The Army Air Forces in World War II. Volume III, Europe: Argument to V-E Day, January 1944 to May 1945.

Abstract

Abstract : This monograph is Volume 3 of a 7-volume history entitled Army Air Forces in World War II. The present volume begins with the winter bombardment campaign of 1943-44 and ends with the German surrender in May 1945. It tells of air power's contribution to the slow drive up the Italian peninsula; it describes the activities of the strategic bombers as they beat down the Luftwaffe and, turning to other targets, ruined the German war economy. It tells how tactical forces prepared for and supported the landings in Normandy and then spearheaded the Allied sweep across France and, after a check and a serious counterattack, across Germany. The volume contains the climax of air operations, and the denouement, too -- for before the armistice the strategic bombers had run out of targets and the Eighth Air Force had begun its redeployment to the Pacific, while tactical forces had little to do beyond policing duties. The measure of the air victory and of the vast power which made it possible may be seen in a typical American gesture at war's end -- a great sight-seeing excursion in which the Eighth flew 30,000 of its ground personnel over Europe to view the damage wrought by the planes they had serviced. The chapter headings and subtitles provide a working outline of this volume. Roughly, these may be grouped around four main topics: (1) the air war in Italy; (2) the strategic bombing campaign; (3) tactical operations in support of the land armies from the Cotentin to the Elbe; and (4) supporting operations of various sorts.