Prior to U.S. entry in World War II, the re-designated Eighth Army Air Force (8 AAF) was fighting in the European theater of war beginning in 1939 and then again from 1941 to 1945. They were stationed in England and supported the fighting in continental Europe as part of the Combined Bomber Offensive. The pilots and crew flew B-24 Liberators and B-17s. They were strategic in their raids on oil refineries, railroads, airfields, ports, bridges, and other key targets in Europe.