Documents / Document

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

Air Force Historical Studies Office · 863 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is Volume One of The Army Air Forces in World War II, titled Plans and Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942, edited by Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate. The University of Chicago Press first published it in 1948, and the Office of Air Force History reprinted it in 1983. The front matter explains how the AAF historical program was set up during the war. The index covers Pacific, Atlantic and European operations, and nothing in the text concerns unidentified aerial phenomena.

  • p. 2 THE UNIVERSITYOF CHICAGOPRESS, CHICAGO8 LONDON The University of Toronto Press, Toronto 5, Canada Copyright 1948 by…
  • p. 48 …An Associated Press dispatch of 10 October gave a contemporary judgment of the importance of this…
  • p. 55 …Air Service (Corps) found it difficult to press vigorously for reorgani- zation and, by default, leadership…
  • p. 56 …In 1919the W a r Department was pressing for a drastic revision of the military establishment…
  • p. 61 …It held that there was no danger of an air attack on the United States and…
  • p. 64 …GHQ Air Forcq a trial than to press for more radical measures, and Howell’s group…
  • p. 75 …Powerful air attacks resolutely pressed home could never be completely stopped, but their effects could best…
  • p. 98 …based air operations in defense of the United States and its overseas posses~ions.’~T w…
  • p. 99 …General Westover’s report concluded that “all Air Force units could be concentrated on either coast…
  • p. 130 …the Admiralty began to press for control of naval air units, while the army attempted to…
  • p. 149 …basic and advanced Responsibility for crew and unit train- ing was vested in the GHQ Air…
  • p. 164 …A m y air units in the Territory existed primarily for the defense of this and…
  • p. 176 …no military alliances were made which would commit the United States to war; the plans only…
  • p. 278 …There were also grounds for hoping that heavy bomber units now based on Darwin might increase…
  • p. 285 …From 1938 the United States had invoked sanctions against Japan in the form of moral em…
  • p. 287 …Over-all Strategy and lmmediate Deployment On 2 2 December, the press announced dramatically the arrival…
  • p. 289 …ground units sent in that direction were not destined for immediate combat. No major invasion of…
  • p. 323 …Seizure of bases in Canada or Mexico for later attacks on the United States. Capture of…
  • p. 366 …United state^,^ and the British them- selves were forced to withdraw some pilots from combat units…
  • p. 380 …Upon the request of the Ferrying Command, the State Depart- ment again pressed for an answer…
  • p. 397 …the summer and fall, first as the United States Middle East Air Force and later as…
  • p. 430 …Attempts had been made to replace these obsolete craft by purchase from the United States, but…
  • p. 440 …But as the Japanese pressed forward the Americans were given no opportunity to get set. The…
  • p. 463 …personnel that would be reassigned to infantry units whose rosters already included many representatives of the…
  • p. 552 …pines and more recently of American air units operating in the Netherlands East Indies, he was…
  • p. 560 …Moreover, examination proved that most of the basic equipment of the units, including badly needed trucks…
  • p. 563 …Grady arrived from the United States for a comprehensive survey of Indian resources with reference to…
  • p. 564 …TO C H I N A graphic units, and unfavorable atmospheric conditions combined to make high…
  • p. 607 …Thus the AAF units engaged in the anti-U-boat war became almost a t once…
  • p. 628 …Army air bombardment units would operate offensively in collaboration with the Royal Air Force, primarily against…
  • p. 658 …was to operate in the United Kingdom.14' All air units initially based there were to…
  • p. 683 …of the units of the infant Eighth until their departure for the United Kingdom several months…
  • p. 691 …The RAF proposed that American fighter units be integrated with its own under a plan eventually…
  • p. 748 …533.) By 1928he was (Patrick, United States in the Air, pp. 190-91.) 38. Charges of…
  • p. 770 …y.W D Press Release, 2 1 June 1941. 9 1 . AR 95-5, 3a. 92…
  • p. 857 …Presque Isle, 344, 347-49, 641, 644-45 Press comment: B-17, 662-63; danger of…
P L A N S , P O L I C I E S , A N D O R G A N I Z A T I O N
OBIECTl VES
5. Objectives suitable for the day bomber offensive under Phases I and
z are listed in the attachment hereto. The target list for Phase 3 will be issued
later.
ROLE OF BRITISH DAY BOMBER FORCE
6. During the development of the day offensive, British day bomber
forces are to be used in the secondary role to add weight to British diver-
sionary operations and to maintain the attacks during periods unsuitable for
the operation of the American heavy day bombers.
MACHINERY FOR IMPLEMENTING T H E PLAN
7. During Phase I , it will be the responsibility of the Commanding
General of the American Bomber Command to initiate offensive opera-
tions, making preliminary arrangements for fighter co-operation with the
Commanding General, the American Fighter Command. It will be the re-
sponsibility of the latter to ensure full consultation with the Air Officer
Commanding-in-Chief, Fighter Command. When the general plan is settled,
it will be the responsibility of the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Fighter
Command to nominate the British Fighter Group Commander, who is to
draw up the detailed fighter plans, reinforcing the Fighter Group as neces-
sary in conjunction with the Commanding General, American Fighter Com-
mand in respect of American pursuit reinforcements. Thereafter, detailed
planning and the conduct of the fighter operation will be the responsibility
of the Commanding General, American Bomber Command, and the British
Fighter Group Commander concerned.
8. When Phase 3 is reached, it will be the responsibility of the Com-
manding Generals of the American Bomber and Fighter Commands together
to make the general and detailed plans and to conduct the operations under
the direction of the Commanding General, 8th Air Force. It will be the
responsibility of the Commanding General of the American Fighter Com-
mand to arrange with the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Fighter Com-
mand for such ground facilities and fighter co-operation as may be required
from the British Fighter Command.
9. The Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief, Bomber, Fighter and Coastal
Commands, and the Commanding Generals of the American Bomber and
Fighter Commands will at all times keep each other informed of operational
intentions and together make such adjustments to plans as may be necessary
to ensure proper co-ordination.
10. At some moment during Phase z it will be necessary to change from
the co-ordination machinery for Phase I to that agreed for Phase 3. The
moment of change-over will be decided by the Commanding General, 8th
Air Force and the British Air Ministry (hC.A.S.(Ops) ) conjointly, having
regard to the available strength of American pursuit forces available which
are armed with American type fighters, and the degree of operational ex-
perience which they have acquired.227

About this file

Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 863 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.