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

T H E E I G H T H A I R F O R C E
Central Interpretation Unit.61 AAF officers in various categories con-
tinued to receive training in British intelligence schools throughout
the war.
Similarly, the Eighth Air Force long remained dependent on the
British for essential weather services. But in line with AAF policy to
make the American air force as independent of the RAF as was
practicable, General Eaker urged in March a prompt dispatch of
weather officers “to begin the study of this beastly weather.” H e
emphasized the basic importance of weather forecasts to the type
of operations planned for the American bombers, and in his appeal to
General Spaatz observed that it was all right “to say ‘get it from
the British,’ but we want to be self-supporting as soon as possible
and it takes weather people to get it from the British and to transmit
it.77 6 2 In response to this request, the 18th Weather Squadron was
activated at Bolling Field in May, and shipped to England in August.
On its arrival, a weather school conducted by American personnel
at High Wycombe was established, and liaison with RAF weather
services was promptly a c c ~ m p l i s h e d . ~ ~No small part of the training
required involved an introduction to the organization, procedure,
techniques, and terminology employed by the British, for they con-
tinued to be the major source of weather information.
Integration with the British communications system naturally pre-
sented one of the more fundamental problems antecedent to opera-
tions-a problem that in its solution would leave a mark upon the
organizational as well as the operational history of the Eighth. The
RAF had developed an elaborate system, based on extensive radio
and radar installations, for the control of air traffic over the United
Kingdom. It was necessary, of course, that American and British
forces operate subject to one control; and every advantage lay in
having the Americans, by such adjustment of equipment and training
as might be necessary, fitted into the already established and highly
efficient British system. The overriding importance of this problem
had brought AAF communications experts into close consultation
with their counterparts in the RAF as early as January 1942 in an
effort to determine the communications requirements of American
aircraft to operate from England and to translate their conclusions
into practical terms of production and m~dification.~~This prompt
action made possible the provision of at least minimum equipment
for air-to-ground communication for flights during the summer of
6 2 5