Operation Bolero - Bolero Movement of Air Groups

Bolero Movement of Air Groups

The movement of the assigned air combat groups began in May 1942 with the shipment by fast troopships (usually former ocean liners) of their ground echelons. The movement of their aircraft began in June after the decision was made that the most efficient and rapid buildup could be made by having the groups themselves ferry their planes overseas. Fighters, having only a single crewman and not equipped with proper navigational and communications equipment for trans-oceanic flights, were to be divided into flights of four and escorted by single bombers navigating the route for them.

Three groups were assigned for the first phase of movement: the 97th Bomb Group (B-17 Flying Fortress), 1st Fighter Group (P-38 Lightning), and 60th Troop Carrier Group (C-47 Skytrain). These groups were gathered on the east coast in what was termed the "concentration area" to stage for the overseas flights via the northern ferry route. Ironically, all of these groups, originally tasked for the Eighth Air Force, saw limited duty in England and were transferred to the Twelfth Air Force.

An anticipated loss rate of 10% for the first movement did not materialize and instead was 5.2%. The largest loss occurred July 15, 1942, when six P-38s of the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, and two B-17s of the 97th Bomb Group, on the Greenland-to-Iceland leg, were forced by weather to attempt to return to Greenland. Running low on fuel, all eight force-landed on the Greenland ice cap. The aircraft, although apparently recoverable, were abandoned after all of their crews had been safely recovered. One of the P-38s, subsequently named Glacier Girl, was recovered from under ice in 1992, and has been restored to flying condition.

By the end of August 1942, the Bolero movement had transferred 386 airplanes: 164 P-38's of the 1st and 14th Fighter Groups; 119 B-17's of the 97th, 301st, and 92nd Bomb Groups; and 103 C-47's of the 60th and 64th Troop Carrier Groups. 920 airplanes had been sent from the United States to England by the end of 1942, and 882 had arrived safely, almost all of them delivered by their combat crews and not specialized ferry command personnel.