Birthplace of Eighth Air Force

Birthplace of Eighth Air Force (HM2CF)

Location: Savannah, GA 31401 Chatham County
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Country: United States of America
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N 32° 3.893', W 81° 5.833'

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Inscription
On 28 January 1942, the Eighth Air Force, was activated in the adjacent building, a National Guard Armory at the time.

Having moved to England, the Eighth was ready on 17 August to test the theory that daylight bombing raids could be made with profitable results. Twelve B-17's participated in this mission, striking the railway marshalling yards at Rouen, France, and returning safely to their home base. This highly successful mission established the pattern for the strategic bombardment of Nazi Germany — the Eighth Air Force by day and the RAF by night.

Under the leaderships of Generals Carl A. Spaatz, Ira C. Eaker and James H. Doolittle, it flew over 600,000 sorties delivering over 700,000 tons of bombs and destroying over 15,000 German aircraft. On one single mission, December 24, 1944, it was able to send 2,000 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators and nearly 1,000 fighters in the Battle of Germany.

The renowned winged-eight, the emblem of the Eighth Air Force, was designed by former Air Force Major Ed Winter, a native of Savannah.
Details
HM NumberHM2CF
Series This marker is part of the Georgia: Georgia Historical Society/Commission series
Tags
Marker Number025-86
Year Placed1966
Placed ByGeorgia Historical Commission
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Friday, September 12th, 2014 at 8:53am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)17S E 490823 N 3547631
Decimal Degrees32.06488333, -81.09721667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 32° 3.893', W 81° 5.833'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds32° 3' 53.58" N, 81° 5' 49.98" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)478, 912
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 15 E Park Ave, Savannah GA 31401, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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