Hit or miss? Why the US Eighth Air Force failed in one of its main ambitions

The contribution to Allied victory in Europe by the Eighth Air Force’s heavy bombers was considerable, but its campaign didn’t evolve in the way its commanders had imagined

A famous colour image of 381st Bomb Group B-17Gs being escorted on a training sortie by a 355th Fighter Group P-51.
A famous colour image of 381st Bomb Group B-17Gs being escorted on a training sortie by a 355th Fighter Group P-51. USAF

It was one of the largest and most important bombing missions of the war. Yet after extensive planning, target selection, bomb tonnage assignment and training, it would prove to be a dismal failure.

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