Charts, Diagrams, & maps

Confused by military jargon about commands, wings, groups, squadrons, etc.? This basic organization chart of the Eighth Air Force will give you a clear understanding of the chain of command.

Want a more detailed look at the organization of all the units in the Eighth Air Force? That's a bit of a moving target as the Eighth did not being operations out at its full strength on Day One, and it was also restructured a few times. Here is the organization as it looked in August 1943.

This is how the Eighth Air Force organization looked in August 1944.

Keeping all these organizations supplied with everything, from "beans to bombs to band-aids" was a complex business. This illustration shows just how vast the job was.

Rank Insignias of U.S. Army Officers during WWII.

Rank Insignias of U.S. Army Flight & Warrant Officers during WWII.

Rank Insignias of U.S. Army Enlisted Men during WWII.

This map of England shows the locations of all the Eighth Air Force's heavy bomber bases in England 1944, color-coded by Bomb Divisions.

If you've read the veterans' descriptions about how thick the flak, or anti-aircraft artillery, through which they had to fly was, you'll appreciate this illustration. It shows how the German flak gunners defended their targets by building a "barrage box" of flak against the bombers.

This very simplified illustration depicts each crew member at his combat station in the B-24D bomber. The H and J models of the B-24, which replaced the D model, had a machine gun turret in the nose requiring the addition of another gunner. The removal of ball turrets beginning in the spring of 1944 eliminated the need for the belly gunner.

A very revealing cross section of the B-24D with everything labeled.

Map showing the locations of Prisoner of War camps and hospitals.