ANSWER 3: “During the last six months of the European war, although Bomber Command had evolved into a mature and reliable instrument, some practical problems continued to appear. Sir Arthur Harris was particularly concerned about the supply of munitions for his now-massive fleet. Late in 1944 he had registered disappointment on being informed that the production program for the ten-ton Tallboy Large Bombs, later known as Grand Slam, along with “the (concomitant) modification of a full squadron of Lancasters was being curtailed, and he was much relieved to hear that this was untrue since most of the bombs needed were to be produced in America.” However, early in the new year, he wrote Portal about an increasing shortage with the mainstay 1000-pound General Purpose bombs, “which could well necessitate ‘a partial and deliberate return to the area bombing of cities with incendiaries’ and thus affect target selection.” Manpower issues also reared their heads. Since November 1944, the throughput of the BCATP had been drastically curtailed. Casualties following the Command’s secondment to SHAEF in April had been lighter than expected and a 40 percent drawdown of aircrew production had been initiated. However, the training of replacement aircrews was now at an all-time high, thanks to the evolved efficiency of the Operational Training Units (OTUs) and the Heavy Conversion Units (HCUs), and crews were also finishing their operational tours in record time. This was leaving a dearth of operational experience on the bomber squadrons. Exacerbating the problem, many relatively senior officers, who had been “frozen” for the bulk of the war in instructional jobs with the BCATP and in other staff jobs in Canada, were now arriving in droves in an attempt to gain combat experience prior to war’s end. They tended to be experienced aviators but they brought no battle experience with them, and were occasionally placed in air leadership positions in deference to their rank, when logic should have dictated otherwise.”

Source:

No Prouder Place,

pg. 395-396 (Bashow)