Global Strike Heritage: a mission to save 9,000

Published May 11, 2011
By Crystal Jordan
Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- It was May 1945, and World War II was coming to a close. Repeated attempts at negotiations to repatriate thousands of prisoners of war in camps at Barth, Germany, were not going smoothly.

When it was clear that a compromise could not be reached, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of the Supreme Headquarters of Allied Expeditionary Forces, called on Eighth Air Force to use the one aircraft they had in numbers--bombers--to rescue the American POWs.

The mission, referred to as Operation Revival, succeeded in airlifting nearly 9,000 American troops out of the war zone from prison camp Stalag Luft 1, using 450 separate, conventional bomber flights May 12-14, 1945.

"Accounts like these are a testament to the importance of conventional bomber missions then and now," said Mr. Bruce Stewart, Air Force Global Strike Command historian's office. "This truly is an amazing story."

Modified B-17 Flying Fortress bombers were the primary aircraft used for the massive extraction effort. This unusual task for the bomber required each aircraft's gun to be removed and the B-17 to be operated with a bare-bones, five-person crew, as opposed to its usual crew of 10.

By minimizing the number of crew, the bombers could maximize the number of POWs able to be extracted from the prison camp. Planks were laid across the aircraft bomb bays, where some of the healthiest and able POWs hitched a ride home.

For more on Operation Revival visit: http://www.91stbombgroup.com/91st_tales/operationrevival.html.

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