Narrative of the Operation

When the history of this war is written, one of the significant developments to be noted and discussed will be the formation and rapid growth of the air-ground tactical team. Born of resourcefulness and necessity, cradled in the African desert, the lusty infant quickly grew into a creature of bone and sinew until, when Normandy was invaded, it had become a smoothly functioning striking force of terrific power, destined to change many tactical theories theretofore accepted as axioms. This booklet focuses its attention upon one phase of air-ground cooperation, the drive across France of Maj. Gen. O.P. Weyland's XIX Tactical Air Command (XIX TAC) and Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army.

For 30 days this new battle team moved ahead without pause--eastward, southward, and westward. Six days after it went into operation, all Brittany had been conquered except for three beleaguered ports; 9 days later, one jaw of the Malaise-Argentan trap had been clamped shut; in another week the Seine was crossed above and below Paris; and by the end of the first month this air-ground combination was fighting within 60 miles of Germany.

In the course of these incredibly rapid operations XIX TAC was called upon to carry out many assignments that no air arm had ever done before. To keep up with the advance of Third Army's forward command post, frequently 20 miles a day, XIX TAC had to move its combat headquarters five times during the 31 days of August. It was an air force that never could settle down, that always must keep trucks and vans ready to roll closer to the front, that never could permit a time lag in its operational planning and coordination.

In August, Thunderbolts and Mustangs of XIX TAC flew on five different fronts, none of which was stable. The fighters probed and disorganized with their bombs deep areas of enemy concentrations and shallow zones directly ahead of Third Army tanks; they protected the Third Army's rearward supply roads, at one time very narrow and precarious, from ground attack and sabotage aircraft; they flew almost daily against suicide garrisons which the Germans left behind in encircled, sternly defended harbor cities; and finally, in a completely unorthodox move, they were given full responsibility for the protection of General Patton's long, vulnerable right flank along the Loire.

This diversity of assignment meant that the aircraft of XIX TAC had to operate simultaneously along an irregular, shifting 500-mile front ranging from Brest almost to the Rhine. Dozens of high-priority missions were required on every good flying day to meet threats along the whole uneven battle line, to keep the Germans in every sector immobile and off balance, and to prevent any massing of enemy strength to oppose the Third Army.