Big Week: Six Days That Changed the Course of World War II
Page 37
Todt, Fritz, 69
Treaty of Versailles, 15–16, 178
Trident Conference, 85
Truemper, Walter Edward “Wally,” xviii, 134, 149, 154, 161, 162, 169, 170, 171, 173, 175, 263
Truman, Harry (President), 270
turning point, grasping for, 125–135
20th Century Crusaders (Hawkins), 207
Twining, Nathan, 129, 146, 226, 239, 244
U-boats targets, 58, 59, 64, 66, 73, 75–76, 78, 80, 84–85, 106, 112, 113
United Kingdom, 21, 33, 89. See also Britain
United States of America. See also Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS); Eisenhower, Dwight David; Enemy Objectives Units (EOU); Roosevelt, Franklin (President); World War II
aircraft production, 33–34, 34–35, 38, 50, 55, 76, 77, 108, 109, 132, 241, 244
airpower, history of, 13–14
air war preparation, 20–21, 24
“Greatest Generation,” 1–2, 40, 273–274
Lend-Lease Act, 26, 31, 38
marksmanship reverence in, 37
morale-boosting, 29, 30–31, 57, 232
Pearl Harbor, 24, 25, 29, 133
World War I, 12–13, 42, 46
United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSAFE, later USSTAF), 137, 138, 188, 218, 220, 229, 233, 234, 235, 237, 239, 240, 243, 254, 255, 257, 264, 269
Upton, John T., 194
US Army, 23, 41, 42, 130
US Army Air Forces (USAAF), xv, xvii. See also Arnold, Henry Harley “Hap”; Big Week; casualties; Doolittle, James Harold “Jimmy”; Eighth Air Force; Fifteenth Air Force; fighter escorts (“little friends”); Flying Fortresses; Kuter, Laurence Sherman; LeMay, Curtis Emerson; Liberators; Ninth Air Force; Spaatz, Carl “Tooey”; specific Operations
air war preparation, xiii–xiv, xvi, 20–24
daylight bombing, 35, 36–37, 50, 51–52, 53, 55–56, 64, 68, 70, 114, 255, 259
downsizing, 272
formation of, 41
going deep at all costs, 107–108, 109
going to war, 29, 30, 32
gunners, 134, 150–151, 152
Halverson Project (HALPRO), 30, 45
Memphis Belle, The: A Story of a Flying Fortress (documentary), 80
numbered air forces in, 31–32
pilots, 134
POWs, 116, 123, 157, 183, 193, 196, 223, 224, 258
US Military Academy, West Point, xv, 6, 21, 23, 71, 98
US Navy, 13–14, 20, 23, 37, 41, 50, 143
USS Akron, 143
Vandenberg, Hoyt, xviii, 23–24, 246, 249, 250
Varva, Frank, 220
VE-Day, 44, 259, 267
Vereinigte Kugellagerfabriken (VKF), 94, 101, 188, 215, 220, 231–232
“V Weapons,” German, 105–106
Waging Economic Warfare from London (Rostow), 47–48
Wagner, Emmy Baroness von, 178–179
Walker, James, 193, 199, 200
Walters, John, 223
Ward, Geoffrey, 183, 223–224
War Diary (OSS), 85–86, 232
Weather by the Numbers (Harper), 144
weather impact on
Big Week, 147, 148, 158–159, 177, 179, 181, 183, 184, 185, 187, 189, 192, 198, 204, 207, 213, 214, 215, 218, 225
Eighth Air Force, 59, 66, 73, 76, 99, 100, 101, 103, 104, 106, 118, 124, 126, 129, 141–142, 143–145, 231
Operation Overlord, 267–268
Webster, Charles, 89
Webster, George, 205, 207–208, 212, 217
Wells, Edward Curtis, 21
Werrell, Kenneth, 194
Who Fears? (Werrell), 194
Wiener Neustadt, 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, 129, 130
Williams, Richard, 21–22
Williams, Robert B., 99, 100, 101
Williamson, Charles Glendon “Glen”
Big Week, 174, 194, 195, 208, 219–220, 230
defining the mission, 73
Operation Argument, 145, 146
substance vs. promise, 71–72
Wilson, Henry Maitland (General), 137, 146
Winant, John Gilbert, 46, 47
Winged Victory (Mitchell), xvii
Winn (Lieutenant), 167
World War I (First World War), xvii, 6, 10, 11, 12–13, 15–16, 18, 36, 42, 46, 61, 130, 186
World War II (Second World War). See also Big Week; Britain; Germany; strategic airpower; United States of America; specific battles, Operations, Theaters of Operation
air war, 15–19
Christmas end anticipated, 240, 246, 251
going to war, 25–28
VE-Day, 44, 259, 267
Wright, Lee, 166–168
Wyler, William, 80, 81
Yalta Conference, 267
Zuckerman, Solomon “Solly,” 233–236, 240, 267
Zukowski, Claude, 223
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Yenne is the author of more than three dozen nonfiction books, especially on aviation and military history. These have included histories of the Strategic Air Command, the US Air Force, and his recently updated The Story of the Boeing Company. He has contributed to encyclopedias of both world wars. Mr. Yenne’s recent dual biography of Dick Bong and Tommy McGuire, published by Berkley and entitled Aces High: The Heroic Story of the Two Top-Scoring American Aces of World War II, was described by pilot and best-selling author Dan Roam as “The greatest flying story of all time.” General Wesley Clark called Mr. Yenne’s recent biography of Alexander the Great the “best yet.” The New Yorker wrote of Sitting Bull, Mr. Yenne’s biography of the great Lakota leader, that it “excels as a study in leadership.” Mr. Yenne lives in San Francisco, and on the Web at www.BillYenne.com.
General Carl Andrew “Tooey” Spaatz was the first commander of the Eighth Air Force in 1942, and by the time of Big Week in February 1944, he commanded the entire U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe. He later served as chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force.
General Frederick Lewis Anderson was probably the most influential planning and operations man for Big Week. Named as the commanding general of the VIII Bomber Command in 1943, he was, by the time of Big Week, the deputy commander for operations of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe.
General Ira Clarence Eaker took over the Eighth Air Force in December 1942 and commanded it through the period when it began operations, including its first deep penetration missions into the heart of Germany.
Boeing B-17G Flying Fortresses of the Eighth Air Force 91st Bombardment Group over Germany in 1944.
Consolidated B-24 Liberators during the August 1, 1944, Operation Tidal Wave strike against Ploesti Romania, source of most of the Third Reich’s refined petroleum.
Boeing Flying Fortresses of the Eighth Air Force 91st Bombardment Group cross the coastline, outbound from their mission over Kiel, Germany, in January 1944, on the eve of Big Week.
Staff Sergeant Archibald “Archie” Mathies was a young Flying Fortress gunner from the coal patch near Finleyville, Pennsylvania. He flew with the Eighth Air Force 351st Bombardment Group and earned the Medal of Honor on the first day of Big Week for his heroism in saving fellow crew members.
Lieutenant William Robert “Bill” Lawley, a pilot with the Eighth Air Force 305th Bombardment Group, earned the Medal of Honor on Big Week’s Day One, when he successfully brought his Flying Fortress, Cabin in the Sky, home from Leipzig despite having been severely wounded.
Two of Big Week’s key operational commanders: General Jimmy Doolittle commanded the Eighth Air Force, while General Curtis LeMay led the 3rd Bombardment Division.
A B-17G Flying Fortress of the Eighth Air Force 3rd Bombardment Division, 452nd Bombardment Group opens its bomb bay to release its ordnance on the Third Reich
Consolidated B-24J Liberators of the Eighth Air Force 2nd Bombardment Division, 93rd Bombardment Group over Germany in early 1944.
Any landing that you walk away from is a good landing. This B-17G Flying Fortress of the Eighth Air Force 401st Bombardment Group crash landed, presumably at its home base at Deenetho
rpe, on February 20, 1944, after bombing the Erla Messerschmitt facilities at Leipzig on the first day of Big Week.
Manning their .50-caliber machine guns, waist gunners aboard a B-24 Liberator await an attack from the Luftwaffe.
Waist gunners aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress both eye a suspicious speck in the sky. The heavy, sheepskin-lined leather flying suits worn by gunners can be clearly seen.
A Fifteenth Air Force B-24J Liberator over the Alps. The high mountains presented a challenge for the bomber crews flying into the Reich from their bases in Italy.
Thick contrails flow from the engines of Eighth Air Force 324th Bombardment Squadron Flying Fortresses as they head home from Schweinfurt on February 24, 1944, the penultimate day of Big Week. The Flying Fortress at right center is one of several bombers named Pist’l Packin’ Mama after the popular song.
With targets in snow-covered Regensburg burning, the B-17 Flying Fortresses of the Eighth Air Force 452nd Bombardment Group turn to begin their long journey back to England on February 25, 1944, the last day of Big Week.
Fifteenth Air Force bombs fall on Regensbrg, home to the largest manufacturing facility for Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters.
*All photos courtesy USAAF via author