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259:) of their ground echelons. The movement of their aircraft began in June after the decision was made that the most efficient and rapid buildup could be made by having the groups themselves ferry their planes overseas. Fighters, having only a single crewman and not equipped with proper navigational and communications equipment for trans-oceanic flights, were to be divided into flights of four and escorted by single bombers navigating the route for them.
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strength of the USAAF), including 74 bomb groups of all types and 31 fighter groups. It estimated that 375,000 airmen would comprise the force, 197,000 in combat units and 178,000 in the service organizations. The estimate proved to be remarkably close, particularly the size of the heavy bomber force, to the actual strength of the combined Eighth and
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By July 1, demands from other theaters had caused a downward revision of the Bolero build-up to a total of 54 groups and 194,332 men. Later that month USAAF Headquarters estimated that by
December 31, 1943, the Bolero build-up could have in place 137 groups (approximately half of the entire projected
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at the end of May 1942 and presented the U.S. schedule for the arrival of U.S. Army Air Forces into the theater by March 1943, totalling 3,649 aircraft. The proposed build-up anticipated 15 groups in July, 35 by
November and 66 by March, excluding observation squadrons. Arnold anticipated that by the
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as
Commanding General, Services of Supply, U.S. Army Forces, British Isles. Lee would spend two weeks in Washington on initial planning and key staff, and then fly to England to build the operation, and begin work on the hundreds of bases, airfields, warehouses, depots, hospitals, and storage tanks
363:, an invasion of North Africa to establish a base of operations for the invasion of Southern Europe. The Bolero committee thus found its work limited to providing assistance in the planning for Torch. Buildup plans for the invasion of Europe later became the province of the Overlord planners.
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leg, were forced by weather to attempt to return to
Greenland. Running low on fuel, all eight force-landed on the Greenland ice cap. The aircraft, although apparently recoverable, were abandoned after all of their crews had been safely recovered. One of the P-38s, subsequently named
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In London the Bolero
Committee drew up plans for the accommodation of 1,147,000 troops, including 137,000 replacements, in the United Kingdom by the end of March 1943. But by the end of July, plans for Sledgehammer had been abandoned and Roundup postponed until 1944 in favor of
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To complement the
Roundup invasion plan, planning for the movement and basing of U.S. forces in the United Kingdom was begun at the end of April 1942 and given the code name of Bolero. A combined committee of key British and American logistical officers worked in both
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and USAAF Headquarters drafted plans to transport and house a million
American troops: 525,000 ground troops, 240,000 air force troops, and 235,000 from Services of Supply. Arnold's plan to Marshall called for the basing by April 1, 1943, of 21 heavy
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in Africa before the end of the year. 920 airplanes had been sent from the United States to
England by the end of 1942, and 882 had arrived safely, almost all of them delivered by their combat crews and not specialized ferry command personnel.
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would have 800 heavy bombers, 600 medium bombers, 342 light bombers, and 960 fighters. (At the time the actual strength of the Eighth in the United
Kingdom was 1,871 troops and no aircraft).
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An anticipated loss rate of 10% for the first movement did not materialize and instead was 5.2%. The largest loss occurred July 15, 1942, when six P-38s of the
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Bodie, Warren M. "The
Lockheed P-38 Lightning". Hayesville, North Carolina.: Widewing Publications, 1991,
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By the end of August 1942, the Bolero movement had transferred 386 airplanes: 164 P-38's of the 1st and
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was the commonly used reference for the code name of the United States military troop buildup in the
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planning the build-up, to co-ordinate the effort on the highest level. On 5 May 1942, Gen.
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that would support the 3 million U.S. military personnel eventually coming overseas.
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in preparation for the initial cross-channel invasion plan known as
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Battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom
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Three groups were assigned for the first phase of movement: the
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World War II operations of the Western European Theatre
434:United Kingdom–United States military relations
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239:April 1 deadline, the combat units of the
66:Learn how and when to remove this message
29:This article includes a list of general
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381:Orders to 1st FG for Bolero movement
374:The Army Air Forces in World War II
355:at the time of Operation Overlord.
337:, all of which became part of the
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247:Bolero movement of air groups
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228:General Arnold met with
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164:and Commanding General,
142:U.S. Army Chief of Staff
50:more precise citations.
209:), 17 fighter groups (
111:Operation Sledgehammer
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303:94th Fighter Squadron
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288:northern ferry route
268:B-17 Flying Fortress
172:named Major General
127:U.S. Army Air Forces
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170:Brehon B. Somervell
166:Services of Supply
146:Operation Overlord
123:Commanding General
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367:Sources and links
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307:Greenland
56:June 2017
311:Iceland
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135:General
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