Eighth Air Force Bombing 20-25 February 1944

<p>Eighth Air Force (8AF) conducted the US's first thousand-bomber raids against Germany in February 1944--recorded in history as Big Week. Until that time the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was not able to concentrate such firepower on the enemy in such a short period of time. It took much effort to make Big Week big covering the spectrum of planning and execution activities dating back to the end of World War I that were adapted and flexed to be successful in a different context. Indeed the depth and breadth of the preparations required to successfully execute Big Week on the scale intended is deserving of a closer examination. Sources include books and periodicals from the Fairchild Library and the Air Command and Staff College curriculum as well as several primary source documents from the archives of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>