WW2 HISTORY OF AIR POWER 1939-43

1. 1939 Sep: RAF Filter Rooms fuse radar and reports into defence intelligence. 

2. 1939 Sep: Luftwaffe air–ground integration in Poland proves operational utility. 

3. 1939–1945: Aviation Fuel and Air Superiority — Houdry’s Breakthrough and Doolittle’s Advocacy

4. 1940 May: Blitzkrieg success depends on local air superiority. 

5. 1940 May–Jun: RAF air support aids the Dunkirk evacuation. 

6. 1940 Jul: Battle of Britain validates integrated air defence and C2. 

7. 1940 Nov: Taranto carrier strike demonstrates decisive naval aviation. 

8. 1940–1941: RAF pivots to night bombing to mitigate losses. 

9. 1941 May: ULTRA exploitation shapes air tasking and defence. 

10. 1941 Dec: Pearl Harbor shows strategic reach of carrier air power. 

11. 1941-42: Allies racial stereotyping of Japanese regarding Japanese inability to operate technology based military capablities.

12. 1941-42: Japanese racial stereotyping of Americans regarding Americans being unwilling to fight.

13. 1941–43: Japanese Type 93 ‘Long Lance’ torpedoes overmatch Allied designs in range and lethality. 

14. 1942 Jan: Rabaul defended with Wirraway trainers exposes Australian unpreparedness. 

15. 1942 Apr: Doolittle Raid delivers outsized strategic-psychological effect. 

16. 1942 May: Coral Sea becomes the first naval battle fought entirely by aircraft. 

17. 1942 Jun: Midway turns the Pacific balance. 

18. 1942 Aug: Rapid forward airfields with Marston matting multiply sortie rates. 

19. 1942 Aug: Eighth Air Force begins daylight precision bombing of Germany.

20. 1942–43: Allied air power in North Africa integrates air–land manoeuvre. 

21. 1942 Nov–Feb: Stalingrad air-supply failure exposes limits of air logistics. 

22. 1943 Jan: H2S and Oboe navigation radars enable night/poor-weather precision. 

23. 1943 Jan: RAF Medmenham improves photo-interpretation and BDA. 

24. 1943 May: German failure to field heavy bombers reveals doctrine-led blind spot. 

25. 1943 Jul: ‘Window’ (chaff) and EW blind German radar in major raids. 

26. 1943: Maritime patrol aircraft shift the campaign against U-boats.