The Pointblank directive authorised the initiation of Operation Pointblank, the
code name
A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial ...
for the part of the
Allied Combined Bomber Offensive
The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) was an Allied offensive of strategic bombing during World War II in Europe. The primary portion of the CBO was directed against Luftwaffe targets which was the highest priority from June 1943 to 1 April 1944. ...
intended to cripple or destroy the German aircraft fighter strength, thus drawing it away from frontline operations and ensuring it would not be an obstacle to the
invasion of Northwest Europe. The Pointblank directive of 14 June 1943 ordered
RAF Bomber Command and the U.S.
Eighth Air Force to bomb specific targets such as aircraft factories, and the order was confirmed when the Allies met at the
Quebec Conference, 1943
The First Quebec Conference, codenamed "Quadrant", was a highly secret military conference held during World War II by the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. It took place in Quebec City on August 17–24, 1943, at ...
.
Up to that point, the RAF and USAAF had mostly been attacking the German industry in their way – the British by broad night attacks on industrial areas and the US in "precision attacks" by day on specific targets. The operational execution of the Directive was left to the commanders of the forces. As such, even after the directive, the British continued their night attacks. The majority of the attacks on German fighter production and combat with the fighters were conducted by the USAAF.
In practice, the USAAF bombers made large-scale daylight attacks on factories involved in fighter aircraft production. The Luftwaffe was forced into defending against these raids, and its fighters were drawn into battle with the bombers and their escorts. It was these battles of attrition that reduced the Luftwaffe fighter pilot strength despite increases in German aircraft production.
Casablanca directive
At the January 1943
Casablanca Conference
The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL) or Anfa Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. In attendance were ...
, the
Combined Chiefs of Staff
The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) was the supreme military staff for the United States and Britain during World War II. It set all the major policy decisions for the two nations, subject to the approvals of British Prime Minister Winston Church ...
agreed to conduct the
Combined Bomber Offensive
The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) was an Allied offensive of strategic bombing during World War II in Europe. The primary portion of the CBO was directed against Luftwaffe targets which was the highest priority from June 1943 to 1 April 1944. ...
(CBO), and the British
Air Ministry issued the
Casablanca directive
The Casablanca directiveChurchillp. 458/ref> was approved by the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCOS) of the Western Allies at their 65th meeting on 21 January 1943 and issued to the appropriate Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces command ...
on 4 February with the object of:
On 14 June 1943, the Combined Chiefs of Staff issued the Pointblank directive which modified the February 1943 Casablanca directive.
Along with the single-engine fighters of the CBO plan,
the highest-priority Pointblank targets were the fighter aircraft factories since the Western Allied invasion of France could not take place without fighter superiority. In August 1943, the
First Quebec Conference
The First Quebec Conference, codenamed "Quadrant", was a highly secret military conference held during World War II by the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. It took place in Quebec City on August 17–24, 1943, at ...
upheld this change of priorities.
Among the factories listed were the
Regensburg Messerschmitt factory, the ''Schweinfurter Kugellagerwerke'' ball-bearing factory and the
Wiener Neustädter'' ''Flugzeugwerke'' (WNF) which produced Bf 109 fighters.
Fighter Command declines to engage
As part of the Pointblank plans, the USAAF repeatedly pressed the RAF to contribute to the daytime effort by providing fighter escorts, and even suggesting daylight bombing if sufficient escorts were available.
Long-range fighter operations are at a natural disadvantage; friendly ground assets like spotters and
radar are not available and even radio support can be difficult. The penetrating aircraft have to carry much more fuel, reducing their performance, and the long flight times fatigue the pilots. This led RAF Fighter Command to conclude that their assets should be used purely defensively, and in the years leading up to Pointblank this had never seriously been reconsidered. Although escorts had been requested on several occasions by both Bomber Command and
Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...
, Fighter Command repeatedly returned dubious reports stating the
Supermarine Spitfire simply could not be converted. This was especially curious considering the D-model photoreconnaissance versions of the Spitfire were available from 1940 and offered the required range and performance.
For Pointblank, USAAF General
Henry H. Arnold requested that allocations of the
North American P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...
to the RAF be directed to provide escort for daytime raids and that British Mustangs be put under Eighth Air Force command.
Chief of the Air Staff Charles Portal
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford, (21 May 1893 – 22 April 1971) was a senior Royal Air Force officer. He served as a bomber pilot in the First World War, and rose to become fi ...
, responded that he could provide four squadrons, not nearly enough for the mission. Arnold wrote back, clearly upset, and stated:
"As presently employed it would appear that your thousands of fighters are not making use of their full capabilities. Our transition from the defensive to the offensive should surely carry with it the application of your large fighter force offensively" ... "We have put long range tanks in our P.47's. Those P.47's are doing some offensive action several hundred miles from England. In their basic design, our P.47's were shorter range aircraft than your Spitfires.
Arnold's letter said that he felt the fighters should have been fitted with additional fuel tanks and bombs and used against the German aircraft on the ground at their airfields. Portal responded saying that the day-force strength averaged 1,464 fighters and that it had "consistently been employed offensively... mainly in conjunction with medium and light bombers". His subordinate, Air Chief Marshal
Trafford Leigh-Mallory, added that the RAF fighter force was designed for air superiority over Northern France in the coming invasion
USAAF General
Barney M. Giles
Barney McKinney Giles (September 13, 1892 – May 6, 1984) was an American military officer who helped develop strategic bombing theory and practice. Giles stepped outside established bomber doctrine during World War II to develop long-range ca ...
met with Portal and offered to convert two Spitfires entirely at the USAAF's expense. Two Mark IXs were shipped to Wright Field in January 1944 and modified, demonstrating their newfound range by flying back to England across the Atlantic. Tests at
Boscombe Down
MoD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the southeastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the De ...
were equally successful, but by the time the conversions had been approved in August, Pointblank had concluded and the ''Luftwaffe'' had been conclusively defeated.
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pointblank, Operation
World War II strategic bombing
Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom
Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United States
Military history of France during World War II
Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving Germany
1943 in Germany
1944 in Germany
1943 in military history
1944 in military history
1943 documents