The Secret Air War Over France: USAAF Special Operations Units In The French Campaign Of 1944

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Text originally published in 1992 under the same title.

© Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

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Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

THE SECRET AIR WAR OVER FRANCE — USAAF SPECIAL OPERATIONS UNITS IN THE FRENCH CAMPAIGN OF 1944:

A HISTORICAL CASE STUDY OF THE ROLE OF AIR FORCE SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES IN HIGH INTENSITY CONFLICT

BY

MAJOR BERNARD VICTOR MOORE II

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

ABSTRACT 5

BIOGRAPHY 6

INTRODUCTION 7

OVERLORD: THE ASSAULT ON FORTRESS EUROPE 9

THE WAR BEHIND THE LINES IN FRANCE 11

WINGED DAGGER: THE ORIGIN OF AIR FORCE SPECIAL OPERATIONS 14

THE USAAF IN EUROPE IN 1943 16

USAAF CREATES A SPECIAL OPERATIONS CAPABILITY FOR OSS/ALGIERS 18

THE SPECIAL FLIGHT SECTION: FIRST UNIT, FIRST MISSION 22

THE 68TH RECONNAISSANCE GROUP: EXPANSION AND DISORGANIZATION 24

EAKER CREATES A SPECIAL OPERATIONS CAPABILITY IN THE ETO 26

EAKER EXPANDS AFSOF IN THE MTO 30

EISENHOWER EXPANDS AFSOF IN THE ETO 38

FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR D-DAY 39

THE AIR STRATEGY FOR AAF SPECIAL OPERATIONS 41

USAAF DOCTRINE FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS 42

USAAF SPECIAL OPERATIONS TACTICS 44

EQUIPMENT: AIRCRAFT MODIFICATIONS FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS 47

MAXIMUM EFFORT FOR OVERLORD 48

THE BATTLE IS THE PAYOFF: SUCCESS IN THE WAR BEHIND THE LINES 52

THE COSTS OF USAAF SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN FRANCE 56

USAF SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES: AMERICAN AIRPOWER FOR HIGH AND LOW INTENSITY WARFARE 58

FROM CARPETBAGGERS TO SCUD HUNTERS 60

BIBLIOGRAPHY 63

PUBLISHED WORKS 63

OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS 65

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 67

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an historical account of the operations of United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) special operations units in the French campaign of 1944. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, it is intended to be a brief history of the creation, development and combat record of these units. Second, it is intended for use as an example of the utility and effectiveness of air force special operations in high intensity conventional warfare.

The narrative basically begins in early 1943, as the Western Allies began making plans for the cross-Channel invasion of Normandy. At the request of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the USAAF commands in the United Kingdom and North Africa secretly organized a small number of special operations squadrons for use in covert operations over France. Their overall mission was to provide specialized airlift for clandestine warfare activities intended to support the conventional ground forces during the critical days and weeks immediately after D-Day.

From October 1943 through September 1944, these squadrons flew thousands of clandestine missions, parachuting guerrilla warfare teams and intelligence agents deep behind German lines, dropping weapons, ammunition, explosives and other supplies to French resistance fighters, and extracting teams from enemy territory.

The USAAF squadrons, operating in conjunction with similar British squadrons, enabled American and British special forces and French irregular units to operate with great effectiveness in the vulnerable rear areas behind German lines. The author shows that the USAAF special operations units made a significant contribution to the decisive Allied victory in the French campaign by providing essential support for a wide range of Allied special operations and covert intelligence activities. The combat record of USAAF special operations units in France demonstrated and validated the important and unique role of Air Force Special Operations Forces in high intensity conventional warfare.

BIOGRAPHY

Lieutenant Colonel Bernard V. Moore II (BA, University of California at San Diego; MA, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) is an MC-130 pilot. A recent graduate of the inaugural class of the School of Advanced Airpower Studies, he was just assigned to the Strategy Division, Headquarters USAF/XO, The Pentagon. Also a graduate of Air Command and staff College, his previous assignment was as a Contingency Planner at Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Previous assignments in the MC-130 Combat Talon were at Hurlburt Field, Florida and Rhein Main AB, Germany.

INTRODUCTION

The United states Air Force Special Operations Forces (AFSOF) are considered by most Air Force leaders, strategists and planners to be highly-trained, well-equipped and realistically-exercised combat forces, primarily suited for employment in the various types of Low Intensity Conflicts (LIC) that exist in the turbulent world today. When the subject of United states Air Force (USAF) readiness to employ airpower for counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense or peacetime contingency operations comes up, the majority of Air Force officers readily point to AFSOF as the USAF’s front-line capability for LIC. Though not an unreasonable response, this perception unfortunately sustains an incomplete assessment regarding the full capabilities of AFSOF. Undeniably, AFSOF have a major combat role in LIC, but that is only part of the story. AFSOF are also organized, trained, equipped and exercised for employment in high intensity conventional conflicts. AFSOF, employed in joint operations with the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the US Army and Navy, have a unique and valuable role to play in conventional warfare.

Unfortunately, the role of AFSOF in this type of conflict has not been widely recognized or understood by the mainstream Air Force leadership. I believe a fundamental cause for this misunderstanding has been the lack of factual, detailed documentation describing the effective use of AFSOF in past high intensity conventional warfare. This paper is an attempt to begin to fill this void. Like so much of what we have learned and believe about the proper employment of airpower, this historical case study draws on the rich experience of the United states Army Air Forces (USAAF) in World War Two.

In the fall of 1943, as the Western Allies prepared for the cross-Channel invasion of Normandy, the USAAF commands in the United Kingdom and North Africa secretly organized a small number of special operations squadrons for use in covert operations over France. Their overall mission was to provide specialized airlift for clandestine warfare activities intended to support the conventional ground forces during the critical days and weeks immediately after D-Day.

From October 1943 through September 1944, these squadrons flew thousands of clandestine missions, parachuting guerrilla warfare teams and intelligence agents deep behind German lines, dropping weapons, ammunition, explosives and other supplies to French resistance fighters, and extracting teams from enemy territory with an average force strength of less than forty aircraft, the special operations units made a significant