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 I 1
Preparations in the United Kingdom
The theater of operations in which the Eighth Air Force soon
would make its debut had been for two years the scene of great air
battles. By 1942 the Royal Air Force had become a battle-proved,
experience-wise organization, with by far the greater part of its
strength concentrated in the United Kingdom, whose defense was
the cardinal point in British war policy. The establishment of another
great air force in a country smaller than the state of Alabama (vir-
tually all of the Eighth would be stationed in England proper), and
one that was already crowded with airdromes and teeming with air
traffic, would require all of the administrative skill, experience, and
patience with which both the RAF and the AAF were endowed.
The task of representing the AAF in the initial stages of what was
to prove an extraordinarily successful collaboration had fallen to
General Eaker. Although the Special Observer Group (SPOBS) ,
even before Pearl Harbor, had examined with leaders of the RAF
some of the problems that would be involved in the accommodation
of an American air force, it required the hard impact of actual war-
fare to lend urgency and certitude to preparations for the partici-
pation of the AAF in the European war. The advance echelon of
the Bomber Command, Army Air Force in Great Britain under
General Eaker was charged by General Arnold on 3 1 January to
prepare for the arrival, accommodation, training, and operation of a
bomber command.34Eaker and a party of six other officers reached
England by air on 2 0 February and reported to Maj. Gen. James E.
Chaney, commanding general of United States Army Forces British
Isles (USAFBI) .35
The first American air headquarters in Europe, the United States
Army Bomber Command, USAFBI, was established under command
of General Eaker by order of General Chaney on z z February.86
Three days later Chaney directed Eaker and his small staff, in ac-
cordance with previously made arrangements, to proceed to the head-
quarters of RAF Bomber Command for the purpose of understudying
its staff and drafting recommendations for the training, equipment,
and employment of American air units scheduled to operate from
the United Kingdom. Additional duties required examination of British
airfields intended for use by the Americans, submission of a plan
for the reception and assignment to stations of bomber units, and
618