Air War WW2 Portal 
8th Air Force Europe in March 1942
FRIDAY, 20 MARCH 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS [ETO, Army Air Forces in Britain (AAFIB)]: A
report submitted by Brigadier General Ira C Eaker in compliance with Major
General James E Chaney's instructions of 25 Feb indicates completion of
studies of Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command operations and of airfields,
training, tactical doctrine, equipment, and methods of conducting air
offensive in cooperation with the RAF. The report also indicates much
dependence upon the British for the present but emphasizes the apparent
compatibility of the tactical doctrines of the US (daylight precision
bombing) and RAF (night area bombing), and implies the principle of
coordinating these attacks to complement each other.
WEDNESDAY, 25 MARCH 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO) (AAFIB): Major Cecil P Lessig becomes
the first AAF pilot to fly a mission over France in World War II. Flying a
Spitfire VB with RAF 64 Squadron from Hornchurch, England, Lessig
participates in a 36-aircraft fighter sweep that is recalled when 50
Luftwaffe fighters challenge them.
Source:
COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
Jack McKillop
USAF (Airways and Air Communications Service)
1955-59
used sources by McKillop:
AIR FORCE COMBAT UNITS OF WORLD WAR II, Office of Air Force History,
Headquarters USAF, 1961, ISBN 0-912799-02-1
COMBAT SQUADRONS OF THE AIR FORCE, WORLD WAR II, Office of Air Force
History, Headquarters USAF 1982
THE ARMY AIR FORCES IN WORLD WAR II: COMBAT CHRONOLOGY, 1941-1945 by the
Office of Air Force History, Headquarters USAF, 1973
