8th Air Force, Barksdale and the British connection

  • Published
  • By Staff Report
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  For more than 40 years there has been a Royal air force presence at Barksdale - a single position under the Eighth Air Force known as the RAF Exchange Officer. This spring the position will leave Barksdale and transfer to the 24th Air Force at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

The EO program allows one RAF Airman to come to the 8th Air Force while one U.S. Airman goes to work with the RAF. The EO mission may have changed throughout the years but one thing remains the same - members of the RAF have been welcomed guests, colleagues and friends here at Barksdale.

"The 8th Air Force Pinetree conference room and the house at 203 Daedalus Avenue are small but important indicators of a long and fruitful relationship between 8th Air Force, Barksdale and the RAF," said RAF Wing Commander Mark Barmby, who is the current 8th Air Force EO. "The past, present and future of that relationship are so intertwined."

The relationship between 8th Air Force and the RAF began during World War II when the Numbered Air Force flew its first war-time missions in American-built, Boston-light bombers loaned from the RAF. By the end of the war, 8th Air Force had flown thousands of missions sustaining the highest number of casualties of any United States Army Air Force unit and establishing itself as the "Mighty Eighth".

"Behind that amazing legacy, there is a story of RAF and 8th Air Force collaborative innovation that changed the way Allied bomber missions were planned and executed driving the successful, although costly, outcome of the European bomber offensive," said Commander Barmby.

During that time the RAF named many of their units by using code names for what would later be known as operational security.

"The Wycombe Abbey School for Girls in High Wycombe, England became the site for the headquarters of the VIII Bomber Command," said Commander Barmby. "The codename for the headquarters was 'Pinetree', a name that still lives on today as the 8th Air Force commander's conference room."

The first EO in 8th Air Force was RAF Group Captain Tom Dalton-Morgan in March 1944.
The Captain, who was a Battle-of-Britain fighter ace with 17 combat victories, holder of the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross and bar, persuaded his commanding officer to arrange an unofficial attachment to the 8th Air Force.

"The truth about Dalton-Morgan's time with 8th Air Force is the subject of continuing research; at the time, the unofficial nature of his position meant he never claimed his victories," said Commander Barmby. "The known facts are that he flew 70 fighter sorties in Eighth's 4th Fighter Group Mustangs escorting 8th Air Force bombers deep into German airspace; he was officially awarded the Bronze Star but also unofficially received the Silver Star and the American DFC in the field. The evidence of his flying logbook suggests that Dalton-Morgan may well have at least doubled his number of kills with 8th Air Force."

For the next 20 years, the kinship between RAF and 8th Air Force continued as the RAF was a key participant in the Strategic Air Command's bomb competitions while the 8th Air Force took part in RAF bombing and navigation competitions.

In February 1961 RAF Wing Commander J.G. Wynne began an exchange posting to Barksdale with the Second Air Force and moved into base housing at 203 Daedalus Avenue, the first of 21 RAF tenants. In 1975, RAF Wing Commander C.A. Herbert transferred from 2d Air Force to 8th Air Force, which brought the RAF EO position back to the Mighty Eighth.

"One day Commander Herbert belonged to 2d Air Force and that next day he was part of the 8th Air Force," said Lane Callaway, 8th Air Force headquarters historian. "He was the only RAF EO who served at both numbered Air Force headquarters."

In June 1982 the RAF delivered a retiring Vulcan bomber to Barksdale to become an exhibit at the 8th Air Force museum.

"That event is all the more remarkable because it took place three days before the Falkland War's final black-buck mission," said Commander Barmby. "Black-buck was the RAF's long-range bombing of Argentinean forces in the Falkland Islands. The missions reined as history's longest range bombing mission from 1982 to 1991 when 2d Bomb Wing's B-52 opened Desert Storm."

In the years since, the RAF and U.S. Air Force have continued to work side-by-side both here at Barksdale and around the world, operating together in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Since 1942 we have had a RAF member on staff, we have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with them," said Mr. Callaway. "We have collaborated a lot with the RAF and adopted a lot of procedures and techniques from them."

As an era of RAF Airmen working with 8th Air Force comes to a close, the British Union flag at 203 Daedalus Avenue still flies serving as a reminder that it will be forever known as the "Brit house" and for just a few more months a RAF member still resides at Barksdale.