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the Air Council as decided th it, in two-event-of invasicly fighter operations will be controlled locally by you co „ir Officer Commanding Royal Air Force in Northern Ireland, on behalf of the al Officer Commanding -in-Clio, Fighter Command, In order that you shall be in a position to discharge these duties, it will be docensary for you to make plans beforehand which will enable a smooth transition to be made from adr fighting in local defence of Northern Ireland to air fighting in support of land forces. The closos liaison should therefore be established between your Headquarters and Headquarters, Fighter Command, and No. 15 Group with this transition ir view,
The principle by thich you should be guided in your employment of the fighters is that the first duty of all fighter squadrons that can be made available to operate in or over Ireland or over the sea communications between Ireland and England, will be the defeat of the invader. Other considerations, such as the routine defence of Belfast and of the sea-bor trade areas, may therefore temporarily have to take second place, In this connection, the Cousbal Commend Fighter squadrons already in Northern Ireland will also be available to co-operate to the same ená should “Zu situation render it essential, The decision to use the Coastal Command fighters for this purpose must, however, rest with the Air Ministry,
Control of Bomber squadrons,
8, In the event of invasion, or earlier if circumstances render it essential, two additional Medium Bomber squadrons will be sent to Northern Ireland to rebuforce the two already under the command of the Officer Commanddag, No.75 Wing, The four bomber squadrons, together with N, 231. Army Co-opera- tion squadron, will be under the operational control of the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, British forces in Ireland, The role of these bombers will be either close support on direct support of land operations according to the situation at the time and as directed by the General Officer Commanding- in-Chief. To supplement the work of these squadrons, bomber units may be allotted (on instructions from the Afr Ministry to Headquarters, Bomber Command) for direct support operations in Ireland. These units will remain under the operational control of Headquarters, Bomber Command, (or a Bomber Group Headquarters) but will be employed to attack objectives indicated either on your initiative or at the request of the General Officer Command ing-in-Chief, British forces in Ireland, through Headquarters, No.75 Wing.
It is not intended that these squadrons shall be operated fran & advanced landing ground in Ireland, and it will be neces32ry therefore, that bombing tasks in sufficient detail shall be communicated to Headquarters, Bomber Command (or the Bomber Group Headquarters concerned) either by your Headquarters or by Headquarters, No.75 Wing. While te responsibility of the Generel Officer Commanding-in-Chief for the defence of Ireland extends only to the coast, bombing activities unde your direction may be extended to targets beyond the coast. It is for this reason that Headquarters, British forces in Ireland, will not be the sole authority for initiating tasks for Bomber Command squadrons.
These instructions, as they stand, are somewhat
ambiguous. It is desirable, so long as communicatio is remain satisfactory, that there should be only one channel for demands for direct support by bomber squadrons based in England, and that this channel should be through She A.0.0., R.A.F. in Northern Ireland and Bomber Coimund. This point is to be clarified by further instructions to the A.0.0., Conforming to paragraph 10 in the G.0.0-in-C's Directive.
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