The ''Plan for Completion of '' he' Combined Bomber Offensive'' was a strategic bombing recommendation made by HQ USSTAF for the

Allies of World War II The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. ...

to target Axis petroleum/oil/lubrication (POL) targets prior to the

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

The Plan

The plan was commissioned by a February 12, 1944 memorandum from F. L. Anderson (Deputy Commander, Operations) to include the following "By command of Lieutenant General SPAATZ": :a. Summary of the Status of the CBO :b. Study of Possible Target systems and Operational Policies. :c. Study of the Possibilities of Heavy Bomber Participation in Direct Support of OVERLORD. :d. Plans Supplementing the Combined Bomber Offensive Plan: ::(1) For continuing the Strategic Air Offensive after destruction of GAF production. ::(2) And for simultaneous support of

OVERLORD An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or serje ...

in so far as conditions warrant at the moment. … Spaatz (commander of the USAAF Eight Air Force) presented the plan to General

Henry H. Arnold Henry Harley Arnold (June 25, 1886 – January 15, 1950) was an American general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army and later, General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941), ...

(Chief of the USAAF) on March 5, 1944. The plan stated that the operations to bring the German fighter force into a battle of attrition (

operation Pointblank Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel paral ...

) instead of targeting industry "can best be achieved by attacks on objectives which are so vital to the German War Machine that they must defend them with everything they have, or face the rapid reduction of their military forces to impotence." After the British

Ministry of Economic Warfare The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive and the Ministry of Economic Warfare. See also * Blockade of Germany (193 ...

and the U.S. Petroleum Attache endorsed the plan on March 6;

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

decided on March 25, 1945, that the six months for priority bombing of oil facilities to have an effect on

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

was too long and instead, railway targets became the highest priority. This was carried out under the Transportation Plan

Results of the plan adoption

Large-scale bombing of oil targets was permitted after May 12, 1944; oil targets became the highest bombing priority on September 4, 1944; and the bombing of oil targets was the decisive bombardment strategy in the

European Theatre of World War II The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main Theater (warfare), theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Nazi Germany, Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 Sept ...

Notes

References

* * * * (2 pages) * (2 pages + fold-out map) * (1 page) * (1 page) * (1 page) * (4 pages) * (5 pages) * (2 pages + Parts 1-10) * (2 pages) * (3 pages) * (2 pages) * (4 pages) * (7 pages, including Tables 1-4) :"Letter to Marshal Portal": (not in Box 48) :"Planning Directive, dtd 12 Feb 44": * * {{citation , last=Turner , first=Smith D. (Petroleum Attache) , date=March 6, 1944 , title=Ltr from Mission for Economic Affairs, dtd 6 Mar 44 , quote=Dear General . P.Curtis , location=American Embassy, Mission for Economic Affairs, 1 Grosvenor Square, London, W. 1. , publisher=The Foreign Service of the United States of America *