Tedder, Intelligence and Operation CRUSADER 21st May 2015 Sebastian Cox, Head of the Air Historical Branch, will discuss Tedder, Intelligence and Operation CRUSADER in the next RAF Museum Trenchard Lecture in Air Power Studies. TALK OUTLINE The use and dissemination of intelligence assessments is central to the planning military operations; however, these assessments can become distorted by questions of politics. In this talk, Sebastian Cox will discuss the influence of politics on the intelligence cycle concerning a relatively straightforward intelligence assessment produced by Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder on the eve of Operation CRUSADER in late-1941. Tedder’s assessment of relative air strengths caused alarm in both the Australian and New Zealand capitals, where the Governments had been scarred by the recent defeats in Greece and Crete and had an exaggerated fear of the Luftwaffe. This apparently straightforward assessment therefore stirred up a political hornet’s nest involving the Prime Ministers of all three countries and nearly cost Tedder his job. Some astute political manoeuvring on the part of senior RAF Officers in London saved Tedder. LOCATION AND TIME Please note that this lecture will be held at the Headquarters of the Royal Aeronautical Society at No. 4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ at 18:00PM on Thursday 21 May 2015. TICKETS This lecture is free of charge however: we do ask that you pre-book a free ticket, as seats are limited. Booking is quick and easy, we just need some basic contact information. BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE TODAY ABOUT SEBASTIAN COX Sebastian Cox is Head of the Air Historical Branch (RAF). He is a graduate of Warwick University and King’s College London. He was Curator of Documents at the Royal Air Force Museum before joining the Air Historical Branch as a researcher in 1984. He was appointed as Head of the Branch in 1996. He has written widely on the history of the RAF and air power, edited two book series related to the subject and has lectured on the subject to military and civilian audiences on three continents. He is a Director of the Royal Air Force Centre for Air Power Studies, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Society for Military History, and a member of the Royal Air Force Museum’s Research Board. More details here. Ross
Would love to go and hear more about it. Alas, the school run! Hope there is a lot of interest. Is there a related paper? All the best Andreas
Always thought that Tedder should have been fired in the desert as he was not too interested in supporting 8th army but rather fighting the B o B all over again and it was not until he - Conningham and the US Brereton left to join Ike in Algiers that Monty with Harry Broadhurst were able to make up the "Cab Rank" support which did so well at Southern Tunisia again at Tunis and at the big swan to Brussels - Tedder should have been fired again for his actions in trying to get Monty fired in France - he was also in charge when the RAF failed to disturb the Germans in retreating from Sicily…... Cheers
I think that's a bit harsh. 'Cab Rank' is a serious burden in terms of the numbers of planes. Throughout all of 1941 and most of 1942, these planes were not available in the desert. Furthermore, all the planes that were available were inferior to the Axis fighters, until the arrival of the first Spitfires in May 1942 (and Tedder had requested them at least since summer 1941 - it wasn't his fault that they weren't there). Also, Tedder's and Coningham's strategy of protecting ground forces by gaining strategic air superiority worked in CRUSADER, and there was relatively little interference from the Axis air forces. It was in fact the air force that felt very seriously let down by 8th Army when ground troops withdrew so quickly and without telling anyone in January 1942 that hundreds of planes were put at risk of being overrun. All the best Andreas
Papers are published in time and are a source of good historical informtion usually with well contributed discussion.....Points made by Tom might receive an airing.
Andreas, Seb published onthe subject back in the 90s in the journal Intellegence and National Security. We should be filimg the lecture for future reference. Ross
Andreas NO doubt it was the fault of the 8th Army that so many German Troops managed to escape from Sicily as they were NOT interfered with by the RAF - or the Royal Navy - or that the Army had to land at Salerno as the RAF couldn't fly as far as Naples from Malta for example…… its one thing to write a book about how the 8th Army suddenly left their position 800 miles from their base to a newly reinforced enemy - and a completely different thing to be stonked by your own Air Force……too late to try it I guess - very harsh I would say... Cheers
The Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica happily stonked their own troops too. Nothing special about it. I don't know about Sicily, but I am not sure how Tedder could be held responsible for the limited range of RAF fighters? A design issue surely? All the best Andreas
Andreas you are right of course nothing special about being stonked by your own Air Force to those who were killed or badly wounded The difference of Naples and Salerno had all to do with the fact that Naples had Anti-aircraft gains while Salerno didn't so no spitfires could be shot down ..and you don't know about Sicily…always thought you were well read…..read how many Germans and their equipment managed to leave without being shot at by the RAF or Navy... Cheers
Hi Tom I am quite focussed on North Africa at the moment, Sicily is next (in about 20 years at current speed). Thanks for the pointer! All the best Andreas
Andreas Being focussed on North Africa will ultimately bring you to the point where Tedder - Coningham - Brereton defected to the HQ of Eisenhower in Algiers - thus leaving the RAF in the hands of Harry Broadhurst whose "CAB RANK" made all the difference in the "left hook" to El Hamma after the set back at the Mareth Line - it should also be recalled that Monty finally fired his Chief of Armour - Lumsden - and the armour was released from his tactics of that of Balaclava - and our Tanks started to behave as Tanks should with 1st Armoured bulling through the defences - as they did even better at the last charge from Medjez to Cap Bon with both Jerry's 25th ATB and my own 21st ATB breaking the defences and allowing the 6th AD and 7th AD to finish off the campaign…. Cheers
The lecture was very interesting. We filmed it, so eventually it should end up on our YouTube channel. Ross