Date

12-19-2024

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)

Chair

Larry Toll

Keywords

World War II, Close Air Support, Battlefield Aerial Interdiction, Allied Planning, Fighter-Bombers

Disciplines

Aviation | History

Abstract

This research aims to discover how the American and British air forces worked collaboratively to provide ground support to their armies in Europe during World War II. While the official histories and scholars of the two countries concentrate on their unique national efforts, they analyze little of their cooperative efforts. By examining primary and secondary research sources to discover the experiments, doctrine development, and combat experience of both air forces, an understanding emerges that both nations combined their efforts in World War II in separate directions until beginning to work together on planning for the D-Day invasion.

By discovering the principal planners of the ground support doctrine of both nations, two research methods become helpful. Close investigation discovers the identity of a small group of staff officers who collaborated on developing better methods and more efficient aircraft to support ground forces from the air. In the dogma of both air forces, the principal means of avoiding or influencing future wars became long-range bombing of industrial and population centers. Since those considering aerial support of ground forces received scant encouragement from their services, the efforts to aid their comrades on the ground resulted in little official documentation. Close examination identifies the individuals who served as the planners who created the Allied ground support coordination scheme. In archives and personal papers collections, one finds answers in their reports, letters, diaries, end-of-tour interviews upon retirement, and more.

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