The Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. 1 (archived PDF)

T H E A R M Y A I R F O R C E S I N W O R L D W A R 1 1
ward. But from an early date the Historical Office gave increasing
consideration to the definition of its ultimate objectives. Among these,
first place was given to the preparation of a comprehensive history of
the AAF’s war activities, to be written when victory would release
security controls. In the winter of 1943-44 the conviction was reached
that this history should not be conceived as the sum of the histories of
separate air forces and other major components bound only by the
physical format of a single work but rather as the story of our national
effort exerted through the Army air arm against determined foes in
widely scattered regions. It should be scholarly in tone, should be
addressed to those readers who have a serious interest in the study of
the air war, and should be of a length appropriate to the magnitude
and complexity of the subject but should not overlook certain human
limitations that presumably would govern both the author and the
reader. Such, at any rate, was the decision ultimately reached, and
seven volumes more or less arbitrarily came to be settled upon as a
practical compromise.
In intervals of relief from assignments of more immediate urgency
the office worked at an outline, which, though always tentative in
nature, began to take definite shape as the war in Europe drew to a
close. In September 1945 both the proposal and the suggesred outline
were approved in principle by the civilian Advisory Committee and
soon thereafter by the Air Staff. Since V-J Day the project, under the
weighty title of “The Seven Volume History,” had enjoyed a No. I
priority in the Historical Office. But there remained the practical
problem of translating the plans into actuality.
T h e importance of the story to be told and the wealth of archival
materials available suggested that a mature historian of outstanding
abilities be invited to undertake the task; informal caucusing for a
possible “Mahan of air power” became a favorite lunchtime occupa-
tion. But it was realized that, even in the unlikely event a distinguished
scholar could be lured from his own special interests, a seven-volume
history would constitute a lifetime assignment-the RAF’s history of
World W a r I, done in similar fashion and on a comparable scale, had
been finished only in 1937. It was eventually accepted that a seven-
volume work could be completed within a reasonable length of time
only as a co-operative venture. And it was not inappropriate that the
final product should bc a group enterprise. Inevitably the history must
bear the stamp of the field historians and of the legion of men who,
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