Tiger Force (air)

Tiger Force, also known as the Very Long Range Bomber Force, was the name given to a World War II British Commonwealth long-range heavy bomber force, formed in 1945, from squadrons serving with RAF Bomber Command in Europe, for proposed use against targets in Japan. The unit was scheduled to be redeployed to the Pacific theatre in the lead-up to the Allies' proposed invasion of Japan. The unit was disbanded after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war.

History

At the Quebec Conference of September 1944, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill proposed to transfer a large part of Bomber Command to the Pacific, comprising from 500 to 1,000 heavy bombers, once Germany was defeated. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the offer, stating that a "long and costly struggle" still lay ahead of the Allies.

The proposed force was soon scaled back to 22 squadrons in three groups: one British Royal Air Force (RAF), one Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and one from various air forces. By late 1945 this had been scaled back to 10 squadrons in two composite groups, made up of RAF, RCAF, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) squadrons. Tiger Force was to have been based on Okinawa and would have used Avro Lancasters, Avro Lincolns (the latest development of the Lancaster) and Consolidated Liberators.

The bomber force would take its escorts from the fighter units of the U.S. Far East Air Force, the Australian First Tactical Air Force and/or other Commonwealth units.

The colour scheme for Tiger Force aircraft was white upper-surfaces with black undersides; this scheme, despite the cancellation of operations against Japan, was apparent on many post-war Lancasters and Lincolns. To enable the aircraft to operate at the long distances involved, flight refuelling was to have been employed, using equipment developed by Flight Refuelling Ltd.

Tiger Force was officially disbanded on October 31, 1945, by which stage it included only British units.

Order of battle

Wings

• No. 348 Wing RAF (later renamed No. 551 Wing RAF)
• No. 349 Wing RAF (552 Wing)
• No. 350 Wing RAF (553 Wing)
• No. 351 Wing RAF (554 Wing)
• No. 555 Wing RAAF
• No. 661 Wing RCAF
• No. 662 Wing RCAF
• No. 663 Wing RCAF
• No. 664 Wing RCAF

Squadrons

Bomber squadrons

• No. 7 Squadron RAF
• No. 9 Squadron RAF
• No. 35 Squadron RAF
• No. 44 Squadron RAF (replaced by 49 Squadron)
• No. 49 Squadron RAF (replaced 44 Squadron)
• No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF
• No. 207 Squadron RAF
• No. 405 Squadron RCAF
• No. 408 Squadron RCAF
• No. 419 Squadron RCAF
• No. 420 Squadron RCAF
• No. 425 Squadron RCAF
• No. 428 Squadron RCAF
• No. 431 Squadron RCAF
• No. 434 Squadron RCAF
• No. 460 Squadron RAAF
• No. 463 Squadron RAAF
• No. 467 Squadron RAAF
• No. 617 Squadron RAF
• No. 627 Squadron RAF
• No. 635 Squadron RAF
• No. 692 Squadron RAF

Support units

• No. 426 Squadron RCAF (Transport)

References

• George Odgers, Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 3 — Air: Volume II – Air War Against Japan, 1943–1945 (1968 reprint); Chapter 17, "Redeployment". (Australian War Memorial)
• John Herington Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 3 — Air: (1st edition, 1963); Volume IV – Air Power Over Europe, 1944–1945 "Chapter 18 The Last Battles : The Way Home". (Australian War Memorial)
• Department of National Defence (Canada), 2007, "Tiger Force - NO. 6614 Wing Greenwood"

External links

• A photograph of a Lancaster VII (FE) in Tiger Force colour scheme
• "Payload and Long Range" a 1945 Flight article on the flight refuelling system that was to have been used by Tiger Force