
The Eighth Air Force was organized and equipped to conduct a strategic bombing campaign against Germany. The concept of strategic bombing had its roots in the theories of an Italian, Guilio Douhet. In his 1921 book, The Command of the Air, Douhet theorized that airpower could make ground forces obsolete by flying over them and taking the war directly to the enemy’s civilian population. Considering World War I’s bloody and indecisive struggle on the Western Front, the airmen of other nations drew conclusions similar to Douhet’s and drew inspiration from his book.
The Eighth Air Forces’ strategic bombing campaign against Germany was neither bloodless nor decisive. During World War II, the Eighth Air Force lost approximately 26,000 airmen killed with another 28,000 captured. These casualties were incurred while conducting daylight “precision” bombing raids over Germany which targeted German war industries. It is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of these strikes. While the army could point to territory seized or battles won, the Eighth Air Force had only an imperfect estimate of the effect it was having on the German economy.
The effect of strategic bombing on German production is open to question. Germany actually produced more tanks, aircraft, and other weapons each year from 1942-1944 despite heavy bombing from both the Eighth Air Force and the Royal Air Force. There is less debate about the effect strategic bombing had on German railroads and petroleum storage or production facilities. These last were systematically targeted and had a debilitating effect on the German war machine. The U. S. Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report claimed, “The attack on transportation … completely disorganized the German economy. It reduced war production in all categories and made it difficult to move what was produced to the front. The attack also limited the tactical mobility of the German Army.”[1] This is significant.
While the museum’s displays focus on World War II, there are also displays dedicated to modern conflicts in which the Eighth Air Force has played a role. The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force is a fitting tribute to the valor and sacrifice of those who served in the Eighth Air Force throughout its history.
To plan your visit to the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, visit their site at: https://www.mightyeighth.org
To learn more about the Eighth Air Force during World War II, we recommend Donald L. Miller’s Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany. To purchase this book, please use the following link: https://amzn.to/4mwh9zL
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[1] United States Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report (1945; reprint, Maxwell AFB: Air University Press, 1987), 30.