Milestone
Eighth Air Force's first heavy bomber mission over Europe
August 17, 1942
On 17 August 1942, twelve B-17Es of the 97th Bomb Group — lead aircraft flown by Major Paul Tibbets, with Brigadier General Ira Eaker aboard as observer — attacked the Rouen-Sotteville railway marshalling yards escorted by RAF Spitfires. It was the Eighth Air Force's first heavy bomber mission over occupied Europe, just three months after the group had arrived in England.