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HEADQUARTERS FIFTEENTH AIR FORCE E-ALB-alm
APO 520 U. S. ARMY
11 July 1944
FIFTEENTH AIR FORCE PLAN FOR OPERATION “FRANTIC THREE”
NO PORTION OF THIS PLAN OR ANY OF ITS ANNEXES WILL BE TAKEN INTO THE AIR OVER ENEMY HELD TERRITORY
Two shuttle bombing missions by Fortresses escorted by Mustangs have been completed by the United States Army Air Forces involving the use of Eastern bases in Russia. Both operations were very successful, not only in destroying targets normally out of range of bombers returnint to home bases in England or Italy, but also in demonstrating to the RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT the great striking power contained in a Strategic Air Force in its employment as conceived by the Army Air Forces. To further demonstrate the versatility of the Strategic Air Force and the latent potentialities of its fighter force, it is planned to send a fighter Task Force of P-51’s and P-38’s to operate on strafing and divebombing missions out of the same bases in Southern Russia.
This Air Force, employing 72 P-38 and 48 P-51 fighters from the 306th Wing will conduct a special operation to be known as operation “FRANTIC THREE”. The primary purpose of this operation is to achieve the objective outlined in the Introduction above. The secondary purpose is to again strike at strategic targets normally out of range of present Air Force bases. These targets will be selected by the Fighter Task Force Commander from a priorities list, prepared by this Air Force, consisting of targets suitable for dive-bombing and strafing attacks. These targets will also be of strategic value and interest to the Russians. In order to reach the Russian bases, the fighter task force will conduct a strafing operation either in eastern ROUMANIA or southern POLAND supported by a normal bombardment attack of nearby targets by our bomber force. Upon arrival at the Russian bases, the fighters will be dispersed at designated airfields. Trained personnel for servicing and maintenance in addition to supplies and special equipment have been dispatched to these bases. The entire operation from departure of the Task Force from home base to their return will cover approximately five days.
The return flight will entail a strafing attack on an eastern Roumanian target similar to the plan enroute to RUSSIA.
Task Force fighters will not perform an escort function enroute to RUSSIA and will, if possible, avoid all combat with enemy aircraft.
PLAN ONE _ ROUTE TO RUSSIA
As in previous FRANTIC operations, an effort must be made to safeguard the Task Force from undue battle damage enroute to RUSSIA because of the limited maintenance facilities at Russian bases. In order to accomplish this without detracting from the full striking power of the fighter Task Force, targets have been chosen in eastern Roumania and southern Poland with an accompanying plan to provide adequate support with the balance of the Air Force. Full details are covered in Annex No. I.
PLAN TWO _ OPERATIONS FROM RUSSIAN BASES
Objectives – Operations from the Russian bases will be designed primarily to extend the geographic scope of POINTBLANK operations and secondly to support the Russian Army and Air Force. Objectives will be in order of priority, (1) Strafing of aircraft at MIELEC Airdrome, (2) Strafing of aircraft at LWOW Airdrome and dive-bombing of installations and (3) Strafing of such other counter air-force targets as may be developed by photography from Russian bases.
Intelligence – Intelligence of these targets and their defenses are covered in Annex No. 2, Intelligence Annex. Instructions for escape and evasion if forced down are also covered in Annex No. 2.
Plan of Attack – The plan of attack will be determined by the Task Force Commander on the basis of available intelligence and weather reports at his Russian Headquarters. The plan must be designed to give maximum assurance of achieving conspicuous results and to involve minimum probability of battle damage to the Task Force.
Supporting attacks by the balance of the Air Force from Italian bases will be executed if weather conditions permit. The Fighter Task Force missions will not be curtailed if weather conditions are favorable for fighter operations although the coordinated bomber force attack may be cancelled.
PLAN THREE _ RETURN TO ITALY
Unless heavy combat damage is sustained by the Task Force in the operation from Russia, a strafing attack can be planned for the return route similar to that on flight to RUSSIA.
In such an attack, the enemy fighter strength in the target area must be diverted by a supporting force from Italian bases attacking in the same area. This can be either a bomber force with fighter escort, or a fighter force dispatched solely for the purpose of escorting the Task Force through the target area. The target will be selected by the Task Force Commander based on available intelligence and weather data and on instructions signalled to him at his Russian Headquarters.
Security – The Security Section of the Intelligence Annex will be carefully studied and rigidly adhered to by personnel of all ranks.
Personnel – All details concerning what personnel are to accompany the Task Force, personal equipment, special personnel reporting procedures, etc., are covered in Annex No. 3, Personnel Annex.
Indoctrination of Personnel – All instructions and briefing material for indoctrination of personnel involved are contained in Annex No. 4, Indoctrination Annex.
Materiel –
P-51 – Droppable fuel tanks, air corps supplies, maintenance personnel and equipment for P-51 aircraft were provided at Russian bases for previous FRANTIC projects and are still there. The fuel tank supply totals 350 75-gallon tanks.
P-38 – The following supplies and equipment have been shipped by air transport to arrive in Russia prior to 14 July:
17,000 lbs. 20mm ammunition and gun parts.
17,600 lbs. Air corps and signal supplies.
100 lbs. GSAP camera supplies.
432 150-gallon droppable tanks.
For maintenance personnel, see Annex No. 3, Personnel Annex.
Reporting of Aircraft and Crews – Immediately after take off on operation “FRANTIC THREE” the 306th Wing will signal to this headquarters by operational priority signal the air corps serial number of all aircraft departing Italy for Russian bases. As soon as possible after take off, a list of combat personnel who departed Italy for Russian bases will be sent to A-1, this headquarters by courier. This list will include name, rank, serial number, date and place of birth.
Airdrome Defense –
Active Measures – There are at present no American facilities for active defense against night attack. Russian facilities consist of anti-aircraft guns only. No night fighter organization exists in the Piryatin-Poltava area.
Passive Measures – Due to the inadequacy of active defense facilities, passive measures take on extreme importance. Maximum advantage must be taken of dispersal and camouflage facilities. Aircraft must be carefully and widely dispersed on the airdromes and if additional dispersal airfields are available, these should be utilized wherever practical.
Task Force Commander – Brig. Gen. DEAN C. STROTHER, U.S.A.
Deputy Commander – Lt. Col. WILLIAM P. LITTON, A.C.
Task Force Command Post – POLTAVA
Commanders of Groups Involved – No Change.
Units are assigned to bases as follows:
31st Fighter Group – PIRYATIN
48th Fighter Squadron – To be designated later.
95th Fighter Squadron – To be designated later.
96th Fighter Squadron – To be designated later.
Base Commanders of these three bases will be specified by the Commander of the resident staff in Russia. Authority of Commanders designated from this Air Force will be limited to tactical command of their respective units of the Task Force. Chain of command will be from Task Force to 15th Air Force. General directives will, however, be issued to the Task Force Commander based on instructions from higher Headquarters, allowing him to exercise more than normal jurisdiction over targets to be attacked and routes to be used.
Notation: Some of the included/following documents are copies/scans presented in pdf format; others have been transcribed, ocr from official military unit documents without corrections. Some material was difficult to read and transcribe, sometimes this is noted in the transcription. Some originals may have been missing sections or pages. Spelling was not corrected. Documents are not meant to be a complete record, they are only what has been reasonbly-readable. In some cases document formatting-layout may have been altered to enable better viewing on a web page with multiple devices.
Annex 1, Part 1, Operation Frantic Three
Annex 1, Part 2, Plan Able, Operation Frantic Three
Annex 1, Part 2, Plan Baker, Operation Frantic Three
Annex 2, Operation Frantic Three
Annex 3, Operation Frantic Three
Annex 4, Operation Frantic Three
Annex 5, Operation Frantic Three
Security Instructions, Operation Frantic Three
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