Eighth Air Force’s Great WWII Gamble

By Brig Gen Richard M. Baughn, USAF (Ret)

Author’s Note: As in past, rather than going back and forth from US Army Air Corps to US Army Air Forces according to the period under discussion, I’ll use only the latter or its acronym (USAAF).

By the time the US entered the war, the Germans and Japanese had captured much of Europe and Asia and were poised to overrun more countries—with only the beleaguered British left to stop them. Since the US had been so poorly prepared, it would take almost a year before they had sufficient forces and shipping to start to help. As a result, the American and British leaders had to decide where to concentrate their limited forces. Because the Nazis were threatening the very existence of Britain, it was decided to defeat Germany first, while applying holding action against Japan. The overly ambitious Americans insisted on a plan to invade France in the spring of 1943 and the British reluctantly agreed. The initial objective in support of the invasion would be a joint USAAF/RAF air campaign to reduce Germany’s industrial might and destroy the Luftwaffe. As history has shown, it would be 1944 before our military forces were strong enough to invade France.

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http://www.au.af.mil/au/aunews/archive/2010/0510/0510Articles/Baughn0510.htm