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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
R O U E N - S O T T E V I L L E N O . I in a day, and results of practice against aerial targets continued to be di~appointing.~ Similar difficulties attended the introduction of American fighter units into the United Kingdom. The 3 1st Fighter Group, commanded by Maj. J.R. Hawkins, began training at Atcham on 2 6 June. Inspec- tion by British and American authorities revealed at that time de- ficiencies in gunnery, formation flying, navigation, combat tactics, and, in some cases, instrument flying. The pilots had also to be trained in British operating procedures, in flying a t the maximum cruising speeds necessary for operations over enemy territory, and in the diffi- cult task of assembling and navigating large formations a t extremely low altitudes-a necessary procedure in avoiding detection by enemy radar. In addition to these training problems, the new unit was handi- capped by a radical change of equipment. Initially trained on P-39’s, it was required to convert to Spitfires, a process which was not com- pleted without a number of accidents. In order to facilitate conversion to the British equipment, six of the group’s ranking pilots were de- tached for operational experience with a Canadian squadron.6 Despite unfavorable weather and congested facilities, the 3 1st Group received intensive training. RAF Bomber Command lent its assistance and, as training progressed, AAF element, flight, and squad- ron commanders were attached temporarily to British units, with which they flew a few fighter sweeps as wingmen. By mid-August the group was fully operational and had been transferred to the south of England in preparation for initial operations under RAF control. Each of the three squadrons was attached for this purpose to separate wings of RAF No. I I Group until they had gained enough combat experience to be able to fly as a group. Although other American fighter units were beginning to arrive in the theater, the 3 1st remained at this time the only one on fully operational status. There were, of course, three RAF squadrons-the famous Eagle squadrons-composed of American volunteer pilots. These flyers were transferred to the AAF in September 1942, forming the 4th Fighter Group7 Intensive as the training of the new fighter units had been, it was clear by the middle of August that they were as yet neither numerous enough nor sufficiently seasoned to provide the cover necessary for the first bomber missions. Fighter escort, on a relatively large scale, was considered essential to the success of the day bomber campaign, and it was planned to use extensive cover on the initial missions and 65 7
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