20th Air Force Patch

WWII Army Air Forces numbered Air Force patches measuring approximately 3 inches. Fully embroidered sew-on patch.

 

The 20th Air Force was a unique, global-scale strategic command designed specifically to bring the war to the Japanese home islands through the sheer power of the B-29 Superfortress. Unlike other air forces that were assigned to regional theater commanders, the 20th reported directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reflecting its status as a "special weapon" of the U.S. military. Initially operating out of bases in India and China (Operation Matterhorn), it eventually shifted its massive operations to the newly captured Marianas Islands (Guam, Tinian, and Saipan). Under the aggressive leadership of General Curtis LeMay, the 20th transitioned from high-altitude daylight precision bombing to devastating low-level incendiary night raids that crippled Japan’s industrial capacity. Its most significant and somber legacy, however, was carrying out the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, which directly led to the Japanese surrender and the end of World War II.