The Bombing War: Europe 1939–1945

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The Bombing War: Europe 1939–1945 Page 101

by Richard Overy


  191. UEA, Zuckerman Archive, SZ/BBSU/3, Air Commodore Pelly to Zuckerman, 8 Jan 1947.

  192. RAFM, Harris papers, H53, Harris to Baker (DBOps), 11 Apr 1942.

  193. CamUL, Boyle papers, Add 9429/2c, Boyle to Harris, 24 Aug 1979.

  194. RAFM, Harris papers, H9, Harris to Bottomley, 29 Mar 1945.

  195. Webster, Frankland, Strategic Air Offensive, vol 4, 143–8.

  196. TNA, AIR 20/4768, memorandum from BOps, 25 Feb 1942.

  197. NC, Cherwell papers, G192, note for Cherwell, 23 Feb 1942, on German towns; CCAC, BUFT 3/15, memorandum from Morley (BOps 1), ‘The Employment of H.E. Bombs in Incendiary Attack’, 18 Nov 1942, 1–2.

  198. NC, Cherwell papers, F254, War Cabinet, ‘Estimates of Bombing Effect’, 9 Apr 1942; F226, minute for Churchill from Cherwell, 30 Mar 1942; TNA, AIR 9/183, Comments on Cherwell paper, 17 Apr 1942.

  199. CCO, Portal papers, Folder 9/File 3, Harris to Portal, 5 Mar 1942.

  200. RAFM, Harris papers, H47, Harris to Bottomley, 9 Apr 1942.

  201. Olaf Groehler, Bombenkrieg gegen Deutschland (Berlin: 1990), 98.

  202. BA-B, R1501/823, directive from Interior Minister, 6 May 1942, 1. Details of raids from Middlebrook, Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, 246–52, 259–61; Groehler, Bombenkrieg, 50–54.

  203. RAFM, Harris papers, H53, Baker to Harris, 21 Mar 1942; Baker to Harris, 9 Apr 1942; TNA, AIR 20/4768, note from Bufton for Baker, 6 Apr 1942; Harris to Baker, 11 Apr 1942.

  204. CCAC, BUFT 3/12. Bufton to Harris, 8 May 1942; TNA, AIR 14/1779, chart of attacks on Essen, Duisburg and Düsseldorf.

  205. TNA, PREM/3/11/4, Cherwell to Churchill, 30 Mar 1942; Sinclair to Churchill, 6 Apr 1942; Hollis (CoS) to Churchill, 10 Apr 1942; AIR 9/187, CoS, 13 Apr 1942.

  206. Webster, Frankland, Strategic Air Offensive, vol 4, 231–8, ‘Report by Mr Justice Singleton, 20 May 1942’; TNA, PREM 3/11/4, Singleton to Churchill, 20 May 1942.

  207. Ibid., PREM 3/11/4, Cherwell to Churchill, 28 May 1942.

  208. CCO, Portal papers, Folder 9/File 3, Cherwell to Portal, 27 Feb 1942; Harris to Portal, 2 Mar 1942; Melinsky, Forming the Pathfinders, 68–9.

  209. CCAC, BUFT 3/12, ‘Tactical Direction of the Bomber Force’, 16 May 1942, 1.

  210. Ibid., 3/12, Bufton to all squadron and station commanders, Mar 1942; H. Graham to Morley (BOps 1), 1 Apr 1942.

  211. Melinsky, Forming the Pathfinders, 72–8; Furse, Wilfred Freeman, 205–8; Middlebrook, Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, 297–8, 301.

  212. CCAC, BUFT 3/12, minute by the assistant CoS (operations), 2 Aug 1942.

  213. TNA, AIR 14/276, Portal to Harris, 19 May 1942; Harris to Coastal Command, Flying Training and Army Co-Operation, 20 May 1942; Harris to Philip Joubert de la Ferté (CC), 23 May 1942; Bomber Command Operational Order, no 147, 23 May 1942.

  214. BA-B, NS 18/1058, report, Leiter IV, Party Chancellery, 31 May 1942; Groehler, Bombenkrieg, 65–6.

  215. Ibid., 66–7.

  216. Details from Middlebrook, Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, 274, 280–81; Groehler, Bombenkrieg, 69.

  217. Greenhous et al., Crucible of War, 621–2.

  218. CCO, Portal papers, Folder 3/File 3, Smuts to Churchill, 30 June 1942; draft telegram Churchill to Smuts, 4 July 1942, rejecting the proposal.

  219. RAFM, Harris papers, H11, memorandum for the prime minister, 17 June 1942 (revised 20 Aug); TNA, PREM 3/19, Harris to Churchill, 17 June 1942.

  220. RAFM, Harris papers, H63, App A, ‘Approximate Allocation of Air Resources, June 15 1942’; TNA, PREM 3/19, Churchill minute to Harris, 6 July 1942; Air Ministry to Cabinet Office, 12 Aug 1942; CCO, Portal papers, Folder 9/File 3, Harris to Portal, 20 Aug 1942. Out of 42 squadrons on establishment, Harris reckoned that 6 were on loan, 6 were re-equipping or forming, 4 were operationally limited (Polish squadrons ‘almost useless’) and 5 others were unavailable.

  221. Parton, ‘Air Force Spoken Here’, 166–7.

  222. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 76, Eaker to Spaatz, 27 Aug 1942, ‘Accuracy of Bombardment’, 2, 4.

  223. FDRL, Map Room Files, Box 12, telegram from Harriman to Roosevelt, 14 Aug 1942.

  224. TNA, AIR 8/435, Churchill to Sinclair and Portal, 17 Aug 1942; Portal to Churchill, 20 Aug 1942; Harris to Portal, 29 Aug 1942.

  225. TNA, PREM 3/19, Harris to Churchill, 4 Sept 1942; Churchill to Harris, 13 Sept 1942; ‘better than doing nothing’ in CCO, Portal papers, Folder 3/File 1, Churchill to Sinclair, 13 Mar 1943.

  226. TNA, PREM 3/19, Amery to Churchill, 1 Sept 1942.

  227. CCAC, BUFT 3/12, L. A. C. Cunningham to Morley (BOps 1), 14 Oct 1942.

  228. Royal Society, London, Blackett papers, PB/4/4, minutes of CoS discussion, 18 Nov 1942.

  229. CCO, Portal papers, Folder 9/File 3, Harris to Portal, 24 Sept 1942. On the arguments over the size of the Canadian component see Greenhous et al., Crucible of War, 599–600.

  230. TNA, AIR 14/792, Harris to Balfour, 12 Nov 1942; Bottomley to Harris, 28 Nov 1942.

  231. CCO, Portal papers, Folder 9/File 3, Harris to Portal, 21 Oct 1942.

  232. TNA, AIR 14/1779, Air Vice Marshal Saundby to Tizard, 2 Dec 1942.

  233. CCAC, BUFT 3/15, minute for Baker from Bufton, 2 Nov 1942.

  234. TNA, AIR 22/203, War Room Manual of Bomber Command Operations 1939–1945, Chart 4, Chart 9.

  235. UEA, Zuckerman Archive, OEMU/50/2, REDept, ‘The 1000-Bomber Raid on Cologne’, 3 Nov 1942.

  236. BA-B, NS18/1063, Partei-Kanzlei, Abt. PG, ‘Angaben über die Verluste durch Fliegerangriffen’, 2 Oct 1942; R3102/10031, Statistisches Reichsamt, ‘Die Tätigkeit der feindlichen Luftwaffe über dem Reichsgebiet’, 10 Jan 1945; United States Strategic Bombing Survey, ‘Overall Report, European War, 30 Sept 1945, 74, 81.

  237. TNA, AIR 9/424, note from Churchill for the CoS Committee, 18 Nov 1942.

  238. Ibid., War Cabinet, JPS, ‘Anglo-US Bombing Policy’, 18 Aug 1942.

  239. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 66, Directive from Roosevelt to Marshall, 24 Aug 1942; Arnold to Harry Hopkins, 3 Sept 1942, memorandum, ‘Plans for Operations against the Enemy’, 2.

  240. Davis, Carl A. Spaatz, 113–16.

  241. TNA, AIR 40/1814, MEW to Sinclair, 2 May 1942; see too Balfour, Wings over Westminster, 103, who wrote that the division he found between service officers and civil servants in the Air Ministry resulted in ‘processes of administration and decision [that] were cumbersome and slow’.

  242. CCAC, BUFT 3/12, memorandum by Wing Cdr. A. Morley, ‘The Tactical Direction of the Bomber Force’, 20 May 1942, 2.

  243. Ibid., 3/15, memorandum for DBOps from Bufton, 6 Sept 1942.

  6. THE COMBINED BOMBER OFFENSIVE: GERMANY 1943–5

  1. TNA, AIR 75/11, Slessor papers, pencil notes, ‘Conduct of the War in 1943’.

  2. Ibid., AIR 75/11, draft by Slessor, ‘The Bomber Offensive from the United Kingdom: Note by the British Chiefs of Staff’, 20 Jan 1943; draft, ‘Casablanca Directive’, 21 Jan 1943; John Slessor, The Central Blue: Recollections and Reflections (London: 1956), 445–6.

  3. LC, Arnold papers, Reel 200, Arnold to Gen. Wedemeyer, 30 Dec 1942.

  4. RAFM, Harris papers, H28, Arthur Sulzberger, The New York Times, to Harris, 21 Sept 1942; Harris to Francis Drake, 1 Jan 1943; Robert Lovett to Harris, 24 Nov 1942; Harris to Lovett, 24 Dec 1942; H51, Richard Peck (Air Ministry) to Harris, 22 Dec 1942; Telegram from air attaché, Washington, DC, to Air Ministry, 11 Jan 1943.

  5. UEA, Zuckerman Archive, SZ/BBSU/29, Air Commodore Pelly to Zuckerman, 14 Jan 1946.

  6. TNA, PREM 3/14/2, cypher telegram, Churchill to the Air Ministry, 17 Aug 1942; Portal to Churchill, 20 Aug 1942; Stalin to Churchill, 19 Jan 1943. For Harris’s views AIR 8/435, Portal and Sinclair to Churchill, 18 Aug 1942; Harris to Portal, 29 Aug 1942.

  7. Ibid., AIR 8/435, Stalin to Churchill, 3 Mar 1943; CCO, Portal papers, Folder 3/File 3, Churchill to Portal, 10 Sept 1942; Churchill to Stalin, 11 Sept 1942.

  8. Ibid., Portal papers, Folder 3/File 3, Churchill, ‘Note on Ai
r Policy’, 22 Oct 1942; Folder 3/File 4, Churchill to Portal, 26 Oct 1942; Portal to Churchill, 7 Nov 1942; LC, Eaker papers, Box I.20, Spaatz to Eaker, 9 Dec 1942; Eaker to Spaatz, 29 Jan 1943.

  9. LC, Arnold papers, Reel 200, Arnold to Gen. Stratemeyer, 26 Feb 1943.

  10. Slessor, Central Blue, 438–9; TNA, AIR 75/11, draft, ‘Future Strategy’, 25 Sept 1942; draft for the CoS, ‘Anglo-American Bomber Offensive against Italy and Germany in 1943’.

  11. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 66, Arnold to Harry Hopkins, 3 Sept 1942, encl. memorandum, ‘Plans for Operations against the Enemy’.

  12. Ibid., Box 66, AWPD-42, ‘Requirements of Air Ascendancy’, 6–7.

  13. FDRL, Map Room papers, Box 165, Folder 6, JCS minutes of meetings, 13 Jan and 14 Jan 1943; LC, Arnold papers, Reel 200, JCS, minutes of meetings, 14 Jan 1943, 11–12.

  14. CCO, Portal papers, Folder 3/File 4, Churchill to Harry Hopkins, 14 Oct 1942; ‘Note on Air Policy’, 22 Oct 1942; Churchill to Portal, Sinclair and Harris, 26 Oct 1942.

  15. TNA, PREM 3/19, Churchill to Harris, 18 Sept 1942; AIR 9/424, Air Staff minute, 10 Oct 1942.

  16. CCO, Portal papers, Folder 3/File 4, Sinclair to Churchill, 23 Oct 1942; Portal to Churchill, 28 Oct 1942; Portal to Churchill, 7 Nov 1942; Tami Davis Biddle, ‘British and American Approaches to Strategic Bombing: Their Origins and Implementation in the World War II Bomber Offensive’, in John Gooch (ed), Airpower: Theory and Practice (London: 1995), 119–20.

  17. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 97, ‘Casablanca Notes’, 15 Jan 1943; John W. Huston (ed), American Airpower Comes of Age: General Henry H. ‘Hap’ Arnold’s World War II Diaries, 2 vols (Maxwell, AL: 2002), vol 1, 462; AFHRA, CD A5835, ‘Eighth Air Force: Growth, Development and Operations’, Air Force Plans, exhibit 3, ‘The Case for Day Bombing’; James Parton, ‘Air Force Spoken Here’: General Ira Eaker and the Command of the Air (Bethesda, MD: 1986), 217–20; Tami Davis Biddle, Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare: The Evolution of British and American Ideas about Strategic Bombing, 1914–1945 (Princeton, NJ: 2002), 214–15.

  18. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 97, ‘Casablanca Notes’, 17 and 19 Jan 1943; FDRL, Map Room Files, Box 165, Folder 7, ANFA Meeting minutes, 18 Jan 1943.

  19. Parton, ‘Air Force Spoken Here’, 221.The sentence ran ‘It keeps German defenses alerted around the clock, 24 hours of the day.’

  20. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 97, ‘Casablanca Notes’, 18 and 20 Jan 1943; Henry H. Arnold, Global Mission (New York: 1949), 395–7; Parton, ‘Air Force Spoken Here’, 221–2.

  21. TNA, AIR 8/1076, Churchill to Attlee, 21 Jan 1943.

  22. Charles Webster, Noble Frankland, The Strategic Air Offensive Against Germany, 4 vols (London: 1961), vol 4, 153–4, ‘Combined Chiefs of Staff Directive for the Bomber Offensive from the United Kingdom’.

  23. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 97, ‘Casablanca Notes’, 25 Jan to 31 Jan 1943; TNA, AIR 8/425, Bottomley to Harris, 4 Feb 1943.

  24. Slessor, Central Blue, 448.

  25. TNA, AIR 9/424, Note by Director of Plans, 24 Aug 1942; Joint Planning Staff, ‘Anglo-U.S. Bombing Policy’, 18 Aug 1942.

  26. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 66, Report on AWPD-42, 19 Sept 1942.

  27. CCO, Portal papers, Folder 4/File 1, Arnold to Portal, 10 Dec 1942; Portal to Churchill, 20 Dec 1942.

  28. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.20, Eaker to Portal, 30 Aug 1943.

  29. Ibid., Spaatz papers, Box 67, ‘Status of the Combined Bomber Offensive from U.K.’, 7 Aug 1943, 1.

  30. TNA, AIR 14/739A, Harris to Eaker, 15 Apr 1943.

  31. Ibid., Harris to Portal, 9 Apr 1943, encl. ‘The United States Contribution to the Bomber Offensive in 1943’, 2.

  32. Ibid., War Cabinet, CoS, ‘An Estimate of the Effects of an Anglo-American Bomber Offensive against Germany’, 3 Nov 1942.

  33. TNA, FO 837/1315, ‘Bombers’ Baedeker: Guide to the Economic Importance of German Towns and Cities’, Jan 1943 edition.

  34. RAFM, Harris papers, Misc. Box A, Folder 4, ‘One Hundred Towns of Leading Economic Importance to the German War Effort’.

  35. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.20, Portal to Eaker, 28 Feb 1943.

  36. TNA, AIR 14/1779, minutes of meeting in the Air Ministry, 1 Mar 1943, 2.

  37. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 67, Eaker to Spaatz, 13 Apr 1943, encl. Air War Plans memorandum, ‘The Combined Bomber Offensive from the United Kingdom’.

  38. Ibid., Box 67, ‘Status of Combined Bomber Offensive’, 7 Aug 1943, 1.

  39. Ibid., Box 67, memorandum from Arnold to Spaatz, ‘Report of the Committee of Operations Analysts with Respect to Economic Targets within the Western Axis’, 8 Mar 1943.

  40. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.20, Eaker to Portal, 2 Apr 1943; TNA, AIR 8/1103, Arnold to Portal, 24 Mar 1943; Portal to Eaker, 9 Apr 1943; Parton, ‘Air Force Spoken Here’, 250–53.

  41. CCAC, BUFT, 3/42, Bufton to Portal, 8 Apr 1943; ‘The Bombing Offensive from the U. K.’, and covering note from RAF liaison at Eaker’s HQ; Stephen McFarland, Wesley Newton, To Command the Sky: The Battle for Air Supremacy over Germany, 1942–1944 (Washington, DC: 1991), 92–4.

  42. TNA, AIR 8/1103, Harris to Eaker, 15 Apr 1943. Air Ministry views on German fighters, AIR 9/423, memorandum, Director of Plans, 22 Mar 1943.

  43. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.16, Col. C. Cabell to Eaker, 27 May 1943; Box I.20, Eaker to Portal, 1 June 1943.

  44. Ibid., Eaker papers, Box I.16, Kuter to Eaker, 6 July 1943; Eaker to Kuter, 22 July 1943; TNA, AIR 8/1103, CCS meeting, 4 June 1943; minute, Bottomley to Portal, 10 June 1943. Webster, Frankland, Strategic Air Offensive, vol 4, 160; Bottomley to Harris, 3 Sept 1943.

  45. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.19, Lovett to Eaker, 28 July 1943.

  46. CCO, Portal papers, Folder 3/File 4, Portal to Churchill, 9 Nov 1942.

  47. TNA, AIR 20/2025, Air Ministry statistics, RAF personnel, establishment and casualties, 1939–45.

  48. RAFM, Harris papers, H67, ‘Establishment and Strength of Ancillary Staff, 31 July 1943’.

  49. UEA, Zuckerman Archive, SZ/BBSU/3, Exercise Thunderbolt, précis no. 10, ‘Administrative Aspects of the Bomber Offensive’; SZ/BBSU/2, minute for Zuckerman from Claude Pelly, 21 June 1946; LC, Eaker papers, Box I.20, Harris to Balfour, 12 Jan 1943, on the transition from grass to concrete runways.

  50. Ibid., Eaker to Harris, 4 Jan 1943; Box I.21, Eighth Air Force memorandum, ‘Supply and Maintenance’ [n.d.]; ‘Report of Lt. General Ira Eaker on USAAF Activities in the United Kingdom’, 31 Dec 1943, 3. Brereton Greenhouse, Stephen Harris, William Johnston and William Rawling, The Crucible of War 1939–1945: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Air Force, vol III (Toronto: 1994), 616, 631, 636.

  51. PArch, Balfour papers, BAL/4, RCAF Station, Trenton, ‘The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan 1939–1945’, Ottawa 1949, 3–8.

  52. Gilbert Guinn, The Arnold Scheme: British Pilots, the American South and the Allies’ Daring Plan (Charleston, SC: 2007), 484, 541.

  53. John Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939–1945 (Canberra: 1954), 450–51, 452, 454, 547–51.

  54. Greenhous et al., Crucible of War, 616, 627–9, 634–5.

  55. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.21, ‘Report of Lt. General Ira Eaker’, 1; Donald Miller, Eighth Air Force: The American Bomber Crews in Britain (London: 2007), 71–2.

  56. AFHRA, Disc A5835, ‘Eighth Air Force: Growth, Development and Operations 1 December 1942–31 December 1943’, Air Force Supply and Maintenance, chart of Serviceability B-17s, B-24s.

  57. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.20, Eighth Air Force, ‘Supply and Maintenance’ [n.d]; ‘Report of Lt. General Ira Eaker’, 7.

  58. LC, Arnold papers, Reel 89, Spaatz to Arnold, 28 May 1943, encl. ‘Organization of the Eighth Air Force’ by Follett Bradley; ‘The Bradley Plan for the United Kingdom’ [n.d.], charts i, iv; Summary of Personnel Requirements for the VIII Air Force Service Command; Gen. Barney Giles to Eaker, 26 Aug 1943; Parton, ‘Air Force Spoken Here’, 289.

  59. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.19, Lovett to Arnold, 19 June 1943.

 
60. Ibid., Box I.17, Arnold to Eaker, 10 June 1943; Eaker to Arnold, 12 June 1943.

  61. Ibid., Box I.17, Arnold to Gen. Devers, 29 June 1943.

  62. Ibid., Box I.16, Eaker to Col. Edgar Sorensen, Washington, DC, 11 Jan 1943.

  63. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 143, Hansell to Eaker and Longfellow, 26 Feb 1943, 4–5.

  64. AFHRA, 520.056-188, Eighth Air Force Statistical Summary, Aircraft Loss Rate. In January the figure was 7.5%, in February, 8.1%, in March 3.2% and in April 7.8%.

  65. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.16, Brig. Gen. J. Bevans (Assistant Chief of Staff, Personnel) to Eaker, 1 May 1943; Eaker to Arnold, 22 June 1943.

  66. Miller, Eighth Air Force, 221.

  67. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 70, Brig. Gen. C. Chauncey to all Eighth Air Force commanders, 18 Dec 1942.

  68. Ibid., HQ Eighth Air Force, Provost Marshal’s ‘Report on Conduct of Troops with Regard to the British’, 1, 3–4.

  69. Ibid., Eighth Air Force, ‘Anglo-American Relations’, 20 Sept 1943.

  70. NC, Cherwell papers, G195, letter from MAP to War Cabinet, 12 Dec 1942; R. Ewell (Office of Scientific Research and Development) to Cherwell, 12 Dec 1942.

  71. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.19, Lovett to Arnold, 19 June 1943: ‘The B-17 and B-24 are still useful types but their effectiveness will be reduced sharply by the end of the year.’

  72. Ibid., Box I.17, Telegram from Arnold to Eaker, 10 June 1943.

  73. Ibid., Telegram from Eaker to Arnold, 12 June 1943.

  74. LC, Spaatz papers, Box 316, Gen. Anderson’s Diary, 1943–5, entries for 22 Feb, 15 Mar, 1 May, 29 May.

  75. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.17, Eaker to Arnold, 29 June 1943. Parton, ‘Air Force Spoken Here’, 271–8, for a full account of the acrimonious exchange.

  76. LC, Eaker papers, Box I.17, Arnold to Eaker, 29 June 1943.

  77. TNA, AIR 20/283, Bomber Command Operations, Feb–Nov 1943, 2 Jan 1944.

  78. Greenhous et al., Crucible of War, 658–60; Randall Wakelam, The Science of Bombing: Operational Research in RAF Bomber Command (Toronto: 2009), 119–21, 139.

  79. RAFM, Saundby papers, AC 72/12, Box 7, Signals Branch, HQ Bomber Command, ‘War in the Ether: Europe 1939–1945’, Oct 1945, 14–16. ‘Boozer’ was unable to detect enemy AI radar at more than 1,500 yards, while ‘Monica’ and ‘Boozer’ interfered with each other when used together.

 

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