Could anybody tell me who the Commanders of the 8th Airforce were in early January 1944?

I know the leaders changed on Jan 6th, which would mean the last operation the previous team planned was Jan 7th (the Operations were planned 24h before) . If somebody has the names of both commanding teams it would be heaven! cheers.

__________________

now are you asking in the 8th AF hierarchy or individual CO's of the bomber, recon and fighter groups or ?

Headquarter commanders of the Bomber group. I have a picture coming soon.

__________________

Here are some of the gentlemen

__________________

Lt. General James H. Doolittle from 6 January 45 to May 8th 45. His staff muck mucks included:

Ma. General William E. Kepner from January 8, 1944 to May of 45 as CG of the B-24 2nd BD

CG 8th ASC was Brig. General Robert C. Candee

CG of 3BD B-17 from June 21, 1944 to May of 45 was Major General Earle E. Partridge

CG of 8th CC was Brig. General Edmund H. Hill

cannot seem to find the CG of the 1BD though.......... anyone ? Oh and General Doolittle passed away in September of 1993

E ~

This is a good start Erich, thank you for the effort. I'm especially looking for the name of the man who replaced Anderson.

__________________

Gen. Ira Eaker replaced Doolittle on Jan. 3rd 1944 and start implementing Operation Pointblank right away.

__________________
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

(banner by Otto)
www.basher82.nl

Thanks Steven, I knew I'd get some help here. I am doing this for a friend who is focussing on the bombing of Ludwigshagen on Jan7 and he is trying to figure out who planned the Operation.

__________________

Grrr...I'm just about to go out so don't have time to look through my 8th AF books - I just picked up my copy of 'Mission With LeMay' which makes the following comment : -

'The big change came in January of 1944, when the United Statates Strategic and Tactical Air Forces came into being, with Tooey Spaatz at the head, and Fred Anderson moved over to become Tooey's Deputy for Operations; and Doolittle coming up from the Mediterranean to the Eighth; and Ira Eaker going down to the Mediterranean - ' ( p.309 ).

__________________
"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Your friend might find it interesting to see this attack in the wider scope fo Operation Pointblank, as it heralded a chance in strategy. I think I have a study on that. If I can find it, I'll mail it to you. I also have one or two books on the subject. I studied the January 11 mission in some detail, which was really "pointblank" with heavy losses (60 heavy bombers). I am not sure if the Jan. 7 mission was. 12 bombers lost, more than half the bombs were dropped on T/O and, as a point of interest, film star Jame Stewart commanded a squadron of 445 BG on this mission.

ps; yes, for the 8th it was Doolittle that replaced Eaker, of course...Eaker pushed for the shift n strategy that first the Luftwaffe should be rendered useless by attacking their factories, assembly lines, airfields, etc. Exactly what hitler failed to do during BoB.

__________________
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

(banner by Otto)
www.basher82.nl

more hints here:
I'm only intereste din The Bomber Head Quarters, so not Doolittle etc... I'm looking for a
Intelligence Officer, Weather Officer,a Deputy Officer and the Operation Commander who decides what the next target is going to be. Among the names quoted earlier two candidates could be some of our men :
-Brig. General Robert C. Candee
-Brig. General Edmund H. Hill, but what were their functions?
If these are correct that means we got two out of four.

Martin do I understand Tooey Spaatz replaced Anderson? He could be the Commander I am looking for. Can't wait you come back for a confirmation.

__________________