Master of Airpower by David Mets
Author:David Mets [Mets, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-53822-2
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2012-06-26T16:00:00+00:00
In other words, though there would be reserve stocks in France, the Allies would not have to wait until they were exhausted to see the effect. Rather, the Wehrmacht commanders would be forced to ration fuel stringently from the moment they knew that the synthetic plants would not be producing replenishment supplies. This would, in turn, have immediate effect on the “fighting powers” of the forces that would face the Allies on the beaches.
At this point, Portal may have implied that his mind, also, was already made up, but that the oil plan was certainly something that should be kept in mind. A representative of the Ministry of Economic Warfare had supported the notion that the oil attack would not have early effects and gave some data on the large oil stocks the Axis had been holding in the west. Portal then asserted that that was conclusive and the rail plan was the better for the short run, but that the oil plan ought to be studied for the future. Eisenhower agreed. It appeared clear that Spaatz had lost the case. Both Eisenhower and Portal had their minds set on the rail plan, and there was no dissuading them from it.113
Air Chief Marshal Harris had not played much of a part in the drama up to that point, and now his remarks were confined mainly to cautioning the others on the limitations of Bomber Command. He doubted that his organization could do what it would be asked to do, and he backed Spaatz in the hope that alternative plans would be considered.114 Though the support of Harris, on paper at least, was not that impressive, it is apparent that Spaatz was not alone, for both the War Office and Bomber Command were skeptical of the plan created by Zuckerman, Leigh-Mallory, and Tedder.
The matter of killing French civilians was brought up only very late in the meeting and was introduced by Portal. Even then, it appears that there was more concern for the political than the moral aspects of the issue, for Portal suggested that the civilian casualty factor made it advisable to bring the British cabinet into the plan to make sure that the political leaders knew about the impact on the French living near the rail yards. Eisenhower promised to take it up with the British government leaders.115
When the meeting ended, Spaatz had suffered one of the toughest defeats of his official life. He and the other airmen had long looked upon the Mediterranean campaign, the submarine attacks, and the bombing of the V-weapon launching sites as diversions from their main purpose—as obstacles to the bombing of the vital centers of Germany. Now Spaatz felt that air supremacy was finally in his grasp, that the road to the vital centers seemed clear, and the target that would have the most deadly effects had been identified. It seemed that the Luftwaffe was on the ropes and USSTAF was poised on the brink of victory—and just at that moment, the great
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