page_title: Eighth Air Force
section_title: Berlin
hierarchical_section_title: Eighth Air Force / History / World War II (1944–1945) / Berlin
caption_attribution_description: USAAF B-17 "Hells Angels" of the 303d Bombardment Group, RAF Molesworth, 1943
context_page_description: The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command. It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces Strategic – Global Strike, one of the air components of United States Strategic Command. The Eighth Air Force includes the heart of America's heavy bomber force: the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber, and the B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber aircraft.
  Established on 22 February 1944 by the redesignation of VIII Bomber Command at RAF Daws Hill in High Wycombe, England, the Eighth Army Air Force was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force in the European Theater of World War II, 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.
context_section_description: Less than a week after "Big Week", Eighth Air Force made its first attack on the Reich's capital, Berlin. The RAF had been making night raids on Berlin since 1940, (with heavy raids in 1943) and nuisance Mosquito raids in daylight, but this was the first major daylight bombing raid on the German capital. On 6 March 1944, over 700 heavy bombers along with 800 escort fighters of the Eighth Air Force hit numerous targets within Berlin, dropping the first American bombs on the capital of the Third Reich. On 8 March, another raid of 600 bombers and 200 fighters hit the Berlin area again, destroying the VKF ball-bearing plant at Erkner. The following day, on 9 March, H2X radar-equipped B-17s mounted a third attack on the Reich capital through clouds. Altogether, the Eighth Air Force dropped over 4,800 tons of high explosive on Berlin during the first week of March. The photograph shows housing destroyed by the RAF during night raids.
  On 22 March, over 800 bombers, led by H2X radar equipped bombers hit Berlin yet again, bombing targets through a thick rainy overcast causing more destruction to various industries. Because of the thick clouds and rain over the area the Luftwaffe did not attack the American bomber fleet, as the Germans believed that because of the weather the American bombers would be incapable of attacking their targets. Even so, the "pathfinder" bombers of the RAF Alconbury-based 482d Bomb Group proved very capable of finding the targets and guiding the bombers to them.
caption: Aircraft and ground crew of Boeing B-17F-25-BO Fortress "Hell's Angels" (AAF Ser. No. 41-24577) of the 358th Bomb Squadron, 303d Bomb Group, RAF Molesworth. This was first B-17 to complete 25 combat missions in the 8th Air Force, on 13 May 1943. After completing 48 missions, the aircraft returned to the U.S. on 20 January 1944, for a publicity tour
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