ABSTRACT
The commander of U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe, Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz (q.v.), presented the plan to Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower (q.v.) on 5 March 1944 as “the most far-reaching use of strategic air power that has been attempted in this war.” Spaatz believed oil to be Germany’s Achilles’ heel, attacks against which would force the Luftwaffe to expose itself to attrition and allow the Allies to gain air superiority in time for Operation OVERLORD. It was also intended as an alternative to Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory’s Transportation Plan (qq.v.).
