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8th Air Force Europe in October 1942
THURSDAY, 1 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: HQ 350th Fighter Group and the 345th, 346th and 347th
Fighter Squadrons are activated at Bushey Hall, England; the ground echelons
of the squadrons are at Harding Field, Louisiana and will sail to North
Africa for the invasion.
FRIDAY, 2 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: Mission 13: 61 bombers and 54 fighters are dispatched
to attack 3 targets in France; 1 fighter is lost:
1. 32 of 43 B-17s dispatched hit the Avions Potez aircraft factory at
Meaulte; they claim 4-9-5 aircraft; 6 B-17s are damaged; 3 airmen are WIA.
Escort is provided by 31 P-38s; 1 P-38 is lost.
2. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a diversionary missions to St Omer/Longuenesse
Airfield; they claim 5-4-4 aircraft. Escort is provided by 23 Spitfires;
they claim 4-0-1 aircraft without loss.
3. 11 of 12 unescorted DB-7s attack a ship in a dock at Le Havre without
loss.
SATURDAY, 3 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: The 95th Fighter Squadron, 82d Fighter Group, arrives at
Eglington, Co Derry, Ireland from the US with P-38s.
SUNDAY, 4 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: The 347th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group, moves
from Bushey Hall to Snailwell, England with P-39s and P-40s.
MONDAY, 5 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: HQ 82d Fighter Group and the 96th and 97th Fighter
Squadrons arrive at Eglington, Co Derry, Ireland from the US with P-38s.
THURSDAY, 8 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: In letter to Major General George E Stratemeyer, Chief of
the Air Staff, Major General Ira C Eaker, Commanding General Eighth Air
Force, indicates plans for developing a highly-skilled intruder force capable
of using bad weather as a cloak for small blind-bombing operations. These
missions are also to serve the purpose of keeping the enemy from resting
during periods of bad weather when big strategic missions cannot be flown.
FRIDAY, 9 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: Mission 14: 108 bombers are dispatched to bomb the steel
and engineering works of the Compagnie de Fives at Lille, France and the
locomotive and freight car works of Ateliers d'Hellemmes at Lille; 59 B-17s
and 10 B-24s hit the primary targets; 2 B-17s hit the secondary target,
Courtrai Airfield; other targets hit are Longuenesse Airfield (6) and Roubaix
(2); the bombers claim 25-38-44 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 bombers are lost, 2
damaged beyond repair and 46 damaged; 10 airmen are WIA and 29 MIA.
SATURDAY, 10 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: HQ 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and the 66th, 67th and
68th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) arrive at Shipham, England from the US
with B-24s (first mission is 7 Nov).
WEDNESDAY, 14 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: HQ 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy) and the 322d, 323d,
324th and 401st Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) move from Kimbolton to
Bassingbourn, England with B-17s (first mission is 7 Nov).
THURSDAY, 15 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: HQ 350th Fighter Group and the 345th, 346th and 347th
Fighter Squadrons move from Bushey Hall to Duxford, England where they equip
with P-39s and P-40s
MONDAY, 19 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: HQ VIII Air Support Command moves from Membury to
Sunninghill Park, Berkshire, England.
TUESDAY, 20 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: Lieutenant General Dwight D Eisenhower issues a directive
reflecting the immediate urgency of Operation TORCH (plan for the Allied
landings in N and NW Africa in Nov 42) as the currently important item of
Allied strategy and requiring the Eighth AF, as a matter of first priority,
to protect the movement of men and supplies from the UK to N Africa by
attacking German submarine bases on the W coast of France, with shipping
docks on the French W coast as a secondary targets for these missions and
with German aircraft factories and depots in France as second priority.
WEDNESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: Mission 15: 107 bombers are dispatched to hit submarine
bases and an airfield in France; 3 bombers are lost:
1. 66 B-7s and 24 B-24s are dispatched to hit the U-boat pens at Lorient/
Keroman; clouds prevent all but 15 B-17s from bombing from 17,500 feet (5,334
m), 5,000 to 10,000 feet (1,524 to 3,048 m) lower than usual; 36 Fw 190s
intercept and shoot down 3 B-17s.
2. 8 of 17 B-17s hit Cherbourg Airfield; they claim 10-4-3 aircraft without
loss.
THURSDAY, 22 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: The 330th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 93d Bombardment
Group (Heavy), based at Alconbury, England with B-24s, begins operating from
Holmsley, England.
WEDNESDAY, 28 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: The last 2 squadrons of the 14th Fighter Group, the 48th
and 49th Fighter Squadrons, leave the UK for N Africa; this completes the
transfer of VIII Fighter Command's fighting units to the XII Fighter Command
and leaves the VIII Fighter Command with only the 4th Fighter Group
operational.
SATURDAY, 31 OCTOBER 1942
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
Eighth Air Force: Major General Spaatz, Commanding General Eighth AF,
informs Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General AAF,
that operations against submarine pens may prove too costly for results
obtained; believing the pens impervious to normal high-altitude bombing,
Spaatz plans to operate as low as 4,000 feet (1,219 m) and accept higher
casualty rates.
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
