OK Campers, this one is a little rough for me. Prior to Pearl Harbor he served a staff officer tour. Unfortunately, for a lot of aircrew in WWII, he was a member of the "Bomber Mafia"
Wikipedia has a good passage on what I'm talking about, so....
"He supported the creation of a separate air organization that is not subordinate to other military branches. He was a forceful advocate of the efficacy of strategic bombardment, publishing articles on the subject and becoming part of a clique known as the "Bomber Mafia" that argued for the primacy of bombardment over other forms of military aviation. He advanced the notion that fighters could not prevent a bombing attack. "
In short, "the bomber will always get through". This thought process was disproved in the attack on Ploesti Oil Fields in Europe (30 percent loss rate, 330+ aircrew killed or imprisoned, oil production was resumed within weeks).
He was transferred to the Pacific where he commanded the Bomber Command of Fifth Air Force. To his credit, he frequently flew combat missions in the South Pacific including attacks on Rabaul. Rabaul being a VERY important port for supplying the Japanese army. On January 5th 1943 , he was leading a daylight attack there where his bomber was shot down and he was killed.
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| Headquarters buildings were a bit more "casual" back then than they are now. Source |
There's quite a bit more detail about the man in the wikipedia article linked below. Very worthwhile read.
Citation to accompany the Medal of Honor
For conspicuous leadership above and beyond the call of duty involving personal valor and intrepidity at an extreme hazard to life. As commander of the 5th Bomber Command during the period from 5 September 1942 to 5 January 1943, Brig. Gen. Walker repeatedly accompanied his units on bombing missions deep into enemy-held territory. From the lessons personally gained under combat conditions, he developed a highly efficient technique for bombing when opposed by enemy fighter airplanes and by antiaircraft fire. On 5 January 1943, in the face of extremely heavy antiaircraft fire and determined opposition by enemy fighters, he led an effective daylight bombing attack against shipping in the harbor at Rabaul, New Britain, which resulted in direct hits on nine enemy vessels. During this action his airplane was disabled and forced down by the attack of an overwhelming number of enemy fighters.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Walker_(general)
https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/105285/brigadier-general-kenneth-newton-walker/
Juvat, you rat! Just yesterday I said that I didn't comment because there wasn't much to add to the sagas, then you drop this one!
ReplyDeleteI sort of read this as he flew as a sort of sekf-imposed penance for the policies he promulgated. Then received the MoH because he flew missions he didn't have to fly because of his rank.
I mean, well done for flying the missions he didn't have to fly, but every other bomber pilot and crew took the same risks.
Conflicted, very Conflicted.
.
Joe
DeleteIMHO this was the least deserved Medal I've researched so far. Therefore....
juvat
Quite the read on Walker's military career. The arrival of the Flying Fort backed up the Bomber Mafia's thesis that the 'bomber will always get through" yet no one thought fighter development would leap ahead similarly? The mission Walker was lost on, his plane also had the group's executive officer along with the squadron's CO on it........... Yah, can see where this one was a "little rough" today juvat.
ReplyDeleteNylon,
ReplyDeleteI'm in agreement with both you and Joe above. I believe politics were involved with the award.
juvat
Wow Juvat - Reading his Wikipedia entry, he seems like a character, both good and bad.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, looks like politics was involved. As you continue to post these, I am surprised how often it is involved.
THBB,
DeleteOne thing I learned in my last assignment in the Air Force is that the higher one goes (no, not in an airplane) the more politics is involved. My last assignment (which most of you know) was at the 5 sided whorehouse on the Potomac. I managed a 5 billion dollar budget and it wasn't a week went buy that somebody in a uniform or with a visitor's badge allowing access into our skiff. You knew before they opened their mouth that they were gonna ask for money, and they needed it NOW! I had a good one star boss who would provide SOME top cover, but not nearly enough to avoid me taking the money away from a project or two. Hated it, still do. There are several TV shows that feature a overhead video of that brothel. Still turns my stomach when I see it. When Mrs J (Major Mrs J) and I signed the retirement papers and left the building I felt like I was floating on air. Felt even better when we crossed the Texas state line and even better when we bought property and a home and a wine store and found a teaching job.
So, sorry if I didn't put my heart and soul into this posting, to much politics involved. I wonder if his final thoughts as he headed towards the ground wasn't "Where are those damned fighters when you need them?"
Ok, I'll get off my soap box. I've got a couple of actual hero's lined up for the next few days. I promise I'll be a good boy as I post them.
Peace out, y'all!
juvat.
When the B-17 was built, most countries were still flying biplanes as front line fighters. The P-36, P-40 and the F-4 were entering service in the US. In trials, those planes couldn't intercept B-17s unless they knew the attack axis and launched early. Lindberg was able to visit and examine German planes which were better interceptors than ours but most Army and Navy bosses didn't believe him. There was little information concerning the Japanese aircraft even though we had observers in China.
ReplyDeleteIn the Pacific, until the P-38s arrived, there was little or no bomber escort. Surprise was key to success which required flying overwater dog legs avoiding islands and shipping lanes before turning to the target. In this case, the crew used initiative to gather additional information and the Japanese used the extra time to their advantage.
Fast forward to the 80s before look down shoot down missiles were available for low altitude attacks. During Red Flag exercises, BUFFs using terrain masking could avoid all the fighters that were out looking for them. During one exercise, a BUFF three ship entering the play area was spotted by F-15s. The Eagle pilots only saw two bombers and remarked on the radio that one must have aborted. In fact, number 2 was displaced slightly to the right of the others and was never spotted or intercepted. At night, there was no contest and the BUFFs only encountered ground threats as the F-4s and F-15s couldn't make low level intercepts.
So, don't be so quick to jump on the bandwagon concerning decisions made years ago. If you want to complain, look at the lack of tankers in our current force and then ask yourself why that shortage wasn't addressed and fixed decades ago. Was it the fighter mafia, DEI, lack of bucks, or Congress wanting more circus than war fighting ability?
Dave
Men can be both brave, and wrong. Looks like Walker fell in that camp. I co-sponsor the "politics involved" awarding of the MOH in this case. He also ran up quite a list of crashed aircraft. Yeah, losing your hardware is not always cause for ending a career, but he ran up quite a tab. Chester W. Nimitz ran a destroyer aground, and had a notably superb career after that.
ReplyDeleteNote that he was part of the "bomber mafia," another member being Robert Olds. While the latter my have been a committed bomber guy, his son Robin certainly inherited the aviator gene, but thankfully believed in fighters being pretty darn important too.
I think we still have an overpowerful bomber and fighter mafia, who unite to hate the attack/close air support part of what aviation can do.
And, all seem to be oblivious to the lessons from Ukraine that a bunch of cheap drones can suddenly wipe out a LOT of bombers or fighters sitting on the ground, even hundreds of miles from the front lines.
John Blackshoe
JB,
DeleteAll good points. I spent a lot of time in the Eagle Squadron telling drivers that while Air Superiority was a very important thing to have in a war, it by no means would win the war in and of itself. I was the assistant Operations Officer at the time (3rd ranking guy in the squadron), the ops officer could've been modeled after the guy in this post only an air to air version. We did NOT get along well. Fortunately, the Squadron Commander was a very balanced guy. He knew a war would be excessively costly if we didn't have air superiority (supremacy would be even better), but the other missions were also important and we needed to do whatever it took to protect them. And those guys needed to realize that even if they did their job, if for whatever reason, the bad guys were still in the fight, well, we didn't win. And WINNING IS EVERYTHING!
OK off my soapbox.
Thanks JB
juvat
We can see in hindsight that the "Bomber Mafia" was both right and wrong, an all too familiar phenomenon. The bombers almost always got through (some of them), but the bombs didn't always hit. When they hit, they didn't always do the crippling damage they were expected to do. The damage, even on "strategic" targets, didn't necessarily hamper the enemy's war effort as much as predicted. (Apparently there were some features of WW2 German factories that made them much harder than expected to put completely out of action.) Let's give the guy honor for setting an example by going to see for himself what his crews had to deal with to do their jobs: he seems to have been willing to admit that there were differences between theory and practice. That attitude seems to have been sorely needed in many places in the early stages of the war.
ReplyDeleteLoFan John
ReplyDeleteAgreed, But...It's not one person, equipment or ordinance that's going to win a war. It's a combined effort by the country. Yes, even the civilians. rationing. extra hours on the production line. etc. etc. etc. Once we got that sorted out, it became very difficult for the enemy to make many inroads toward victory.
juvat