RAF Second Tactical Air Force

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The Second Tactical Air Force ( 2TAF ; German " 2. Tactical Air Fleet ") was a military association of the Royal Air Force (RAF), which was set up in 1943 during the Second World War and existed until 1959, at times as the British Air Forces of Occupation . It was one of three such units in the history of the RAF.

history

History and line-up

The formation of the association was preceded by a lengthy debate about the most effective form of tactical air support for ground forces both within the RAF and with the Army . While the latter, supported by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff Sir Alan Brooke , repeatedly called for the formation of its own army air force, the former insisted on maintaining a unified command of the air force. Based on the experiences of the defeat in the western campaign , in which the German air force had supported the army much more effectively than the Allies, an RAF Army Cooperation Command was formed in December 1940 . A closer cooperation between the Army and Air Force was enshrined in the training program and in the leadership principles and successfully practiced in the African campaign with the help of newly created leadership resources by the Desert Air Force and the 8th Army .

In July 1942, Air Marshal John Slessor proposed the formation of a mixed armed force consisting of fighter, tactical bomber and reconnaissance squadrons under a central command authority for the planned landing, which should concentrate exclusively on army support and have command structures closely interlinked with the army. In his opinion, this should be subordinate to the RAF Fighter Command , which, with its sophisticated command and communication infrastructure, can best cope with the coordination tasks. In a large-scale exercise under the code name "Spartan" in March 1943 the superiority of Slessor's Composite Group could be demonstrated and on May 1, 1943, the British Chiefs of Staff gave their approval for the formation of an RAF Air Expeditionary Force . The Army Co-operation Command was dissolved and on June 1, 1943 the HQ Tactical Air Force was formed in its place in Bracknell , which was renamed the 2nd Tactical Air Force in November of the same year .

As the first commander was Air Marshal John D'Albiac selected, the earlier the No. 2 Bomber Group . In January 1944, Air Marshal Arthur Coningham took over this post, the former commander of the Desert Air Force, who had then led the Allied tactical air forces in the Italian campaign . An advanced headquarters was established in Hillingdon .

The establishment of the HQ TAF was followed in August 1943 by the formation of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF) headquarters under Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory , which in November was followed by the now renamed 2TAF and later the 9th US Air Fleet , which was transferred from North Africa to England , led by Lewis H. Brereton . The AEAF, for its part, was directly subordinate to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force , which was formed in December 1943 and was responsible for the entire Operation Overlord , under US General Dwight D. Eisenhower .

Organization and equipment

Subordinate to her at the beginning were the light and medium bombers equipped No. 2 (bomber) Group from bomber Command and from hunters and battle planes existing No. 83 and No. 84 (Composite) Group from Fighter Command. The latter should later be assigned directly to one of the two British-Canadian armies. The No. 34 (Photographic Reconnaissance) Wing was formed for aerial reconnaissance purposes. Later came the No. 85 (Base) Group , which had day and night fighters for base defense.

The tasks of the 2TAF were to achieve air superiority , direct ( close air support , isolation from the air ) and indirect (including attacks on supply lines) support for the ground forces and reconnaissance. The composite groups had Spitfire , Tempest / Typhoon and Mustang fighter-bombers , the light bomber group had Mitchell , Boston and Mosquito bombers , the latter also being a night fighter with No. 85 (Base) Group were used. Towards the end of the war, the jet-powered Gloster Meteor was also used on a small scale .

Use during the Second World War

Normandy

Ammunition of a Hawker Tempest Mark V No. 3 Squadron (with " invasion strips ") on RAF Newchurch, June 12, 1944

Before landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the No. 83 and No. 84 Group was used, among other things, to combat German radar installations. The No. 2 Group mainly flew attacks against railway targets such as marshalling yards and depots as well as other transport targets such as bridges. There were also hundreds of reconnaissance missions.

On D-Day of Operation Overlord and the first few days after the landing, fighter protection and armed reconnaissance were the primary tasks of the fighter-bomber squadrons operating from southern England. In particular, the relocation of German reinforcements to the landing zone should be prevented. The 2nd TAF's first makeshift airfield at Sainte-Croix-sur-Mer was completed on June 7th and was put into operation a little later. With the enlargement of the landing head, their number grew to over 30.

The tasks of the 2nd TAF were now primarily close air support and battlefield closure. The fighter-bomber squadrons operated by day and the bomber squadrons of No. 2 group at night. The use of forward air controllers and the cab-rank system were further perfected in Normandy. The Allied air superiority contributed significantly to the success of Operation Overlord. The Allied fighter-bombers played a large part in the smashing of the German attack on Operation Liège and the success of the Falaise pocket . With the activation of the 1st Canadian Army as part of the 21st Army Group, which now consists of two armies, at the end of July, the planned regulation came into force, according to which it was assigned the No. 84 Group and the British 2nd Army with No. 83 Group cooperated.

Aircraft belonging to the 2nd TAF were also involved in the attacks on V-weapon systems as part of Operation Crossbow . One of the most notable missions was the attack by Typhoon fighters and Mitchell bombers on the headquarters of Panzer Group West on June 10, which paralyzed it for a long time.

Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany

With the rapid advance of the Allies in August and September, the units of the 2nd TAF began to move forward to bases in the Pas-de-Calais and finally in Belgium . At the same time, attacks were flown against the German canal fortresses, among other things. The fighters of the 2nd TAF provided the escort of the transport aircraft and cargo gliders during Operation Market Garden . Then the first airfields in the Netherlands were occupied. In November 1944 operations against the island of Walcheren followed during the battle of the Scheldt estuary . The Typhoon pilots of No. The 146 Wing launched attacks on Gestapo headquarters in Amsterdam and Rotterdam .

On January 1, 1945, the German Air Force started its last major offensive action on the Western Front in connection with the Battle of the Bulge in the Bodenplatte company . The aim was to deal a severe blow to the Allied tactical air fleets with an attack at dawn on the Allied front airfields in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Although around 140 2nd TAF aircraft and around 300 in total were destroyed, the operation was a failure, mainly because of the German pilot losses.

Arthur Coningham (center) during a meeting with Bernard Montgomery and Miles Dempsey about Operation Varsity , March 22, 1945

In February 1945 the 2nd TAF fighter-bombers supported the British-Canadian troops during the battle in the Reichswald . On February 22nd, the medium bombers of No. 2 Group took part in the large-scale Operation Clarion , which was directed against transport targets in the German Empire and the Netherlands.

With the crossing of the Rhine by the 21st Army Group ( Operation Plunder ), the war of movement began again at the end of March. On May 2nd, the 2nd TAF reached the easternmost point of its advance near Lübeck . The last combat action of the 2nd TAF took place on the morning of May 5th, the day on which the German partial surrender came into force in northwest Germany . In the last days of the war, the 2nd TAF fighter-bombers sank over 100 ships in the Baltic Sea, including two on May 3rd that were filled with concentration camp inmates ( Cap Arcona and Thielbek ).

post war period

On July 15, 1945, the 2nd Tactical Air Force was renamed British Air Forces of Occupation (BAFO) with headquarters in Bad Eilsen , whose strength was significantly reduced from its war status by the end of 1947. In September 1951, he was renamed 2nd Tactical Air Force . In 1952 the Second Allied Tactical Air Force (2 ATAF) was set up by the meanwhile founded NATO , the Commander-in-Chief of which was the Commander-in-Chief of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. On January 1, 1959, the British 2nd TAF was finally renamed Royal Air Force Germany .

Commander in chief

See also

literature

  • Ian Gooderson: Air Power at the Battlefront: Allied Close Air Support in Europe 1943-45. Frank Cass, London 1998.
  • David Ian Hall: Strategy for Victory: The Development of British Tactical Air Power, 1919-1943. Praeger, 2008. ISBN 0-275-97767-6 .
  • Richard P. Hallion: Strike From the Sky: The History of Battlefield Air Attack, 1910-1945. University of Alabama Press, 2010.
  • Hilary St. George Saunders: The Royal Air Force 1939-1945. Vol. III: The Fight is Won. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London 1954.
  • Christopher Shores, Chris Thomas: 2nd Tactical Air Force. 4 vols. Classic Publications, 2004–2009.

Web links

Commons : RAF Second Tactical Air Force  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. The Cap Arcona, the Thielbek and the Athen, May 3, 1945 on the website of the University of Hamburg ( Memento from July 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Engl.)