Happy New Year! 2011 has arrived and we are looking forward to another great year.

To kick off 2011 we are offering all our members an additional 10% discount on all items purchased from our on line store. New merchandise will be arriving soon. So keep checking the web site for exciting new products. Don't forget all of our great regulars - mugs, t-shirts, mugs and books - just to name a few. We look forward to working with you this year. From the Visitor Services staff we wish you a happy, healthy new year filled with much laughter and happiness..

An Unusual World War II Award

by Dr. Vivian Rogers-Price

Museum Volunteer Gene Buttle

by Heather Thies

 Savannah to the U.K.

On January 28, 1942, the Eighth Air Force was activated in the former National Guard Armory in downtown Savannah, Georgia.  Its mission held two critical components.  The first, destroy the German Luftwaffe to gain air superiority over Europe.  The second, help bomb and destroy Germany's war production: factories, transportation systems, refineries, air fields and fortifications throughout Nazi-controlled Europe.  Achieving both would make a cross-Channel land invasion of Continental Europe possible. 

Lieutenant General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, United States Army Air Force Commander, chose Major General Carl Spaatz to command the Eighth Air Force and later named him commander of all United States Army Air Forces in Europe.  Brigadier General Ira Eaker was first head of VIII Bomber Command and later named Commander of the Eighth Air Force.  Brigadier General Frank "Monk" Hunter was named head of VIII Fighter Command.  Eaker left first for England on February 4, 1942 to set up the Eighth's logistic base of supply and repair depots, air fields, living quarters, etc. needed to support what would become the largest, most powerful air force on Earth while Spaatz stayed behind to manage the plane and crew assignments. 

East Anglia, an area of farm land north of London, was chosen to become the home of these approximately one hundred 8^th AF bomber and fighter airfields. In early May 1942, General Spaatz, thirty nine officers and three hundred forty eight enlisted men arrived to join Eaker in England to begin the daunting task of readying the airfields.  Later that month another eleven thousand men sailed to England and the Eighth AF.  Eighth Air Force Command worked closely with the English Royal Air Force (RAF) to set up the Eighth's infrastructure and mission support.  Many of the RAF units used to support 8^th AF missions in the beginning were later replaced by American support units.  There was tremendous cooperation, friendship and respect between America and England through the entirety of the war. 

Finally, on July 1, 1942 the first aircraft, B0in 41-9085, assigned to the Eighth AF arrived in England for the 97^th Bomb Group.

Longtime museum volunteer and WWII 8^th AF veteran John Connor passed away on Tuesday, December 14, 2010.  He was a wonderful museum volunteer who enjoyed talking with visitors about his experiences and will be greatly missed.

John Connor, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1939.  He completed basic training at Langley Field, Virginia and was assigned as a clerk to the GHQ Army Air Corps headquarters.  In the rapid expansion of the Army prior to World War II, he was promoted from private to Master Sergeant in four years, becoming the Base Sergeant Major.

In 1943 he was commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant Bombardier at Kirkland Field, New Mexico.  He went through crew training in B-24 aircraft at various bases prior to arriving in England in 1943.  The crew was assigned to the 389^th Bomb Group, 8^th Air Force.  He eventually became the Group Bombardier.  On June 20, 1943 while flying on his 21^st mission, the airplane was severely damaged by flak, preventing its return to England.  The plane diverted to Sweden and crash landed at a Swedish airfield located in Malmo.  The crew was interned for five months prior to being returned to the United States.

Colonel Connor retired in 1965 after twenty six years of active duty with over 4000 hours of flying time in various bomber aircraft.  John volunteered at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in the Mission Experience telling visitors of his personal experiences during the war and reminding us all of the importance of the B-24 heavy bomber in helping to defeat Nazi Germany.