VIII Fighter Command

The VIII Fighter Command was the fighter arm of "The Mighty Eighth Air Force" and eventually consisted of 15 groups (each with three squadrons) organized in three wings based in southern England. Though the 8th began operating fighters in 1942, VIII Fighter Command was led for most of its existence by Maj. Gen. William E. Kepner, who assumed command in August 1943.

VIII Fighter Command flew four types of aircraft from 1942-45: the Supermarine Spitfire, the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, and the North American P-51 Mustang. In June 1944 the command operated six Thunderbolt groups, five Mustang groups, and four with Lightnings. All the P-38s were gone within months of D-Day, and at war's end only one unit still flew P-47s, the others having converted to Mustangs.

Bomber escort for VIII Bomber Command was the fighters' primary mission, though originally P-47s lacked the range to take B-17s and B-24s much beyond the German border, and P-38s struggled with high-altitude engine problems. This was partly solved with the introduction of auxiliary jettisonable fuel tanks stretching the P-47 range into Germany. With arrival of the first P-51 groups in early 1944, the strategic air war began shifting in the allies' favor.

When Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle took command of the Eighth Air Force in January 1944, he initiated a policy change. Previously, fighters were largely tied to the bombers, but Doolittle and Kepner freed many fighters to go "down on the deck" and become far more aggressive, seeking out the Luftwaffe and attacking their airfields. The result was Luftwaffe losses rose to unsustainable levels, increasing pressure on the German fighter arm with an attendant reduction in USAAF bomber losses, though fighter losses inevitably rose.

VIII Fighter Command also attacked German transport, logistics, and troops during the Normandy campaign, though tactical operations in the European Theater largely were the realm of the Ninth Air Force.

At war's end the 8th's fighters had claimed 5,280 enemy aircraft shot down and 4,100 more claimed destroyed on the ground. Losses were 2,113 in total. Some 260 VIII FC pilots became aces, each with five or more aerial victories, though the command also recognized planes destroyed on the ground. The top aces were Lt. Col. Francis S. Gabreski (28) and Capt. Robert S. Johnson (28) of the 56th Fighter Group plus Maj. George E. Preddy (26.83) and Lt. Col. John C. Meyer (24) of the 352nd. Gabreski was shot down and captured in July 1944 and Preddy was killed in December. Some 5,000 pilots served with the VIII FC of which 2,156 made at least one part share claim for a kill. Just 57 pilots made claims into double figures.

From May 1944 the groups comprising VIII FC were the 4th, 20th, 55th, 56th, 78th, 339th, 352d, 353d, 355th, 356th, 357th, 359th, 361st, 364th, and 479th Fighter Group. A few other groups rotated through the Eighth Air Force during its existence but passed on to the Ninth Air Force or to the Mediterranean Theater.