The Air Plan

e [Music] apart from the air situation which is the overriding factor in particular air action should be directed towards the reduction of the German air forces on the Western Front the progressive destruction of the German economic system and the undermining of German morale these are the actual words to the outline plan for the liberation of Europe such was the task which confronted the Allied a in two words air superiority for the RAF dday was back in 1941 when our Fighters after winning the defensive Battle of Britain began to push their offensive sweeps deeper over enemy occupied territory [Music] when our bombers began to strike at the industrial centus [Music] Jour through 1942 the offensive mounted in May thousand bomber raids on the RAR and reinand experiments in saturation bombing which were to point the way to the great knight battles of [Music] 1943 in August D but our Fighters held the L a back from the ground forces on the beaches and the shipping offshore it was during 1942 also that another striking force was coming powerfully to our Aid the fortresses and liberators of the American e Air Force soon to be followed by swarms of protective [Music] fighter throughout 1943 in the early months of 1944 the air War grew to a climax by day German aircraft factories were pounded and defending Fighters were shot down in hun By Night their heavy Industries are blasted and burned the enemy was forced to withdraw more of his guns his airplanes and his Manpower from possible Invasion areas to defend the right by the Autumn of 1943 the air situation was such that detailed planning for the invasion could begin the war against the DVA continued but a new phase of the air plan opened air power applied in direct relation to the [Music] landing a new command was formed the Allied expeditionary Air Force their Chief Marshal s Trafford Lee mallerie in command and the American Major General WG Butler as his Deputy the force consisted of the British second Tactical Air Force of fighters fighter B and light bombers under Air Marshal Sir Arthur Cunningham and the ninth American Air Force of medium bombers and Fighters under Major General Lu Brit there were also reconnaissance Wings a group of defensive Fighters a transport group and a group for Airborne operation such demands as might be made under the Strategic heavy bombers of air Chief Marshall Harris and general sparts but to be coordinated through the deputy Supreme Commander air Chief Marshall s Arthur teder to understand the work which these Air Forces were to do in the months before D-Day we must examine for a moment the outline of the military plan the intention was to make Landings along the strip of Coast between the mou of the or river and the base of the sherbo peninsula to cut off the peninsula and secure sherberg as a Supply [Music] Port but the very reasons for choosing this plan made it all the more difficult to carry out the Germans didn't believe we would choose this area poor in Supply ports and a long way from our objective Germany impr prefence of the coast hard up rich Imports with a shorter Channel Crossing and much nearer our go we relied on Allied Air Supremacy and our genius for amphibious operations to confound his calculations but to land a fully trained and equipped force is one thing to maintain a bridge head and ing supplies and reinforcements is another victory in the opening battles let go to the side which could concentrate the greatest force in the shortest time for this purpose the Germans had at their disposal the elaborate Road and Railway systems of northern France the canals and [Music] rivers the Allies would have to cross 100 miles of treacherous channel in boats small enough to run up on the flat beaches of Normy the project appeared [Music] impossible the task of the Air Force was to redress the balance by paralyzing the enemy Communications and in particular by isolating the rectangle France contained by the river S and R and there was a surprise in store a mobile port to be towed across the channel one of the remarkable Feats in the history of warfare [Music] we had learned that railway lines and Roads can quickly be repaired so we must concentrate a great weight of bombs on the most vulnerable points marshing yards Junctions workshops Bridges B this had to be done without giving the enemy any idea of where we were going to land we must avoid to the utmost damage and casualties to the friendly civil population by D-Day out of 80 selected Railway centers 51 were out of action and 25 more were badly disorganized 76 out of 80 to achieve this 66,000 tons of bombs were dropped by British and American Heavies and the lighter bombers are the Tactical and Ninth Air Forces [Music] the jaob of bridge busting was given mainly to the havocs and Marauders of the American nth Air Force by D-Day cross the stain between Paris and the Sea only one rail and two Road bridges are left standing [Music] at the same time bomber command were blowing up the great enemy dumps of supplies and ammunition in the 9 weeks before D-Day 2 , 655 German planes were destroyed in cumt we were passing from Air superiority to Air [Applause] [Music] Supremacy in the south of England huge armies were assembling ideal targets the German aircraft but none dared to come not a dozen reconnaissance Plaines crossed our Coast yet a German soldier in France could hardly move without being photographed from the air in the weeks before dday part of the Air Attack was switched to Targets in direct support of the impending Landings there were three main categories Coastal batteries which threatened our Seaborn armies radar stations which would give warning of the approaching Armada and enemy airfields in which he could operate in the battle area at closer range than our own fighters based in England these attacks still had to be spread to give no indication of the landing area tactical bombers with the help of British and American Heavies dealt with the batteries in [Music] F while Fighters with bombs and Rockets took on the radar station [Applause] at least 11 batteries in the vital area were destroyed before dday every radar station between Bara and laav was dead except one and that only worked in timid SP the major role of the Allied Air Forces in preparing the invasion of Europe was finished since 1941 it had cured the Royal Air Force with its British dominion and allied squadrons with many casualties in killed missing and prisoners as the Imperial ground forces were to suffer in the first three months of the land campaign the American Air losses were proportionately heavy the German Gunners and Coast defense troops along the S Bay were called very early on the morning of June the 6th by 8,500 tons of bombs dropped upon them by lancasters and Halifax as Obama command fortresses and liberators of the United States Air Force at one blow 10 more Coastal batteries were destroyed we couldn't deal with them before without making our plan OB this was the first time that bumer command had acted in close support of ground troops and the results were so good that this technique was to see startling [Music] development during the early Landings the Air Force forces were destined to play a protective [Music] role Boston's laid smoke screens Fighters swarmed over the beaches and shipping lanes but the air preparation had been so thorough that enemy air interference was negligent other Fighters armed with Cannon and Rockets gave any German troops rash enough to expose themselves a taste of the treatment they soon learned to dread [Music] during the landing operations and for many weeks before and after Coastal command kept watch on the Dutch and French Atlantic ports for UB boats and surface craft which were expected to break into the channel to Harry our shipping lanes small convoys slipping down the coast supplement the bettered land Communications a cannoned rocketed and torpedoed by Coastal bow [Music] fighter an enemy Destroyer sneaking in from the Atlantic along the Britany Coast was forced ashore and destroyed liberators Patrol continuously on the watch for Ubers when dday came the German Navy stayed at [Music] home as we had planned and hoped the German command was deceived as to the point of Landing when they discovered their mistake they were unable to rush reserves to the area in time to stop us making a firm bridge in the first and most dangerous phase was over now came the time to build up for the main assault air strips must be provided for our short range Fighters Airfield construction equipment bulldozers scrapers levelers were given a high priority in the Stream of supplies crossing the channel in a few hours these great machines change the country scene into wide tracks of Runway with their major dispersal points and taxi tracks [Music] sometimes the work was done under the eyes of the enemy who used the factory Chim of KH as observation posts [Music] the Pioneer cor sweating of their labors were shelled and mored but the work went on pioneers and servicing commanders hastily dug trenches for protection and then got on with the job the ARF regiment set up their guns around the perimeter dust was the greatest enemy however fine powder dust that got into engine bearings and Cannon breach and betrayed every movement to the watching [Music] Germans to overcome this a new type of Runway was laid known as the stamp licker a machine rolled down long strips of material stuck together with a sort of [Music] esult but air stps were only half the story and Air Force especially a Tactical Air Force operating in close support of an army is valueless without elaborate signals Communications Wireless plays a great part but Wireless signals can be tapped land lines are essential this was the task of the air formation signals army men of the royal core of signals attached permanently to our formations farmhouses concealed telephone exchanges that would serve a fair sized English [Music] tar HX concealed batteries of tele print though shells and lores and tanks and even enemy agents were continually breaking their lines the system never broke down to the men of the RAF and air formation signals much of the credit must go for the closest Army Air coordination in the history of war the Air Force squadrons in France were composed entirely of Fighters typhoons with rockets and bombs Mustangs with bombs and Cannon Spitfires mostly Canadian with Cannon their role is twofold to harass the enemy and to protect our own troops from Air [Music] ATT the job of air protection fell mainly on the spit the beach head area though secure was very limited in depth 3 or four miles in some places 12 or 15 in others within this space was a great arm with tens of thousands of lores and hundreds of thousands of tons of ammunition and suppli vehicles crowded the roads radiated at a tailb there was hardly a field or Orchard that didn't Ser a camping ground or Supply Dr concealment was impossible above it all all the swirling Columns of [Music] dust behind this antique lay the beaches with thousands of craft flying to and fro and the freighter lying out in the deeper water two or three squadrons of fighter bombers could have reduced the whole scene to a Shand when aircraft zoomed overhead our men seldom bothered even to look up such was their confidence the typhoons and Spitfires had the task of harassing the enemy in the battles the First Essential was to deny to the Germans the freedom of movement we enjoyed ourselves already thanks to the air preparation he was being forced to detrain some of his reinforcements at nons 250 mil [Music] arriving in the battle area in bits and pieces on foot on bicycles in vehicles and in tanks already in bad shape the troops are subjected to a hail of rockets and Cannon shells [Music] [Music] in a few days enemy movement ceased by day and even by night only the leafy VI lines could be used thanks to our roading mosquitoes and B [Music] to obtain the closest lasor between our armor and the air a specially converted tank carrying signal equipment and an RAF officer Advanced with our columns when our TOS met a tough position this tank could call up the pilots of typhoons waiting overhead and direct them down by visual observation onto their targets in this way German tanks and 88 mm guns were often knocked out within a few minutes of making their presence known the H knew no res [Music] during July over 400 tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed the Mustangs with their wider range were mainly used to bomb targets deeper behind the German lines barges bringing supplies up the sail railway trains with ammunition few as they were Road Junctions and Tobe concentrations records of German telephone conversations found later are El testimony the effect of the Aeros again and again the high command ordered attack attack the answer came back sorry we are pinned down from the air but it was impossible to prevent the enemy concentrating part of his forces and Equipment these he placed with great skill in a series of Highly fortified belts to attempt a frontal assault on these would have been costly in lives and Equipment it was decided to call in the help of the heavy bomber at K at Kom and twice during the advance from cor to F the Heavies came in North Africa fortresses and liberators had been used in tactical support of the armies but it was something new for our lancasters and Halifax's to appear on the battlefield the organization and tactics of bom command were designed for industrial areas by night now they were called upon to do pinpoint boming largely by day there was no room for error the targets lay only a mile or so ahead of our own men it was an essential part of the plan our army should press into the enemy position before he recovered from the shock nor must our line of Advance be created by heavy bombs the right kind of bombs was going exactly the right placement a Precision operation of great skill due to the lack of enemy Fighters the individual tactics of the night Heavies could be employed by day indeed they offered a less attractive Target to the ground defenses than a close formation black bombers swarmed in the sky like Rooks above a spinning probably the most remarkable of these attacks was that on Kom it was a foul morning for fly thick gray cloud down to a few hundred ft the Germans in their trenches must have felt secure suddenly out of the Merk came a great Lancaster hardly clearing the tops of the hills and then another down went the indicator flares on the pin point for 2 hours the bombs rained in one bound our line moved forward 10 m with the American breakthrough on the right the PIN began to close around the German seventh Army south of Fes which by now had been added a part of the 15th Army from the Northeast why did they wait to be destroyed Hitler's fanaticism May Supply part of the answer but the main explanation was that they were blind deaf and largely dumb they didn't know how serious their position was blind because they couldn't risk reconnaissance aircraft death and dumb because their signals organization had been broken by our air attacks especially those by light and medium bombers which destroyed headquarters buildings by contrast the Allied command was informed by our Mustang and spitfire Pilots of every move and concentration the enemy made his intentions were frustrated before they ever took [Music] [Applause] shape a great victory was in the making on August 17th realizing the Trap he was in the enemy started a last desperate effort to break out to the east it was the moment that our ground stopping Fighters had been waiting for in 3 days more than 5,000 Vehicles were [Music] destroyed for Miles the roads around TR shamba were piled with the remains of Tanks trucks guns carts horses and Men Devastation and panic were complete a French peasant who saw the flight told how at the sound of aircraft the Germans were terrified like rabits crushing their own men under their tanks Dunkirk was Avenged the greatest German Army in the west was shattered the the fleeing remnants had worst to come the bridges over the S were down every attempt to collect barges or build pontoons had been dealt with by typhoons and mustach a conglomeration of men and transport collected on the Western Bank of the river opposite Ruan then the medium bombers struck the rest of equipment on foot in farm CS the survivors of the German 7eventh Army struggled back towards the Fatherland our armies pressed forward close behind them eager to join in the last great battle on the frontiers of Germany the air plan was paying dividends [Music] oh [Music]