Games PC COMBAT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 3-UNDERSTANDING THE TACTICAL AIR WAR User Manual
Microsoft® Combat Flight Simulator 3.0
Air Force Historical Research Agency Photo
UNDERSTANDING THE TACTICAL AIR WAR
handbook
Subject: CONTENTS
Contents
Welcome to the
Tactical Air War! ... 1
Events and People in
the Tactical Air
War ................. 7
Key Players in the
Tactical Air War:
The CFS3 Hall of
Fame ............... 21
Acknowledgements...... 30
REMEMBER: OUR MEN AND MACHINES
ON THE GROUND LOOK A LOT LIKE
THEIRS.
RAIL CARS AFTER A POUNDING BY
ALLIED FIGHTER BOMBERS.
National Archives and Records Administration Photo
A B-26 MARAUDER FLIES OVER THE
NORMANDY INVASION FLEET.
Air Force Historical Research Agency Photo
Air Force Historical Research Agency Photo
Recommended Reading... 32
Glossary.............. 36
* * *
Authorized licensees of this game
may print (or have printed at their
expense) a single copy of this
manual for their personal home use
in conjunction with the play and
use of the game on this CD.
Subject: TACTICAL AIR WAR
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Welcome to the Tactical Air War!
“Schlachtfliegerei”
Schlacht means slaugh-
ter. Schlachtfliegerei
means ground attack, the
most dangerous and least
glamorous part of wartime
flying. There is no room
here for romantic illusion,
no pretense of chivalry;
one is down on the deck
where the targets (people,
vehicles, installations,
and fortifications) may be
clearly seen. The ground
attack pilot is exposed to
every bit of flak, every
machine gun, every rifle,
every pistol. Denied him
is the acclaim accorded
fighter pilots. The chances
of winning fame as a
Schlachtflieger are as slim
as those of survival....
--From Jay P. Spenser,
Focke-Wulf 190: Workhorse
of the Luftwaffe
So you thought you were going to be
a “knight of the air,” jousting high in
the clean blue sky, far above the clouds
and even farther from the mud and squalor of the war on the ground.
Instead you nd yourself in a ghter
bomber, scraping over hostile territory
at 200 feet with the terrain rising to
meet you. You’re ying down the muzzles
of massed antiaircraft guns and dodging
small arms re to attack enemy air elds,
trains, tanks, trucks, and troops.
Performing masthead-level attacks on
enemy shipping adds its own thrills and
threats. Some of your targets have more
and bigger guns than a whole formation
of bombers. If enemy re doesn’t get
you, the blast and debris from your own
low-level bombing and stra ng can bring
you down. In this kind of war there’s
more danger and less glory for everyone.
Welcome to the tactical air war,
pal!
Air Force Historical Research Agency Photo
“WE TOOK A BIT OF A BEATING ON
THE GROUND BUT BOY DID WE DISH
IT OUT IN THE AIR.”
--General Elwood “Pete” Quesada
Subject: TACTICAL AIR WAR
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED: The lowdown on the tactical air war
BY MID-1943 THE AIR WAR IN EUROPE HAD SETTLED
INTO A DEADLY PATTERN FOR FIGHTER PILOTS ON BOTH
SIDES. MOST WERE INVOLVED IN THE STRATEGIC AIR WAR;
ESCORTING OR ATTACKING BOMBERS WAS THEIR PRIMARY ROLE,
AND COMBAT IN THE FRIGID SKIES AT 20,000 TO 30,000
FEET WAS THE NORM.
AS THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ALLIED INVASION OF
THE CONTINENT TOOK ON GROWING CERTAINTY, THE TACTI
CAL AIR WAR IN THE WEST HEATED UP AND EMPHASIZED A
DIFFERENT PILOT ROLE--FLYING CLOSE AIR SUPPORT. THIS
ROLE PUT WOULD-BE HIGH FLYERS DOWN ON THE DECK FOR A
DIFFERENT KIND OF WARFARE BASED ON AIR-GROUND TEAM
WORK. FIGHTER-BOMBER PILOTS WERE PART OF THE ARMY
TEAM, WITH DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY TO ASSIST THE ADVANCE
OF FRIENDLY FORCES ON THE GROUND, WHILE KEEPING ENEMY
TROOPS AND SUPPLY LINES REELING UNDER BULLETS, BOMBS,
AND ROCKETS.
THE GERMAN ARMY HAD ALWAYS VIEWED AIR POWER AS
SUBORDINATE TO THE FORCES ON THE GROUND. CLOSE AIR
SUPPORT, USING AIRCRAFT TO ASSIST THE ADVANCE OF
TROOPS AND MOBILE FORCES ON THE GROUND, WAS A CEN
TRAL PART OF THE BLITZKRIEG ACROSS EUROPE BETWEEN 1939
AND 1940. IT WAS ALSO A BASIC FEATURE OF COMBAT IN
THE CAULDRON OF THE EASTERN FRONT. AS THE WAR IN THE
WEST INTENSIFIED, ESPECIALLY AFTER THE ALLIED INVA
SION OF FRANCE COMMENCED IN JUNE 1944, THE GERMANS
PRESSED MORE AND MORE AIRCRAFT INTO TACTICAL SER
VICE EVEN AS THE STRATEGIC BOMBING CAMPAIGN AGAINST
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GERMANY INCREASED THE LUFTWAFFE’S NEED FOR HIGH-ALTI
TUDE INTERCEPTORS. BF 109 AND FW 190 PILOTS HAD TO
STRAFE AND DIVE BOMB TO STOP OR SLOW THE FLOOD OF
MEN AND MATERIEL OF THE INVADING ARMIES. JU 88 MEDIUM
BOMBERS SWOOPED DOWN FROM NORMAL BOMBING ALTITUDE
TO PLACE THEIR ORDNANCE WHERE IT WOULD DO THE MOST
GOOD: RIGHT IN THE LAPS OF THE ENEMY. EVEN THE NEW
GERMAN JETS SAW SOME SERVICE IN THE TACTICAL AIR WAR.
THE ALLIES TOOK LONGER TO FULLY EMBRACE THE
POTENTIAL OF A TACTICAL ROLE FOR COMBAT AIRCRAFT,
BUT PERFECTED CLOSE AIR SUPPORT BETWEEN 1943 AND 1945
BY ADDING NEW TECHNOLOGICAL VARIATIONS TO THE TAC
TICAL THEME. ALLIED PILOTS (BEING DIRECTED BY AIR
FORCE LIAISON OFFICERS ON THE GROUND TO ENEMY GROUND
TARGETS, FRIENDLY FORMATIONS IN NEED OF ESCORT,
OR INCOMING BANDITS) CARRIED OUT A BLITZKRIEG OF
THEIR OWN AGAINST ANYTHING THAT MOVED IN THE ENEMY
SECTOR. THUNDERBOLTS, LIGHTNINGS, MUSTANGS, TYPHOONS,
TEMPESTS, AND SPITFIRES FLEW FIGHTER BOMBER DUTY
TO SUPPORT THE WAR ON THE GROUND, WHILE MITCHELL,
MARAUDER, AND MOSQUITO BOMBERS ADDED THE FORMIDABLE
STRAFING POWER OF MULTIPLE GUNS AND CANNON TO THE
DESTRUCTIVE FORCE OF THEIR BOMBS.
FOR BOTH SIDES, DETERMINING THE PRECISE LINE
BETWEEN FRIENDLY AND ENEMY TERRITORY IN A FLUID AND
CLOSE-FOUGHT SITUATION ADDED TO THE DIFFICULTIES TAC
TICAL PILOTS ALREADY FACED.
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Subject: TACTICAL AIR WAR
- 3 -
Altitude is still your friend...but
you’ve got less of it to work with!
From a tactical pilot’s point of
view, you’ve got one strike against
you as soon as you leave your base and
head into enemy territory--you’re ying
close to the deck without the luxury of
altitude. Altitude is life to a ghter
pilot, providing the high ground from
which to attack enemy aircraft, as
well as room in which to dive away from
attackers. Flying ve or six miles above
the ground provides plenty of room for
maneuvering, attacking, and evading.
“The Mission of the
Tactical Air Force”
MISSIONS--The mission
of the tactical air force
consists of three phases of
operations in the following
order of priority:
First priority--To gain
the necessary degree of
air superiority. This will
be accomplished by attacks
against aircraft in the
air and on the ground, and
against those enemy installations that he requires
for the application of air
power.
Second priority--To pre-
vent the movement of hostile troops and supplies
into the theater of operations or within the theater.
Third priority--To
participate in the combined effort of the air
and ground forces, in the
battle area, to gain objectives on the immediate
front of the ground forces.
--From War Department
Field Manual FM 100-20:
Command and Employment of
Air Power (21 July 1943)
Air Force Historical Research Agency Photo
For a ghter bomber pilot altitude is still your friend, but you’ve
got a lot less of it to work with since
most missions are own at 12,000 feet
or lower (usually much lower), right
on down to the deck.
USAF Museum Photo Archives
A THUNDERBOLT CARRIES THE COM-
PLETE GROUND ATTACK ARSENAL:
GUNS, BOMBS, AND ROCKETS.
DOUGLAS A-20 MEDIUM BOMBER IN
LOW-LEVEL ATTACK ON CHERBOURG
PENINSULA.
Subject: TACTICAL AIR WAR
A few additional worries
In addition to reduced altitude
and the hail of ak and small arms re
coming up at you as you approach targets
on the ground, you have a few additional
worries as a ghter-bomber pilot:
- Encountering aireld defenses. If you
and your buddies swoop down to beat
up an enemy aireld, the guy who ies
through rst is the lucky one, because
he might catch the antiaircraft
defenses off guard. By the time the
rest of you approach the target those
gunners are wide awake and lling the
air with ak.
- Pulling up in time. Diving a heavy,
powerful aircraft from low altitude makes for a thrilling pullout,
if you’re lucky. If you’re not both
attentive and lucky, you may xate
on the target until it’s too late
to pull out.
- Identifying appropriate targets--now!
While you’re thinking about the
target, the ak, and the need to pull
out before you become part of the
landscape, you also need to make
sure that the target you’re attacking belongs to the enemy. Skimming
along at low altitude and high speed
over a crowded battleeld doesn’t give
you a lot of time to make vital decisions. Are those enemy troops? Are you
sure the squat form of a heavy tank
glimpsed through foliage is an appropriate target? You may never know for
sure whose cause will prot from the
bombs you just dropped.
- And nally, getting caught in your
own explosions. When you attack surface targets from low altitude you
risk getting caught in explosions of
your own making. Trains and motorized transport full of fuel and ammo,
the volatile contents of fuel and
ordnance dumps, and even locomotives
with a boiler full of high-pressure
steam--all of these targets can blow
up in a big way, lling a once empty
piece of sky with pinwheeling chunks
of shrapnel. Even the roadway beneath
enemy vehicles can be hazardous, as
bomb blasts can heave hunks of pavement into the same airspace you’re
occupying.
Three Critical Factors
for Fighter Bomber
Pilots
...strafing passes...
bring out three critical
factors in a fighter bomber
pilot’s war.... One, any
misjudgment, target fixation, or too-late attempts
at aiming corrections will
send the airplane into the
target, ground, or nearby
trees or other obstructions. Two, if the target
is a load of ammunition or other explosives,
it can--and very likely
will--explode right in the
pilot’s face, sending up
a fireball, truck parts,
slabs of highway, stillto-explode ammo, and other
debris right into the path
of the airplane. Three, if
a pilot is seriously hit by
flak in [a] low-altitude
attack, his chances of ever
reaching enough altitude
to allow a bailout are slim
indeed....
--From Bill Colgan,
War II Fighter Bomber Pilot
World
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Subject: TACTICAL AIR WAR
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Another little problem: Enemy fighters
While you’re concentrating on the
enemy below, don’t forget the most dangerous and persistent threat any combat
pilot faces: enemy ghters attacking
from superior altitude. Getting bounced
from above while going after ground targets is an ever-present danger, so you
and your buddies have got to take turns
ying combat air patrol over the target
area to keep the opposition busy while
the rest of the team beats up targets
on the ground.
Now this kind of teamwork is what
you joined up to do, right? Not quite.
You’ll be craning your neck and straining your eyes to spot incoming bandits,
mixing it up with enemy ghters as you
match your skills against skilled adversaries, but remember, this is dog ghting with a difference. Even if you’re
ying a relatively light and nimble
ghter, your plane’s ordnance load makes
it heavier and less responsive; you can
drop like a rock in a dive. Power and
gravity combine to eat up altitude in
a hurry, and the ground is never very
far away.
If you’re ying one of the heavyweights in your air force’s inventory,
the ground can reach up and grab you.
In a P-47 Thunderbolt or a Do 335 Arrow,
or even a big German jet, you’ve got
to juggle the need to get the target
in your sights against the need to pull
out in time. If you cut it too ne,
you can haul back on the stick to point
the nose up at what appears to be the
last moment and discover that your
plane simply won’t cooperate. With all
its weight and power, it will continue
to sink despite your best efforts and
“mush” right into the ground.
“I don’t believe in all this divebombing [stuff], it ain’t natural.”
Many new ghter-bomber pilots
longed for the classic ghterpilot role
they’d read and dreamed about, in which
the ground was for the ground-pounders and the sky above the clouds was
reserved for dashing aviators. This
made for a dif cult adjustment:
...fighter pilots were slow to
appreciate the value of close-support operations. One flyer aptly
summarized the rank-and-file perception of the new task when he
said... “I don’t believe in all
this dive-bombing [stuff], it
ain’t natural.”
--Thomas A. Hughes,
Over Lord:
General Pete Quesada and the
Triumph of Tactical Air Power
in World War II
Results You Can See
“There were times we
could actually see our
troops move forward after
we had knocked out a German
88 or tank that was holding
up the column. We knew we
were making a difference.”
--Veteran fighter bomber
pilot Quentin Aanenson
Air Force Historical Research Agency Photo
A GERMAN MK IV TANK DESTROYED
BY AERIAL ATTACK.
Subject: TACTICAL AIR WAR
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The payoff: Unique satisfactions
So given the catalog of dangers, why
would you want to y close air support
missions? Because this job provides some
unique satisfactions:
- Even if you’re a loner--and many
ghter pilots are--there’s a lot to
be said for being part of a team;
especially if it’s a winning team.
Protecting your guys on the ground and
helping them to advance by suppressing enemy troops and weapons adds real
meaning to your part of the struggle.
- There’s also a lot to be said for
instant grati cation--and few things
are as gratifying to a combat pilot as
seeing a tempting target blow up in a
big way.
- Seeing close-up the effect of your
guns, bombs, and rockets on the enemy
does a lot for your con dence and your
feeling that the results are worth the
risks. Flying close air support also
provides a sense of personal power and
effectiveness that is only tempered by
the fact that the “clean blue sky” of
high-altitude plane-to-plane combat is
replaced by distressing glimpses into
the hellish landscape of the war on
the ground.
- Another plus for the tactical pilot
is the knowledge that just being there
over the front lines gives a real
lift to your guys on the ground, while
depressing the spirits of the enemy.
- There’s also plenty of encouragement in knowing that your contribution isn’t just emotional--all armies
understand that close air support
plays an important role in making
progress on the battle eld and in the
theater of operations. Your missions
are a signi cant part of the bigger
picture. What you do or fail to do
every day can contribute to the larger
success or failure of your nation’s
forces in this war.
The “Moral” Effect of
Attack from the Air
Moral Effect--The moral
effect of heavy air attack
against land forces can
hardly be exaggerated.
Not only will air attack
lower the morale of the
enemy, but the sight of
our own aircraft over the
battlefield raises the
morale of our own troops
to a corresponding degree.
Seeing enemy aircraft shot
down has an encouraging
effect.... On the other
hand, the constant appearance of unmolested enemy
aircraft tends to demoralize troops and disorganize plans. Apprehension
of heavy air attack
restricts military activity by ...confining troops
to areas that afford concealment, and by preventing
movement during daylight.
Soldiers are naturally
quick to react to the general air situation in their
neighbourhood....
--
Army/Air Operations
(British War Office, 26/GS
Publications/1127, 1944)
Air Force Historical
Research Agency Photo
A THUNDERBOLT SCORES A DIRECT
HIT ON AN AMMUNITION TRUCK.
Subject: EVENTS AND PEOPLE
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Events and People in the Tactical Air War
The campaign in CFS3...
As a pilot in Microsoft Combat
Flight Simulator 3, you y in the historical framework of the tactical air
war in northwest Europe starting in
mid-1943, but there’s a signi cant
difference. The skill and perseverance
you and your squadron or Staffel bring
to each battle can alter the tactical situation and the timeline of the
campaign. This open-ended and exible
campaign means you can in uence events,
alter history, and extend the timeline
to add new technology to your arsenal.
How you handle these tactical and technological advantages will determine the
outcome.
Before you take to the sky, it
helps to understand what really happened
during WWII. This will not only give you
something to shoot at--but also something to shoot for.
In CFS3, it’s 1943, and no one
knows what’s going to happen, or how
the war will turn out--but here’s the
way it was.
...and what really happened
The campaign in northwest Europe
during 1943 and 1945 marked a dramatic
high point in the events of WWII and
the fortunes of the warring nations.
It began with the Third Reich in rm
control of “Fortress Europa,” and ended
with Germany--and much of Europe--in
ruins.
Air Force Historical Research Agency Photo
ACES OF THE 354TH “PIONEER
MUSTANG” FIGHTER GROUP.
Subject: EVENTS AND PEOPLE
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The situation in mid-1943
In mid-1943 there were no dedicated
tactical air forces operating in northwest Europe. Of course the tactical role
was always part of the Luftwaffe’s mandate, but most of its tactical efforts
were focused against Russia. The Allied
focus was on a strategic goal--using
heavy bomber forces, escorted by ghters, to destroy Germany’s ability
to make war. German day- and night ghter pilots’ rst responsibility was
to attack the bomber formations that
threatened the expanding Reich.
All this began to change as planning for the Allied invasion of Europe
took shape. It became clear to the
Allies that the invasion would never
take place without air power. Air power
techniques worked out in North Africa
and Sicily during 1943 showed how effective tactical air power could be, and
plans were put in motion to use this
weapon to the fullest. Air power would
pave the way for forces on the ground
by providing close air support.
Pre-invasion activities
In 1943 the U.S. Ninth Air Force
moved from Italy to England, and the RAF
created the Second Tactical Air Force
(2TAF). These Allied tactical air forces
faced two daunting pre-invasion tasks:
- To disrupt the German army’s ability
to transport reinforcements and supplies by road, rail, or river.
- To reduce the Luftwaffe’s ability to
seriously impede the planned Allied
invasion.
For its part, the Luftwaffe had to
do its best to resist the mounting tide
of Allied air and land forces, and to
support the German army. Even in reduced
circumstances, the Luftwaffe’s best
efforts remained formidable.
Air Force Historical Research Agency Photo
BRIDGE AT BULLAY, GERMANY
AFTER ATTACK BY THUNDERBOLT
FIGHTER BOMBERS.
Subject: EVENTS AND PEOPLE
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The “Mighty Eighth” goes looking for
trouble on the ground
Even before tactical air forces
were in place, ghter pilots of the
strategic U.S. Eighth Air Force (the
Mighty Eighth) assigned to escort the
heavy bombers into Germany were increasingly freed to roam further a eld from
their lumbering charges in search of
enemy ghters. The idea was to nd
trouble before trouble found the bombers. To meet this threat, more Luftwaffe
ghter pilots were ordered to take on
the Allied escorts instead of focusing
entirely on the bombers.
By January 1944, General Jimmy
Doolittle, in charge of the Mighty
Eighth, made destroying the German
ghter force a top priority. To encourage his ghter pilots, Doolittle offered
ace status to those who destroyed ve
aircraft on the ground. Some pilots
who had won aerial victories by out ying their opponents complained that this
was the “easy” way to become an ace, but
ying into a wall of ak and small-arms
re while attacking an air eld didn’t
seem so easy to those who tried it.
In February, the Eighth Air Force
launched its “Big Week” operation with
a series of heavy bomber raids against
the German aircraft industry coordinated
with medium bomber and ghter bomber
attacks on Luftwaffe assets in France,
Belgium, and Holland. Throughout the
spring, German ghter losses in the air
and on the ground mounted; more signi cantly, the Luftwaffe lost half of its
irreplaceable veteran pilots before the
invasion began.
Air Force Historical Research Agency Photo
B-26G MARAUDER MEDIUM BOMBERS
IN ATTACK FORMATION.
Subject: EVENTS AND PEOPLE
The tactical air forces join the fray
The U.S. Nineth Air Force and the
RAF’s Second Tactical Air Force soon
joined these efforts and, as winter
turned to spring, the pre-invasion air
campaign intensied. Two Tactical Air
Commands of the U.S. Ninth Air Force
(IX TAC under General Ellwood “Pete”
Quesada and XIX TAC under General O.P.
“Opie” Weyland) combined efforts with
the British Second Tactical Air Force
to smash rail transport, bridges, and
airelds.
Phase 1: Railways. Sixty days
before D-Day (D-60), the Allies’ focus
fell on rail centers, with ghter bombers (as well as medium and heavy bombers) striking marshaling yards and major
rail junctions. The railway phase continued right up to and after the Allied
armies fought their way onto the shores
of France on June 6.
Phase 2: Bridges. At D-46, the
Allies began to isolate the German
troops that occupied the invasion
battleeld from reinforcements and supplies by destroying bridges on the
Seine below Paris and on the Loire below
Orléans. Both medium bombers and ghter
bombers participated in this phase, but
the nimble ghter bombers proved to be
the best tool to achieve the pinpoint
accuracy this task required. Like the
rail phase, this bridge-busting duty
continued on after the Allied invasion
had begun.
Phase 3: Airelds. At D-21, the
Allies added German airelds within
130 miles of the invasion area to
their target list. This phase continued
until D-Day.
Between these attacks and the
demands on German ghter resources
resulting from the Allies’ strategic bombing campaign, by June 6 the
Luftwaffe simply wasn’t a factor in
Normandy. This situation wouldn’t last
for long, as the German ghter force
wasn’t nished yet. Within weeks the
Luftwaffe increased its strength in
Normandy, ying from small, improvised
airstrips to avoid attack by Allied
ghter bombers. Soon, the tactical
air war would reach its furious height
as the American, British, and German
armies engaged in their winner-take-all
struggle for control of Europe.
“If I didn’t have
air superiority,
I wouldn’t be here.”
On June 24, Eisenhower’s
son John, a recent West
Point graduate, rode with
his father to view the
invasion area.
“The roads we traversed
were dusty and crowded.
Vehicles moved slowly,
bumper to bumper. Fresh
out of West Point, with all
its courses in conventional
procedures, I was offended
at this jamming up of traffic. It wasn’t according
to the book. Leaning over
Dad’s shoulder, I remarked,
“You’d never get away with
this if you didn’t have air
supremacy.” I received an
impatient snort:
“If I didn’t have air
supremacy, I wouldn’t be
here.”
--Richard P. Hallion,
Air Power Over the Normandy
Beaches and Beyond
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Subject: EVENTS AND PEOPLE
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The invasion: Off the beaches-and into the bocage
Once the invasion was under way,
the Allied tactical air forces took on
their toughest task: direct participation in the land battle. This included
attacking enemy forces and providing
close air support for friendly troops
and armor on the ground.
On June 6, 1944, 150,000 Allied
troops stormed ashore on the Calvados
coast of Normandy. A cloud of Allied
aircraft, newly adorned in black and
white “invasion stripes” to make their
identity clear to nervous gunners on
the ground, controlled the air over the
beachhead. American and British ghters
ew continuously over the invasion area,
ending their patrols with attacks on
coastal defenses, enemy strong points,
bridges, and rail targets. These attacks
slowed the arrival of German reinforcements, giving the invading armies additional time to consolidate their toehold
on the Continent.
Both invading armies made initial
progress inland, but they soon ground
to a halt as German resistance stiffened. The British were stuck outside
Caen, blocked by the armor of Panzer
Group West. The Americans punched
their way off the beaches, only to nd
themselves stymied north of Saint-Lô
by what General Omar Bradley called
“the damndest country I’ve seen,” the
Norman hedgerow country, or bocage.
This 20-mile swath of small elds
enclosed by towering ancient hedges saw
some of the most vicious infantry combat
of the war. American troops groped their
way into the maze of hedgerows, which
the Germans had already in ltrated,
and came under attack from three sides
in each gloomy enclosure. Every eld
was like a small fortress with preplanned elds of machine gun, mortar,
and artillery re. With no more than a
hundred yards of visibility this determined defense was unnerving. The bocage
had been there for a thousand years,
but nothing in the Allied planning had
addressed ghting through this nightmarish terrain.
General Quesada on the
Hedgerow Stalemate
“We were flabbergasted
by the bocage.... Our
infantry had become paralyzed. It has never been
adequately described how
immobilized they were by
the sound of small-arms
fire among those hedges.”
--General Elwood Quesada,
U.S. IX TAC
Air Force Historical Research Agency Photo
P-38 LIGHTNING WITH BLACK AND
WHITE “INVASION STRIPES.”
Subject: EVENTS AND PEOPLE
Ending the impasse
Goals set to be attained within
days by the Allied command remained out
of reach for weeks, and each small gain
of ground came at a staggering cost.
To end this impasse, the Allies once
again turned to air power. Two operations, codenamed GOODWOOD and COBRA,
were intended to break the stalemate on
the ground by pouring ordnance onto the
battleeld from the air.
GOODWOOD was designed to help the
British break out of the stalemate
around Caen and into the open country
to the east, where tanks could operate effectively. The operation began
on July 18 when 4,500 aircraft from
the RAF Bomber Command and the U.S.
Eighth and Ninth Air Forces attacked
the area held by Panzer Group West.
This enormous bombardment, violent
enough to ip 60-ton tanks and drive
hardened combat veterans into hysteria, allowed the British to force their
way onto the Caen-Falaise plain. This
forward movement was supported by the
tactical air forces, which blasted enemy
tanks, suppressed mortar and antitank
re, and delivered ordnance beyond the
range of friendly artillery. However,
within two days the advance lost its
momentum, in part due to this operation’s success in achieving its secondary goal of drawing German armor
away from the American sector, where
Bradley’s forces were stuck in the
bocage.
In the American sector, operation
COBRA beneted from the British breakout effort. Devised by General Omar
Bradley, COBRA began on July 25 with
a massive but botched aerial bombardment that blasted holes in the enemy
lines and sent German forces reeling,
but also killed or wounded hundreds of
U.S. troops. Bradley quickly capitalized
on these gaps; his First Army forces
attacked across a moonscape of bomb
craters in an advance that moved four
armored divisions almost 35 miles--all
the way from the hedgerows around SaintLô to the open country near Avranches.
As the speed of the assault increased,
good weather allowed IX Tactical Air
Command ghter bombers, under the command of General Elwood “Pete” Quesada,
to provide devastating close air support. Guided onto targets by Army Air
Force liaison ofcers riding in command
tanks, Thunderbolts and Mustangs littered the roads with the burning wrecks
of German vehicles. This air-ground
teamwork proved to be a winning combination that would come into its own in
the Allied dash across France and into
Germany.
No Headlines for
Tactical Pilots,
but High Praise from
Omar Bradley
...On June 20, Bradley
asked Quesada to thank
his pilots for “the fine
work they have been doing
and the close cooperation
they have given the ground
troops. Their ability to
disrupt the enemy’s communications, supply, and
movement of troops has been
a vital factor in our rapid
progress in expanding our
beachhead. I realize that
their work may not catch
the headlines any more than
does the work of some of
our foot soldiers, but I
am sure that I express the
feelings of every groundforce commander, from squad
leaders to myself as Army
Commander, when I extend
my congratulations on their
very fine work.”
--Thomas A. Hughes,
Lord: General Pete Quesada
and the Triumph of Tactical
Air Power in World War II
Over
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