Plan for Completion of Combined Bomber Offensive facts for kids
During World War II, the Allies (the countries fighting against Germany and Japan) used a strategy called strategic bombing. This meant attacking important targets far behind enemy lines. A special plan, called the Plan for Completion of the Combined Bomber Offensive, was suggested by the American air force headquarters (HQ USSTAF). Its main idea was to bomb Germany's oil supplies before the big Normandy Landings (D-Day) happened. Oil was super important for their tanks, planes, and trucks!
Developing the Plan
The idea for this plan started on February 12, 1944. A memo from F. L. Anderson, who was in charge of operations, asked for it to be created. This memo came from Carl Spaatz, a top American general leading the U.S. Army Air Forces in Europe.
The plan needed to cover several key points:
- A summary of how the overall Combined Bomber Offensive was going.
- Ideas for new targets and how to attack them.
- Ways for heavy bombers to directly help with Operation Overlord (the D-Day invasion).
- Plans for what to do after the main bombing campaign, especially after destroying German aircraft factories.
- How to support D-Day at the same time, if possible.
General Spaatz, who commanded the U.S. Eighth Air Force, showed the plan to General Henry H. Arnold, the chief of the entire U.S. Army Air Forces, on March 5, 1944. The plan explained that to weaken the German fighter force (known as Operation Pointblank), the Allies should attack targets so important that Germany would have to defend them with everything they had. If Germany didn't defend them, their military would quickly become too weak to fight.
Changing Priorities
On March 6, 1944, both the British Ministry of Economic Warfare and a U.S. oil expert agreed with the plan to bomb oil targets. However, on March 25, 1944, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, made a different decision. He felt that bombing oil facilities would take too long (about six months) to have a big effect on Operation Overlord.
Instead, General Eisenhower decided that railway targets should be the top priority. This new focus on railways was part of what became known as the Transportation Plan. The goal was to destroy German transportation networks, making it hard for them to move troops and supplies.
Impact of the Plan
Even though railway targets became the top priority for a while, large-scale bombing of oil targets was allowed to begin after May 12, 1944. Later, on September 4, 1944, attacking oil targets officially became the highest bombing priority. This focus on destroying Germany's oil supplies turned out to be a very important strategy in the European Theatre of World War II, helping the Allies win the war.
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