Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth

By Jacek Jackiewicz & Robert Bock
Atelier Kecay, ©2008
ISBN 978-83-924914-1-5
Softbound, 120 Pages

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

When I first saw Atelier Kecay’s book on Captured Bf 109s (reviewed last month), I wondered just what their next subject could be. Well, they chose a subject that sorely needed to be done, and they have done it with style. Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth is an outstanding book from beginning to end, whether one is looking for written history, photographic records, or illustrations. The story of assembly ships is a fascinating one, and the authors have done an incredible amount of research to separate out these unique aircraft from the copious records of the Eighth Air Force. Often relegated to a footnote or a photo in amongst other bombers, these colorful aircraft served an important job, and it is exciting to see their story told.

To understand the need for assembly ships, one just needs to look at the numbers involved. We have all heard about the impressive ‘1000 bomber raids’ done by the 8th AF during World War Two. But how did those aircraft get to their target? With a plane taking off every thirty seconds, it would still take half an hour for an entire Bomb Wing’s 108 aircraft to get off the ground. That’s thirty minutes for the lead aircraft to fly around waiting for the rest of his Wing to form up. Now multiply that by the number of Wings needed for that thousand-plane raid, toss in the fact that these air bases were often quite close together, and you have a recipe for confusion. Enter the assembly ships, gaudily painted aircraft that were easy to see. These planes had specific orders to connect with the various squadrons, groups, and wings to get everyone formed up in their proper defensive formations. Once everyone was in place, they would break off and the bomber stream would head to Germany.

While the text does an excellent job of describing the background and operations of these assembly ships, what really sets this book apart is the photographic evidence. The authors have compiled an incredible amount of photographs of these aircraft, including some in color. These include the expected B-24s, which were the most common assembly ships, but also B-17s and a handful of P-47s. Complementing the photos are stunning color profile illustrations showing these aircraft, with the bombers generally receiving a four-view treatment.

This book is an essential title for anyone interested in the 8th Air Force, and indeed anyone looking for unusual paint schemes. My thanks to Atelier Kecay for the review copy. This title, like their previous one, is available from their website.