RARE! WW2 US ARMY 8TH AIR FORCE with INTEGRATED GROUND CREW ARMY CENSORED PHOTO

WW2 US ARMY 8TH AIR FORCE w/ INTEGRATED GROUND CREW ARMY CENSORED PHOTO c1944. WW2 US ARMY 8TH AIR FORCE with INTEGRATED GROUND CREW and ARMY CENSORED PHOTO c1944. ARMY 8TH AIR FORCE INTEGRATED GROUND POSES UNDER THE NOSE OF A B-17 FLYING FORTRESS HEAVY BOMBER WEARING. RIBBON BARS THAT CONTAIN MULTIPLE BATTLE STARS AND MULTIPLE RIBBONS ALONG WITH 8TH AIR FORCES SHOULDER PATCHES. RANKS CAN BE EASILY SEEN.

FOUR OF THE GROUND CREW ALSO WEAR ARMAMENT SPECIALIST INSIGNIA PATCHES ON THEIR SLEEVES. EIGHTH AIR FORCE (VIII Bomber Command) of the United States Army Air Forces was established early in 1942.

The first combat units arrived in the United Kingdom in June and combat operations began in July with first heavy bomber operations in August. Its bomber units were deployed in the UK, chiefly around East Anglia.

From June 1943 it was the daylight bombing part of the Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany. VIII Bomber Command was redesignated as Eighth Air Force on 22 February 1944. The Eighth Army Air Force (8 AAF) was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force in the European theater of World War 2 (1939/41-1945), engaging in operations primarily in the Northern Europe area of responsibility; carrying out strategic bombing of enemy targets in France, the Low Countries, and Germany; and engaging in air-to-air fighter combat against enemy aircraft until the German capitulation in May 1945.

It was the largest of the deployed combat Army Air Forces in numbers of personnel, aircraft, and equipment. ARMY CENSORED STAMP WITH SERIAL NUMBER ON THE REVERSE. VERY SHARP FOCUS WITH VERY GOOD CONTRAST. THIS IS NOT A REPRODUCTION OR A COPY.

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