American Airpower Comes of Age

AMERICAN AIRPOWER COMES OF AGE
the Fifteenth’s heavies were operating from Italian soil. In spite
of traditionally bad European weather, the Eighth was enabled
by better radar, more accurate weather forecasting, and a
seemingly inexhaustible supply of technologically improved
aircraft to dispatch heavies on major raids on an average of 18
days each month from now through the remainder of 1944. In
addition, the Eighth now had more and better trained aircrews
and more lethal munitions. In these missions, it was not
unusual that 1,200 or more of the bombers were escorted by
more than 800 fighters, culminating in the Christmas Eve raid
of 2,084 heavy bombers escorted by 853 fighters. 81 The last of
the shuttle bombing missions from Soviet bases in the Poltava
area flew on the second day of the conference (13 September),
the termination caused by Soviet success in the summer
offensive, which had placed the American bases too far from
the front lines. The 19 missions that had been flown in that
operation, which began four days before D-Day, proved little in
terms of either strategic or tactical success except as another
frustrating example of attempting to work cooperatively with
the Soviets and a harbinger of difficulties to come. 82
Not only was AAF superiority represented in the numbers
and efficacy of aircraft now flying from England and Italy but,
at least in Arnold’s mind, their efforts appeared to be validating
the strategic bombardment concept. In the week before the
conference, Roosevelt signed the directive that created the
United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS), which Hap
was convinced would provide the empirical data proving conclusively
the dominant role of strategic bombing in the prosecution
of the war in western Europe. As indicated elsewhere,
the idea of such a survey had originated six months earlier,
with suggestions from Spaatz as well as the Air Staff. Shortly
after the directive was signed, Franklin D’Olier, president of
Prudential Insurance, accepted the offer to head the USSBS.
Within the month, he arrived in London with the advanced element
of his initial authorization of more than 1,200 officers,
civilians, and enlisted personnel. Interestingly, he established
headquarters in Grosvenor Square in the same building that
Arnold had used for himself and a small staff during his first
210