General Carl A. Spaatz

United States Air Chiefs of the European Theatre of Operations stand with a B-17 Flying Fortress of the 97th Bomb Group. Left to right these are: Major-General Frank, Brigadier-General Ira Eaker, Brigadier-General Robert Candee, Brigadier-General Frank O'Driscoll Hunter, Major-General Karl Spaatz and Lieutenant-General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Image stamped on reverse: 'Associated Press.' [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 2 Aug 1942.' [stamp] 'USA (BRI) CCC: STF.' [written annotation] and '213540.' [Censor no.] A printed caption was previously attached to the image, the caption from the next image in the sequence reads: 'U.S AIR CHIEFS IN BRITAIN. Associated Press Photo Shows: Standing before Flying Fortress, symbol of U.S. Air Power.'

Bombardier, Lt Ewart T. Sconiers being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) by Major General Carl Spaatz at Polebrook on 12 September 1942 (photo courtesy of Rick Flack, son of captain Rudolph E. Flack, Commander of the 414th Bomb Squadron at the time)

Official USAAF photo. Original caption : “Major General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General of the Air Forces, ETOUSA, of Earleville, Pennsylvania decorates airmen at their base in England. Officers who received the Distinguished Flying Cross are 2nd Lt Richard F. Starks, Midway, Ky., 1st Lt Frank R. Beadle, Grand Rapids, Mich., 1st Lt Levon L. Ray, Pooleville, Texas (who is shown being decorated by Maj. General Spaatz and Brig. General Ira C. Eaker of Llane County, Texas).” ► Note : The ceremony took place at Polebrook on 17 September 1942. The medal awarded to Starks, Beadle and Ray was not the Distinguished Flying Cross but the Distinguished Service Cross. Not mentioned in the caption is Lt Ewart T. Sconiers, seen here at extreme left, who was also awarded the DSC for his action on return from the 21 August 1942 mission to Rotterdam. Sconiers was Bombardier on board “Johnny Reb” 41-9089 that day. Germans fighters hit the B-17 which lagged behind the formation, killing the Co-Pilot Lt Donald A. Walter and seriously wounding the Pilot, Richard S. Starks (2nd from left, with his right hand still bandaged in the photo). Sconiers, who had washed out of pilot training school, managed to pilot the plane safely back to England, adding the DSC to the Purple Heart he had received for wounds in an earlier mission.

Official USAAF photo. Original caption : “Three of the many U.S. 8th Air Force fighter pilots who distinguished themselves in the great air battle over Germany on 2 November 1944 when 8th Fighters destroyed 130 enemy planes in the air and 25 on the ground, are shown with Lt. General Carl A. Spaatz, Commanding General of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe, after he presented Distinguished Service Crosses to them. Left to right: Lt. Col Robert P. Montgomery, Bethlehem, PA, who led eight North American P-51 Mustangs against 200 German fighters; Gen. Spaatz; Capt. Ray S. Wetmore, Kerman, Calif., whose six-plane section broke up a formation of thirty Germans; and capt. Donald S. Bryan, Paicines, Calif., who destroyed five enemy planes and damaged two others. England.”

The ‘brass’ visit Debden on April 1, 1944. (L-R) Brig General Jesse Auton, 65th Fighter Wing CO; Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower; Lt General Carl Spaatz, commander of US Strategic Air Forces; Mag General James Doolittle, commander of the 8th Air Force; Maj General William Kepner, head of VII Fighter Command; Col Don Blakeslee, commander of the 4th Fighter Group.

Page 86 of the 95th Bomb Group unit history. Many of the 8th Air Force Groups produced an unofficial unit history in the months after the war ended in Europe but before they were redeployed out of the ETO (European Theater of Operations). The 95th Bomb Group unit history was published by the Group’s Photographic Section. Resembling a college yearbook, unit histories were an unofficial – and often tongue-in-cheek – record of the unit’s time based in the UK. They include photo montages showing different aspects of base life. Often the servicemen in the photos are unnamed. The American Air Museum hopes that by adding unit histories to the website as individual pages, the men in the photos will be identified and associated to their person entries. Many included lists of personnel and a mailing address, providing a means for servicemen to keep in contact with each other after the war. These lists are now incredibly useful records of where US airmen in England in 1945 called their home.

Page 33 of the 66th Fighter Wing unit history. Many of the 8th Air Force Groups produced an unofficial unit history in the months after the war ended in Europe but before they were redeployed out of the ETO (European Theater of Operations). Resembling a college yearbook, unit histories were an unofficial – and often tongue-in-cheek – record of the unit’s time based in the UK. They include photo montages showing different aspects of base life. Often the servicemen in the photos are unnamed. The American Air Museum hopes that by adding unit histories to the website as individual pages, the men in the photos will be identified and associated to their person entries. Many included lists of personnel and a mailing address, providing a means for servicemen to keep in contact with each other after the war. These lists are now incredibly useful records of where US airmen in England in 1945 called their home.

Page 04 of the 401st Bomb Group unit history. Many of the 8th Air Force Groups produced an unofficial unit history in the months after the war ended in Europe but before they were redeployed out of the ETO (European Theater of Operations). Resembling a college yearbook, unit histories were an unofficial – and often tongue-in-cheek – record of the unit’s time based in the UK. They include photo montages showing different aspects of base life. Often the servicemen in the photos are unnamed. The American Air Museum hopes that by adding unit histories to the website as individual pages, the men in the photos will be identified and associated to their person entries. Many included lists of personnel and a mailing address, providing a means for servicemen to keep in contact with each other after the war. These lists are now incredibly useful records of where US airmen in England in 1945 called their home.

Inspecting a life raft dropped from the wing of a P-47 thunderbolt: L to R: Maj Gen William E Kepner, Gen Jesse Auton, Gen Carl A Spaatz, Lt Gen James Doolittle.