Big Week: Six Days That Changed the Course of World War II (48 page)

slave labor used by Germany, 268–269

Slessor, John, 64–65

Smith, Alver, 182–183

Smith, Dale O., 158, 159–160, 168

Smith, Reginald, 157

Snetterton Falcons
(Doherty and Ward), 183, 223–224

Sokolski, Henry, 130

Souza, John Philip, 6

Soviet Union, 12, 16, 17, 27–28, 30, 105, 256, 257

Sowell, Thomas, 134, 150–151, 163, 262

Spaatz, Carl “Tooey,” xviii

air war preparation, 23

Big Week, 174, 175, 176, 177, 184, 214, 226, 233

collapse of Germany, 236–237, 246, 249, 250, 253, 254, 258

Enemy Objectives Units (EOU), 39, 43–44, 45, 46

going deep at all costs, 97, 103

going to war, 25, 28, 31, 32–33, 36

learning curve, 53–54, 54–55, 56, 58, 62, 63

Operation Argument, 137, 138, 140, 142, 143, 144–145, 146, 183, 188

Operation Overlord, 233, 236, 237, 239

Operation Torch, 53–54, 56

post-WWII, 264–265, 268

Speer, Albert

anti-friction bearings, 101–102, 116–117, 120–121, 122–123

Battle of Berlin, 131, 132

Big Week, 227, 228

collapse of Germany, 240–241, 242, 258

Committee of Operations Analysts (COA) vs., 82

Hamburg attacks, 89, 90

jet fighters sabotaged by Hitler, 252–253

Nürnberg Trials, 270

Operation Pointblank, 92–93

Strategic Bombing Survey (US), 269–270

war machine, 69–70

Sperry ball turrets, 37, 134, 152

Spitfires, 61, 155

Stagg, James Martin, 268

Staiger, Hermann, 212, 221

Stalin, Joseph, 17

Stansky, Peter, 206

“Stars and Stripes Forever,” 6

Steinhoff, Johannes, 256

Stimson, Henry L., 37, 41, 49, 96, 114, 122

Stirlings, 22, 35

Storm Chasers
(Cox), 145

Strategic Air Offensive Against Germany, 1939–1945, The,
89

strategic airpower, xvi, xvii, xviii, 11–14.
See also
Big Week; Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO); Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS); Royal Air Force (RAF); US Army Air Forces (USAAF); World War II

airpower, history of, 9–14

daylight bombing, 35, 36–37, 50, 51–52, 53, 55–56, 64, 68, 70, 114, 255, 259

going to war, 28, 29

intercontinental ballistic missiles, 265

jet bombers, 265

jet fighters, 252–253, 256–257

learning curve, 49–63

Mitchell and, xvii–xviii, xix, 13–14, 15, 20, 21, 28, 259, 260

Norden bombsights, 37, 66, 119, 164, 209

substance vs. promise, 64–72

success of, 259–260

tactical air warfare and, 11, 19, 138, 258

Strategic Bombing Survey (US), 69–70, 84, 88, 121, 127, 175, 199, 215–216, 228, 229, 241, 242–243, 244, 245, 254, 255, 258, 269–270

Stratemeyer, George, 54

Streit, Herschel, 186, 187, 190–191, 206, 264

substance vs. promise, 64–72

Sunrise Serenade
(Penry), 151

Sun-tzu, 72

Superfortresses (B-29s), 32, 43, 265, 266

Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), 136–137, 233, 235, 237, 272

tactical air warfare and strategic airpower, 11, 19, 138, 258

“Tail-end Charlie,” 153, 160, 199, 201

targets.
See also
specific industry targets

hierarchy, CCS, 68, 78, 81, 83, 85, 86, 94, 113, 128–129

selection principles, 67–68

Tasker, Ken, 217

Tedder, Sir Arthur, 62, 97, 137, 233–237, 240, 267

Ten Horsepower
(bomber), 153, 154, 160–161, 162–163, 164, 165, 166, 169–170, 171, 172, 173, 223, 262, 264

Terrill, Robert (Colonel), 216

They Came from Over the Pond
(Osborne), 159

Third Reich, 16.
See also
Germany

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
(film), 265

Thixton, Marshall, 151–152

Thunderbolts (P-47s), 62, 77–78, 79, 86, 92, 117, 118, 124, 133, 141, 155, 182, 184, 189, 190, 195, 217, 218–219, 230–231, 261

Timberlake, Edward J., 182

Todt, Fritz, 69

Treaty of Versailles, 15–16, 178

Trident Conference, 85

Truemper, Walter Edward “Wally,” xviii, 134, 149, 154, 161, 162, 169, 170, 171, 173, 175, 263

Truman, Harry (President), 270

turning point, grasping for, 125–135

20th Century Crusaders
(Hawkins), 207

Twining, Nathan, 129, 146, 226, 239, 244

U-boats targets, 58, 59, 64, 66, 73, 75–76, 78, 80, 84–85, 106, 112, 113

United Kingdom, 21, 33, 89.
See also
Britain

United States of America.
See also
Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS); Eisenhower, Dwight David; Enemy Objectives Units (EOU); Roosevelt, Franklin (President); World War II

aircraft production, 33–34, 34–35, 38, 50, 55, 76, 77, 108, 109, 132, 241, 244

airpower, history of, 13–14

air war preparation, 20–21, 24

“Greatest Generation,” 1–2, 40, 273–274

Lend-Lease Act, 26, 31, 38

marksmanship reverence in, 37

morale-boosting, 29, 30–31, 57, 232

Pearl Harbor, 24, 25, 29, 133

World War I, 12–13, 42, 46

United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSAFE, later USSTAF), 137, 138, 188, 218, 220, 229, 233, 234, 235, 237, 239, 240, 243, 254, 255, 257, 264, 269

Upton, John T., 194

US Army, 23, 41, 42, 130

US Army Air Forces (USAAF), xv, xvii.
See also
Arnold, Henry Harley “Hap”; Big Week; casualties; Doolittle, James Harold “Jimmy”; Eighth Air Force; Fifteenth Air Force; fighter escorts (“little friends”); Flying Fortresses; Kuter, Laurence Sherman; LeMay, Curtis Emerson; Liberators; Ninth Air Force; Spaatz, Carl “Tooey”;
specific Operations

air war preparation, xiii–xiv, xvi, 20–24

daylight bombing, 35, 36–37, 50, 51–52, 53, 55–56, 64, 68, 70, 114, 255, 259

downsizing, 272

formation of, 41

going deep at all costs, 107–108, 109

going to war, 29, 30, 32

gunners, 134, 150–151, 152

Halverson Project (HALPRO), 30, 45

Memphis Belle, The: A Story of a Flying Fortress
(documentary), 80

numbered air forces in, 31–32

pilots, 134

POWs, 116, 123, 157, 183, 193, 196, 223, 224, 258

US Military Academy, West Point, xv, 6, 21, 23, 71, 98

US Navy, 13–14, 20, 23, 37, 41, 50, 143

USS
Akron,
143

Vandenberg, Hoyt, xviii, 23–24, 246, 249, 250

Varva, Frank, 220

VE-Day, 44, 259, 267

Vereinigte Kugellagerfabriken (VKF), 94, 101, 188, 215, 220, 231–232

“V Weapons,” German, 105–106

Waging Economic Warfare from London
(Rostow), 47–48

Wagner, Emmy Baroness von, 178–179

Walker, James, 193, 199, 200

Walters, John, 223

Ward, Geoffrey, 183, 223–224

War Diary
(OSS), 85–86, 232

Weather by the Numbers
(Harper), 144

weather impact on

Big Week, 147, 148, 158–159, 177, 179, 181, 183, 184, 185, 187, 189, 192, 198, 204, 207, 213, 214, 215, 218, 225

Eighth Air Force, 59, 66, 73, 76, 99, 100, 101, 103, 104, 106, 118, 124, 126, 129, 141–142, 143–145, 231

Operation Overlord, 267–268

Webster, Charles, 89

Webster, George, 205, 207–208, 212, 217

Wells, Edward Curtis, 21

Werrell, Kenneth, 194

Who Fears?
(Werrell), 194

Wiener Neustadt, 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, 129, 130

Williams, Richard, 21–22

Williams, Robert B., 99, 100, 101

Williamson, Charles Glendon “Glen”

Big Week, 174, 194, 195, 208, 219–220, 230

defining the mission, 73

Operation Argument, 145, 146

substance vs. promise, 71–72

Wilson, Henry Maitland (General), 137, 146

Winant, John Gilbert, 46, 47

Winged Victory
(Mitchell), xvii

Winn (Lieutenant), 167

World War I (First World War), xvii, 6, 10, 11, 12–13, 15–16, 18, 36, 42, 46, 61, 130, 186

World War II (Second World War).
See also
Big Week; Britain; Germany; strategic airpower; United States of America;
specific battles, Operations, Theaters of Operation

air war, 15–19

Christmas end anticipated, 240, 246, 251

going to war, 25–28

VE-Day, 44, 259, 267

Wright, Lee, 166–168

Wyler, William, 80, 81

Yalta Conference, 267

Zuckerman, Solomon “Solly,” 233–236, 240, 267

Zukowski, Claude, 223

Bill Yenne is the author of more than three dozen nonfiction books, especially on aviation and military history. These have included histories of the Strategic Air Command, the US Air Force, and his recently updated
The Story of the Boeing Company
. He has contributed to encyclopedias of both world wars. Mr. Yenne’s recent dual biography of Dick Bong and Tommy McGuire, published by Berkley and entitled
Aces High: The Heroic Story of the Two Top-Scoring American Aces of World War II
, was described by pilot and best-selling author Dan Roam as “The greatest flying story of all time.” General Wesley Clark called Mr. Yenne’s recent biography of Alexander the Great the “best yet.” The
New Yorker
wrote of
Sitting Bull
, Mr. Yenne’s biography of the great Lakota leader, that it “excels as a study in leadership.” Mr. Yenne lives in San Francisco, and on the Web at www.BillYenne.com.

General Carl Andrew “Tooey” Spaatz was the first commander of the Eighth Air Force in 1942, and by the time of Big Week in February 1944, he commanded the entire U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe. He later served as chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force.

General Frederick Lewis Anderson was probably the most influential planning and operations man for Big Week. Named as the commanding general of the VIII Bomber Command in 1943, he was, by the time of Big Week, the deputy commander for operations of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe.

General Ira Clarence Eaker took over the Eighth Air Force in December 1942 and commanded it through the period when it began operations, including its first deep penetration missions into the heart of Germany.