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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.
“The Wash”17 pages
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 Eighth Air Force planes over the North Atlantic route, the last leg of which, from Iceland to Prestwick, fell under British control. Much of the equipment necessary to this movement was supplied by the British, who provided for many of our planes, after arrival in England, equipment which could not be made available in the United States.“ The airdromes initially taken over by the Americans were equipped with RAF communications facilities, which continued to be staffed largely by RAF technical personnel.66 As the Americans developed their own installations, the British telephone and teletype networks were extended to include them. All radar equipment and most of the radio equipment used by the Eighth Air Force during 1942 and well into 1943 was of British design and manufacture; at the same time, maintenance for radio equipment was provided by the Civilian Repair Organization, which functioned under the control of the Min- istry of Aircraft Production.67 In the opinion of the signal officer of the VIII Bomber Command in November 1942, the “only reason that U.S. Groups have gotten along so well with regard to com- munications until now is because the RAF have been very generous in supplying Signal Officers and additional personnel.” 6 8 That was hardly an overstatement, for in August 1942 the Eighth Air Force remained almost completely dependent upon the British for both ground and ground-to-air communications. T h e necessity for integrated action with the British, in this and other fields, naturally posed special problems of training, a subject which consumed much time and effort during the spring and summer of 1942. An American proposal in September 1941 that the RAF provide equipment and personnel to familiarize AAF fighter squadrons with special RAF methods indicates an early appreciation of the fundamental importance of adjustment in the training program within the United States.6g General Eaker’s report of 2 0 March lent new emphasis to this necessity, and was followed by helpful efforts to establish and maintain close liaison between the theater and those charged with training in the United States. Preparation of training data was the responsibility of the bomber command G-3 section, which under the direction of Col. Frank A. Armstrong assembled materials for a special training manual. Concerned chiefly with the problems of heavy bomber units, it was sent on its completion in June to the United States for use by operational training units there 626
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