Early Cold War Tensions
Tensions with the Soviet Union began as early as 1946, and U.S. President Harry S. Truman decided to realign USAFE into a combat-capable force. In November, six B-29 Superfortress bombers from SAC's 43d Bombardment Group were sent to RAF Burtonwood, and from there to various bases in West Germany as a "training deployment".
In May 1947, additional B-29s were sent to the UK and West Germany to keep up the presence of a training program. These deployments were only a cover-up, as the true aim of these B-29s was to have a strategic air force permanently stationed in Europe.
By 1948 Berlin had become the focal point of East-West confrontation, and when surface entry into the city was cut by the Soviets, the Allies countered with the now famous Berlin Airlift. To counter further moves by the Communists, SAC again deployed units to the United Kingdom. SAC continued rotational deployments of its strategic bomber force, keeping a strategic bomber force in Europe for almost 20 years until 1966, when the B-47 Stratojet was phased out of SAC's inventory.
Read more about this topic: Strategic Air Command In The United Kingdom
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