This week marks the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, the landings in Normandy in 1944. The largest amphibious assault in history involved thousands or soldiers, sailors and airmen from Allied nations. Amongst those were some whose successors are today stationed at RAF Boulmer. In a series of 3 articles this week, our historian looks at the Air Command and Control contribution to D-Day.
Operation NEPTUNE - the Normandy landings – opened on D-Day, the 6 June 1944, and was described by General Eisenhower as a ‘great and noble undertaking’. In total, over 156,000 soldiers, almost 7,000 ships and landing craft and over 11,500 aircraft took part in the events of the day. It remains one of the most memorable days in military history; nothing of its scale had been tried before or since. There are many stories of innovation, skill, triumph, courage and loss surrounding that day. Some of those stories involve the Air Command and Control predecessors of RAF Boulmer’s resident units: 19 and 20 Squadrons and 144 Signals Unit.
The Air Plan
The Allied air planners expected serious attacks on the invasion forces from air and land, so preparatory air operations attacked transportation targets, airfields and radar sites across occupied territories.
Camera gun footage from a Hawker Typhoon of 609 Squadron, flown by Warrant Officer J D Buchanan, while attacking German 'Freya' and 'Wurzburg Riese' radars just before D-Day at Cap de la Heve, Le Harve. © IWM (HU 93013)
On the day itself, the Allies allocated 51 squadrons of fighters to cover the invasion fleet and the beaches, while many other squadrons were assigned to long-range sweeps over France. The RAF alone provided 30 squadrons of fighter-bombers for air support to the Army, with the US 8th and 9th Air Forces provided many more.
Groundcrew painting black and white ‘invasion stripes’ on a Spitfire IX just before D-Day somewhere in southern England. The intent was to provide an easily recognisable feature for the benefit of naval and military anti-aircraft gunners to distinguish friendly from enemy aircraft. (Crown Copyright)
These forces would protect the ships of the invasion fleet, and transport aircraft and gliders carrying airborne forces. Over the Channel, Coastal Command conducted anti-shipping and anti-submarine patrols, whilst other aircraft ran jamming and deception operations. Airspace was organised to maximise combat power while minimising friendly interference.
Fighter Patrol Areas for D-Day. (Crown Copyright)
Air Command and Control
With such a large number of aircraft and a complicated plan to execute, air command and control units would be critical. The air operation was commanded from the UK, with the focus being the Combined Control Centre located in the 11 Group Operations Room at RAF Uxbridge. There was one Combined Operations Headquarters ship assigned to each of the five assault beaches, each of which had naval, land and air staffs working together to coordinate landing operations on the spot for all three Services.
HMS Bulolo, the Headquarters Ship for ‘Force G’ which landed on GOLD Beach © IWM (A23597)
Experience from the amphibious landings in the Mediterranean in 1943 showed that the Headquarters Ships could not provide the detailed radar surveillance and aircraft control required by such a large-scale operation. The Royal Navy’s warships, although equipped with radar, were focussed on the defence of the fleet and had insufficient equipment and trained personnel to provide the required wide-area air surveillance and control. The Normandy beaches were less than 100 miles from the South coast of England and the well-established Dowding System with its radars, observers, communications, operations rooms, and well-trained operators and technicians. At that range, however, the Dowding System could not detect and track aircraft below about 15,000ft in the beach areas.
Radar Operators at Ventnor Chain Home radar station, Isle of Wight. This was the closest UK-based radar station to the Normandy beaches, but coverage at that range was only likely above 15,000ft. © IWM (C 1868)
All these factors led the Signals Planning Staff of the Allied Expeditionary Air Forces, led by Group Captain R G Hart, to propose a two-pronged approach to providing surveillance and control for the landings. Firstly, to provide an ‘afloat’ capability, there would be a new type of radar-equipped ship – known as a ‘Fighter Direction Tender’ – to operate off the beaches. Secondly, providing an ‘ashore’ capability, Allied forces would land a range of mobile radar units behind the initial assault to establish ‘far shore’ surveillance and control at the earliest opportunity. The ‘afloat’ and ‘ashore’ units, and the RAF personnel who crewed them, are the subject of the next two articles in this D-Day series.
References:
Dwight D Eisenhower Papers.
RAF Air Historical Branch Study, Signals Volume IV, Radar in Raid Reporting.
RAF Air Historical Branch Campaign Narrative, The Liberation of Nort West Europe, Volume III, The Landings in Normandy
The National Archives: A Report on the Role and Operation of British Headquarters Ships and Fighter Direction Tenders in the Assault on the Continent of Europe, June 1944, Operation “NEPTUNE”, TNA AIR 37/1439.
The National Archives: Signals Report on Operation ‘NEPTUNE’, Planning and Assault Phase, TNA AIR 20/4395
World War II in Numbers, Peter Doyle.
