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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1374.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IH THE W6RLD .- FOUNDED WO9 Editor C. M. POULSEN Managing Editor G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. War Correspondent JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I Telegrams : Truditur, Sedist,' London. COVENTRY ! 8-10, CORPORATION ST. Telegrams : Autocar, Coventry. Telephone : Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2: GUILDHALL BUILDINGS. NAVIGATION ST. Telegrams : Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone: Midland 2971 (5 lines). Telephone : Waterloo 3J33 (35 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 : GLASGOW, C.2 : 260, DEANSGATE. Telegrams : Iliffe, Manchester. Telephone : Blackfriars 4412. 26B, RENFI ELD ST. Telegrams : Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. No. 1908. Vol. XLVIII. Registered ot the G.P.O. os a Newspaper. July 19th, 1945 c7/be Outlook " Thursdays, One Shilling. End of a ChapterT HE dissolution of S.H.A.E.F. (the familiar initials which indicated Supreme" Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Forces) has been closely followed by the similar disbandment of the Second Tactical Air Force. The place of the latter will foe taken by the British Air Forces of Occupation (Germany) under Air Chief Marshal Sir Sholto Douglas. So ends a glorious chapter in the history of the Royal Air Force. The 2nd T.A.F. was the final outcome of a series of trial and error experiments to provide efficient air support for a British Army in the field. First came the Air Component of the Expeditionary Force which was under the operational control of General Lord Gort in the now distant days of the so- called "phoney " war. This was a formation recognised as necessary in the inter-war years. After a while it was combined with the Advanced Air Striking Force to form the Command of the Royal Air Force in France. After Dunkerque further thought was given to the matter, and the Army Co-operation Command was formed in the R.A.F. Very little was made known to the public about this Command, and it never took part in warlike operations. Meanwhile in the Middle East there came into being the ist T.A.F. under Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coning- ham, which played an indispensible part in Mont- gomery's great advance through Libya and in Alexan- der's overwhelming triumph in Tunisia. The ist T.A.F. had so obviously found the right solution of the problem of combining air power with land power and sea power, that the 2nd T.A.F. was formed on the same model in Great Britain. Sir Arthur Coningham was brought across to take command of it, and the Army Co-opera- tion Command disappeared. The Americans at once formed a similar T.A.F., and at the time of the invasion of Normandy the two worked together under the general direction of the late Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory. Right up to the moment when Germany surrendered, the squadrons of Sir Arthur Coningham's 2nd T.A.F. worked in the closest collaboration with the 22nd Army Group commanded by Field Marshal Montgomery. Nothing could have been more perfect than this col- laboration. It is appropriate to remember that when necessary yeoman help was lent by Bomber Command . and by the Strategic Air Forces under General Spaatz. It is right that a bomber force should be flexible, and able to support either naval or military efforts when required. Bomber Command continues in existence ; but with the conclusion of Army operations the Tactical Air Force has come to an end. The lessons of its success remain on record for the future. Pacific Strategy A TOKYO Press report quoted by the JapaneseNews Agency has said: "The outcome of thebattle for Japan will be decided by aircraft." This may be another way of putting Field Marshal Montgomery's dictum that we first win the battle of the air before starting the battle on the ground. It is recognised on all hands as a sound military principle, and it certainly applies to the present operations of the Americans in the Pacific. They are hitting hard with land-based and carrier-borne aircraft at the Japanese air bases. At the same time, it may be remarked that it is not tor the Japanese to lay down what the strategy and tactics of the final struggle will be. The initiative does not rest with them, but with the Allies. The latter must certainly win the air struggle first; but if they succeed in reducing the Japanese Air Force to impotence, then a choice of
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