Ira Eaker was a staunch proponent of a separate Air Force. Builder of the World War II-famed 8th Air Force, his Eaker Plan — calling for around-the-clock American daylight and British night bombing — devastated Germany. Eaker played a major role in the structure of the separate Air Force. A nameplate on his desk proclaimed “Air Force Spoken Here.”
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Ira Eaker was born in Llano, Texas, on 13th April, 1896. He attended Southeastern State Teachers College in Oklahoma before joining the United States Army.
He was originally an infantry officer before learning to fly and joining the United States Air Service. In 1929 Eaker and his co-pilot Carl Spaatz, set a new endurance record after flying more than 150 hours aloft. They were also awarded the DFC for this achievement.
In 1936 Eaker made the first flight across America navigating solely by instruments. He also joined with Henry Arnold to write three books on flying, This Flying Game (1936), Winged Victory (1941) and Army Flyer (1942).
Promoted to brigadier general in January 1942, Eaker was appointed head of 8th Bomber Command under Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz. He arrived in England on 20th February where he set up US Army Bomber Command at High Wycombe.
In February 1943 Eaker took over as head of the US Air Force in Algiers. Eaker, along with Henry Arnold and Carl Spaatz, was a strong advocate of daylight bombing raids. At a meeting at Casablanca, Eaker, with the support of John Slessor, persuaded Winston Churchill to adopt a new strategy that became known as the Eaker Plan. It was agreed to launch a 24 hour bombing attack on Nazi Germany. Whereas the USAF would concentrate on daylight bombing the RAF would continue night bombing.
Eaker was promoted to lieutenant general in September 1943 and was placed in charge of the USAF in Britain. He helped Carl Spaatz plan Operation Overlord before becoming head of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces.
In 1947 Eaker was deputy commander of the United States Air Force. After retiring in August 1947, Eaker was Vice President of Hughes Tool Corporation (1947-57) and head of Douglas Aircraft (1957-61). Ira Eaker died on 6th August 1987.
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Combined Bomber (CBO). At the Casablanca conference in January 1943 it was decided to support Maj.-General Eaker's plan to launch a combined bombing offensive against Germany, with the British bombing at night and the Americans by day.
Portal was given the task of co-ordinating it and on 21 January the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) issued the Casablanca Directive. This stated that the objective of the CBO was 'the progressive destruction and dislocation of the German military, industrial and economic system, and the undermining of the morale of the German people to a point where their capacity for armed resistance is fatally weakened.'
Despite being planned in four phases between April 1943 and April 1944 the CBO only really started when the POINTBLANK Directive, which amended the Casablanca Directive, was issued by the CCS in June 1943. While listing various categories of targets, it gave absolute priority to the destruction of German fighters, and the factories where they were built, as the Normandy landings (Overlord) could not be launched until air supremacy was achieved. The Quebec conference of August 1943 upheld this high priority while abandoning attacks on German morale as a means of achieving that purpose.
POINTBLANK resulted in air offensives against Berlin, Hamburg, and the Ruhr, and raids on Schweinfurt and elsewhere, but the heavy losses sustained, and doubts about their efficacy, helped create a crisis of confidence in the CBO. Raids deep into Germany were stopped by the Americans until long-range fighters became available and good weather ensured that any losses sustained would be justified by the results, conditions which were not fulfilled until February 1944. Following the six-day operations mounted then-called Big Week - the Luftwaffe ceased to defend its air space automatically and was incapable of mounting an effective counter-attack during OVERLORD that June.
http://www.valourandhorror.com/BC/Backg/Combined%20.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWeaker.htm
Re: General Ira C. Eaker
