Person:John Steevens (7)

Bomber pilot in WWII. I recall a picture of him in his flight suit, and talking about flying a B24 or B25 out of British air fields for flights over Germany. May have flown 25 missions before returning to the States.

Eighth Air Force was constituted as the VIII Bomber Command on 19 January 1942, and activated in the United States on 1 February 1942. On 23 February 1942, an advanced detachment of this unit arrived in England, with other units joining the detachment the following spring. Aircraft flown by the VIII Bomber Command during World War II included the BIT, B-24, B-25, and B-26. The VIII Bomber Command was redesignated the Eighth Air Force on 22 February 1944. At the same time, a previously existing organization designated as Headquarters, Eighth Air Force was redesignated U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe. The present 8th AF traces its lineage to the VIII Bomber Command, rather than to U.S. Strategic Forces in Europe. From bases in England, the Eighth's heavy bombers carried out strategic bombardment of Nazi Germany and proved that daylight precision bombing of strategic targets was possible. The 8th AF flew over 600,000 sorties, mostly by heavy bombers that delivered over 700,000 tons of bombs on the German war-making machine. The 8th also reportedly destroyed over 15,000 enemy aircraft - more than any other American Air Force in Europe or North America.