Tiger Force

Tiger Force, also known as the Very Long Range Bomber Force, was the name given to a World War II British Commonwealth long-range heavy bomber force, formed in 1945, from squadrons serving with RAF Bomber Command in Europe, for proposed use against targets in Japan. The unit was scheduled to be deployed to Okinawa in the Pacific theatre in the lead-up to the Allies' proposed invasion of Japan. The unit was disbanded after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria ended the war. History At the Quebec Conference of September 1944, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill proposed to transfer a large part of Bomber Command to the Pacific, once Nazi Germany was defeated, comprising from 500 to 1,000 heavy bombers. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the offer, stating that a "long and costly struggle" still lay ahead of the Allies. The offer made at the Second Quebec Conference (Octagon) in September 1944 was for forty squadrons of long-range bombers, of which 20 would act as tankers in flight; to operate against the inner zone and Japan. The Air Ministry prepared a provisional plan for three Groups, each of 12 squadrons of heavy bombers and 6 squadrons of long-range fighters (including one Canadian fighter and two Canadian bomber squadrons). Air Marshal Sir Hugh Lloyd was designated commander in November 1944. It was expected that American bases would be used, but they said their resources were stretched and asked that the British provide their own bases. In March 1945 the only area for bases was (undeveloped) northern Luzon in the Philippines. Estimates were that a base in the Calgayan Valley for 20 squadrons of heavy bombers and three squadrons of support aircraft would require 56,000 men to build and develop it, with 19,000 retained thereafter (being in American territory fighter squadrons would not be needed for its defence). But the Americans had more facilities on Okinawa than expected, and on 30 May offered bases there for ten British squadrons immediately. This was accepted by the British Chiefs of Staff on 4 June, and on the 11th their advisors said that the new base would require 37,400 men, 15,000 for operations and the rest for construction and administration (the Army could supply 12,400, and the air force 7,500 engineers) On 14 June the Chiefs of Staff decided to send ships without waiting for the Americans to supply the Pacific routing.