Quote:
Originally Posted by tcolvin
Thanks all. The usual prickly responses galvanised me to get the answer, which seems to be as summarised below in seven points. I look forward to having holes picked in it, but please be specific and leave out unhelpful words like 'rubbish'. However, I cannot respond for the next eight days as I shall be hors de combat in the Perche district Normandy.
1. According to Air Marshal John Slessor, when he became AOC Coastal Command on February 5, 1943, a maximum of 100 B24 Liberators were needed to close the Air Gap - source Edward Offley: 'Turning the Tide'; page 47.
2. But although by this time 3,500 B24s had been built, Slessor could not get his required number released even though the Casablanca Directive of January 1943 gave absolute top priority to victory over the U-boats. Harris would not make available his B24s, and Churchill supported Harris whilst also signing the Casablanca Directive. As Americans say - Go figure.
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Apologies for coming to the party a little late, but the figure of 3,500 B-24s built by "early 1943" in 'Turning the Tide' (p. 48) can't possibly be correct.
The USAAF Statistical Digest gives a grand total of 3,349 heavy bombers, that is, B-17s and B-24s, delivered by the end of January 1943.
According to Lilley, et al in 'Problems of Accelerating Aircraft Production During World War II', B-24 production had reached only 1340 aircraft by the end of 1942. B-17 production had reached 1609 by the same point.