The United States was ill prepared for World War II. Her
army was just too small to take on the combined forces of the
Axis, yet she wanted to help her allies. The answer was
the B-17 bomber.
The first groups arrived in England in early 1942. They
suffered devastating losses, but soon more planes and pilots
began to arrive. Within 18 months, the U.S. was launching
thousand plane raids against Nazi Germany. Once the Allies
invaded, bombers and fighters supported the ground action. In
the Pacific, the Army Air Forces played a comparatively minor
role to the navy until bases were established for the new
B-29. They bombed Japan into
submission.
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