Numbers of operational craft; Spring '44

[Selousi]

Hello there,

I am putting together a short decision-making exercise for educating some college students about bombing campaigns.

My plan is some will play American, others British, to discuss best targetting options in the run-up to D-Day; they have to agree and come up with a broad plan of campaign for the period - roughly Jan - May 1944.

So I'm compiling a list of 'available operational units' for Bomber Command and the Mighty 8th.

For data I'm using O'brien's How the War Was Won , Overy's The Air War and Hall, et. al.'s Case Studies in Strategic Bombardment for data, but having some difficulties in determining figures split nation-wise for light, medium, and heavy bombers, & escort fighters (assuming none for the British at this time), or photo recon aircraft - for either side. There's a general figure given of over 1,130 available heavies in Jacob's chapter, for example, but that;s for all the CBO - so I don't know how many were British and how many American.

Perhaps someone could kindly point me in the right direction for a database, or a work, or otherwise some rough figures of available aircraft of these types, for both air forces, in the Spring of 44?

With best wishes and thanks,
J

 

[EwenS]

You will find RAF Orders of Battle in the various RAF Historical Branch narratives.

The Second World War: Campaign Narratives

The Second World War: Campaign Narratives

www.raf.mod.uk

By the way, by D-Day the RAF had 7 squadrons of Mustang III, 6 of which were with 2nd TAF and the last with ADGB.

 

[GregP]

Hi Selousi,

Welcome to the forum.

For the US portion, you need to look at the Statistical Digest of World War Two. Find it attached.

I also attached an Excel file with two tables: table 84 and table 88.

Table 84 is US airplanes on hand and table 88 is US airplanes on hand in theaters versus Germany.

Of the two, I think table 88 is your better bet.

Best regards, - Greg

 

[Jabberwocky]

Appendix 1 & 2 from THE LIBERATION OF NORTH WEST EUROPE, VOLUME III, THE LANDINGS IN NORMANDY provides a breakdown of what equipment was available to the RAF, FAA, Costal Command and the USAAF in the UK immediately prior to D-Day. Here's a rough summary of the OOBs given on pages 261 through 284:

2 TAF - 1,160 serviceable aircraft in 80 squadrons on 01 June 1944. 1348 serviceable aircraft on 05 June 1944. 1562 aircraft with squadrons in total.

Spitfire: 27 squadrons
Typhoon: 18 squadrons
Mustang: 6 squadrons
Mosquito: 6 squadrons
Mitchell: 4 squadrons
Boston: 2 squadrons
Reconnaissance types: 10 squadrons
Auster: 7 squadrons

ADGB - 809 serviceable aircraft in 45 squadrons and two flights on 05 June 1944. 1038 aircraft with squadrons in total.

Spitfire: 26 squadrons
Typhoon: 2 squadrons
Mustang: 1 squadron
Hurricane: 1 squadron
Mosquito: 9 squadrons
Beaufighter: 4 squadrons
Mixed aircraft/air search rescue: 4 squadrons

85, 38 and 46 Groups - 652 serviceable aircraft in 27 squadrons on 05 June 1944.

Bomber Command - 1681 serviceable aircraft in 82 squadrons on 05 June 1944.

Lancaster: 856 aircraft in 39.5 squadrons
Halifax: 525 aircraft in 22 squadrons
Stirling: 62 aircraft in 2.5 squadrons
Mosquito: 122 aircraft in six squadrons
Special duty: 42 aircraft in two squadrons
100 Group: 179 aircraft in 10 squadrons

Coastal Command: 549 serviceable aircraft in 51 squadrons and three flights on 05 June 1944, PLUS 129 aircraft attached from other commands

Total RAF: 5252 serviceable aircraft in 304 squadrons and five flights

US VIIth Air Force: 2788 serviceable aircraft in 212 squadrons on 05 June 1944

B-17: 947 aircraft in 88 squadrons
B-24: 813 aircraft in 76 squadrons
Pathfinders: 91 aircraft

Fighters: 937 aircraft in 48 squadrons

US IXth Air Force: 2506 serviceable aircraft in 162 squadrons on 01 June 1944. Total aircraft available 4373.

Total US air forces: 5,294 serviceable aircraft in 374 squadrons.

 

[Selousi]

Gentlemen,

This is absolutely superb and helps me out greatly; thank you very much!

 

[Geoffrey Sinclair]

Most published references give orders of battles and strengths for a few dates, expanding that to a 5 month period really requires archive documents or a page by page read of books like Mighty Eighth War Diary noting things like first missions.

Bomber Command on 1 January 1944 it had 70 squadrons on strength of which 57.5 were operational, 1,175 aircraft, of which 927 were serviceable, of which 843 had crews, on 31 May it was 80 squadrons, 72.5 operational, 1,604 aircraft, 1,285 serviceable of which 1,267 had crews, a 50% increase in effective numbers. At the start of January 1944, 1 or at most 2 were Halifax III squadrons, the rest were earlier models, end May 20 Halifax III squadrons, Lancaster 33 to 40 operational squadrons, Mosquito Bomber 5 to 6, Mosquito fighter 0 to 4, Stirling 6 Bomber to 2 Radio Counter Measures, Wellington 0.5 to 0. Plus of course its weather and photographic reconnaissance Mosquitoes.

Fighter Command/2nd TAF pulled in squadrons from Canada and the Mediterranean in the first half of 1944, Fighter Command had 60.5 operational squadrons on 1 January 1944, 28 Spitfire, 11 Typhoon, 3 Mustang reconnaissance, 5 Beaufighter, 13 Mosquito, 1,175 aircraft of which 915 were serviceable of which 789 had crews, then add 5 Air Sea Rescue Squadrons strength 101/78/53. 2nd TAF had 58 operational squadrons, 20 Spitfire fighter and 1 reconnaissance, 7 Typhoon, 2 Hurricane, 9 Mustang reconnaissance, 4 Mosquito fighter bomber and 1 reconnaissance, 3 Boston, 4 Mitchell, 7 Auster, 1,016 aircraft, 824 serviceable of which 806 had crews. As well as 1 Halifax and 3 Albemarle transports.

As of 31 May Fighter Command had 53.5 operational squadrons, 1.5 Hurricane, 30 Spitfire, 2 Tempest, 1 Mustang fighter, 2 Typhoon, 2 Beaufighter, 15 Mosquito, 1,094 aircraft, 846 serviceable, 767 with crews, plus 4 Air Sea Rescue squadrons, the overall strength remained about the same. 2nd TAF had 77 operational squadrons, 27 Spitfire fighter and 3 reconnaissance, 17 Typhoon, 5 Mustang fighter and 5 reconnaissance, 6 Mosquito fighter bomber and 1 reconnaissance, 2 Boston, 4 Mitchell, 7 Auster, 1,425 aircraft, 1,145 serviceable of which 1,062 had crews. As well as 2 Halifax, 4 Stirling and 4 Albemarle transports.

From 118.5 operational squadrons to 130.5 effective strength from around 1,600 in January to 1,800 in May.

The USAAF was increasing the number of groups in Britain and also the number of aircraft per group.

On 1 January 1944 the 8th Air Force had operational 18 B-17, 7 B-24, 2 P-38, 9 P-47, 1 Reconnaissance and 1 Pathfinder group, on 31 May that had become 21 B-17, 17 B-24, 4 P-38, 4 P-47, 7 P-51, 1 Reconnaissance group, 1 Pathfinder group, 1 Carpetbagger group, 1 Weather Reconnaissance Group, in both cases plus some independent squadrons.

On 1 January 1944 the 9th Air Force had operational 4 B-26 and 1 P-51 groups, giving an average strength for January of 221 bomber and 58 fighter aircraft with crews, on 31 May it was 8 B-26, 3 A-20, 3 P-38, 14 P-47 and 2 P-51 groups, giving an average strength for May of 545 bomber and 955 fighter aircraft with crews. In both cases again plus some independent squadrons. Not counting transport aircraft groups.

8th Air force on 31 December 1943, serviceable 547 B-17, 153 B-24, 86 P-38, 584 P-47, 12 F-5, 2 Spitfire total 1,384, on 30 May, 974 B-17, 881 B-24, 221 P-38, 246 P-47, 23 P-38 and 12 Spitfire reconnaissance, total 2,719. 9th Air Force on 31 December 1943 223 B-26, 52 P-51, 24 F-6, 20 Spitfire, 13 L-4B, 101 transports, total 433, on 30 May, 389 B-26, 109 A-20, 121 P-38, 733 P-47, 118 P-51, 4 P-61, 33 F-5, 87 F-6, 1,126 transports, total 2,720.

Daily figures fluctuate according to activity, using say weekly or longer gaps runs into that day could be exceptional either up or down. How much detail is really required? Just operational groups for the US and squadrons for the RAF?

 

[Frog]

Most published references give orders of battles and strengths for a few dates, expanding that to a 5 month period really requires archive documents or a page by page read of books like Mighty Eighth War Diary noting things like first missions.

Bomber Command on 1 January 1944 it had 70 squadrons on strength of which 57.5 were operational, 1,175 aircraft, of which 927 were serviceable, of which 843 had crews, on 31 May it was 80 squadrons, 72.5 operational, 1,604 aircraft, 1,285 serviceable of which 1,267 had crews, a 50% increase in effective numbers. At the start of January 1944, 1 or at most 2 were Halifax III squadrons, the rest were earlier models, end May 20 Halifax III squadrons, Lancaster 33 to 40 operational squadrons, Mosquito Bomber 5 to 6, Mosquito fighter 0 to 4, Stirling 6 Bomber to 2 Radio Counter Measures, Wellington 0.5 to 0. Plus of course its weather and photographic reconnaissance Mosquitoes.

Fighter Command/2nd TAF pulled in squadrons from Canada and the Mediterranean in the first half of 1944, Fighter Command had 60.5 operational squadrons on 1 January 1944, 28 Spitfire, 11 Typhoon, 3 Mustang reconnaissance, 5 Beaufighter, 13 Mosquito, 1,175 aircraft of which 915 were serviceable of which 789 had crews, then add 5 Air Sea Rescue Squadrons strength 101/78/53. 2nd TAF had 58 operational squadrons, 20 Spitfire fighter and 1 reconnaissance, 7 Typhoon, 2 Hurricane, 9 Mustang reconnaissance, 4 Mosquito fighter bomber and 1 reconnaissance, 3 Boston, 4 Mitchell, 7 Auster, 1,016 aircraft, 824 serviceable of which 806 had crews. As well as 1 Halifax and 3 Albemarle transports.

As of 31 May Fighter Command had 53.5 operational squadrons, 1.5 Hurricane, 30 Spitfire, 2 Tempest, 1 Mustang fighter, 2 Typhoon, 2 Beaufighter, 15 Mosquito, 1,094 aircraft, 846 serviceable, 767 with crews, plus 4 Air Sea Rescue squadrons, the overall strength remained about the same. 2nd TAF had 77 operational squadrons, 27 Spitfire fighter and 3 reconnaissance, 17 Typhoon, 5 Mustang fighter and 5 reconnaissance, 6 Mosquito fighter bomber and 1 reconnaissance, 2 Boston, 4 Mitchell, 7 Auster, 1,425 aircraft, 1,145 serviceable of which 1,062 had crews. As well as 2 Halifax, 4 Stirling and 4 Albemarle transports.

From 118.5 operational squadrons to 130.5 effective strength from around 1,600 in January to 1,800 in May.

The USAAF was increasing the number of groups in Britain and also the number of aircraft per group.

On 1 January 1944 the 8th Air Force had operational 18 B-17, 7 B-24, 2 P-38, 9 P-47, 1 Reconnaissance and 1 Pathfinder group, on 31 May that had become 21 B-17, 17 B-24, 4 P-38, 4 P-47, 7 P-51, 1 Reconnaissance group, 1 Pathfinder group, 1 Carpetbagger group, 1 Weather Reconnaissance Group, in both cases plus some independent squadrons.

On 1 January 1944 the 9th Air Force had operational 4 B-26 and 1 P-51 groups, giving an average strength for January of 221 bomber and 58 fighter aircraft with crews, on 31 May it was 8 B-26, 3 A-20, 3 P-38, 14 P-47 and 2 P-51 groups, giving an average strength for May of 545 bomber and 955 fighter aircraft with crews. In both cases again plus some independent squadrons. Not counting transport aircraft groups.

8th Air force on 31 December 1943, serviceable 547 B-17, 153 B-24, 86 P-38, 584 P-47, 12 F-5, 2 Spitfire total 1,384, on 30 May, 974 B-17, 881 B-24, 221 P-38, 246 P-47, 23 P-38 and 12 Spitfire reconnaissance, total 2,719. 9th Air Force on 31 December 1943 223 B-26, 52 P-51, 24 F-6, 20 Spitfire, 13 L-4B, 101 transports, total 433, on 30 May, 389 B-26, 109 A-20, 121 P-38, 733 P-47, 118 P-51, 4 P-61, 33 F-5, 87 F-6, 1,126 transports, total 2,720.

Daily figures fluctuate according to activity, using say weekly or longer gaps runs into that day could be exceptional either up or down. How much detail is really required? Just operational groups for the US and squadrons for the RAF?

I am surprised at the B-17 / B-24 ratio (974 B-17, 881 B-24) : as there were two B-17 equiped bomb divisions (1st and 3rd) vs a single 2nd bomb division, I would have waited for a ratio more akin to 2/3 B-17 vs 1/3 B-24.

 

[PStickney]

Hello there,

I am putting together a short decision-making exercise for educating some college students about bombing campaigns.

My plan is some will play American, others British, to discuss best targetting options in the run-up to D-Day; they have to agree and come up with a broad plan of campaign for the period - roughly Jan - May 1944.

So I'm compiling a list of 'available operational units' for Bomber Command and the Mighty 8th.

For data I'm using O'brien's How the War Was Won , Overy's The Air War and Hall, et. al.'s Case Studies in Strategic Bombardment for data, but having some difficulties in determining figures split nation-wise for light, medium, and heavy bombers, & escort fighters (assuming none for the British at this time), or photo recon aircraft - for either side. There's a general figure given of over 1,130 available heavies in Jacob's chapter, for example, but that;s for all the CBO - so I don't know how many were British and how many American.

Perhaps someone could kindly point me in the right direction for a database, or a work, or otherwise some rough figures of available aircraft of these types, for both air forces, in the Spring of 44?

With best wishes and thanks,
J

In addition to the references that the others have given, might I suggest Alfred Price's "The Last Year of the Luftwaffe", which covers, well - the Luftwaffe side from April 1944 to April 1945. It lists Orders of Battle of all Luftwaffe forces, at various points during the period, and also covers the Logistical and Manning issues that the Luftwaffe had.

 

[Geoffrey Sinclair]

The 8th Air Force third division was originally a mixed force of B-17 and B-24. By mid 1943 the 8th Air Force had 10 B-17 and 2 B-24 groups operational. Detachments meant that from the end of June to the beginning of September 1943 the 8th flew no B-24 operations while the number of B-17 groups rose to 16. Then came the B-24 surge, by the end of 1943 it was 18 B-17 to 7 B-24 groups, by the end of March 1944 it was 20 to 10, and the peak was in June 1944, 21 to 19 in favour of the B-17.

Around July 1944 the 8th began the process to convert the 3rd Bombardment Division to all B-17. So by mid September 1944 the bomber groups were 26 B-17 to 13 B-24s. The 34th, 486th, 487th, 490th and 493rd Bomb Groups going from B-24 to B-17. The 492nd Bomb Group had been turned into the carpetbagger unit. In November 1944 the 489th Bomb Group was sent back to the US, leaving the final ratio as 26 B-17 to 12 B-24.

 

[Barrett]

The Naval Historical Center website used to have monthly location & allowance reports. Have not looked at NHHC in months but it's worth a try because there are some months with two reports each.

NHHC

www.history.navy.mil