Merciful 2/Merciful - Disc 2.iso/software/l/legenddoc's&cheats2.dms/legenddoc's&cheats2.adf/02/02

Text File | 1992-09-02 | 208KB | 3,830 lines

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     .                       »»»» PRESENTS ««««
                          OVERLORD - ENGLISH MANUAL
                          ==========================


                                                  TYPED BY SHARD - N&B

PART ONE - HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
================================

PLANNING FOR COMBAT: THE BUILD - UP
-----------------------------------

DIGEST OF OPERATION OVERLORD

What  follows  is  a  unique  document  taken from the Offices of the War Cabinet,
S.W.I,  30th July, 1943.  It postulates what form an invasion plan could or should
take  and  provides  a  valuable  study  for  what was formally suggested and what
actually  happened one year later (see the actual historical account elsewhere for
comparison).

1.    The  object  of Operation "Overlord" is to mount and tarry out an operation,
with  forces and equipment established in the United Kingdom, and with target date
the  1st  May,  1944,  to  secure  a lodgement on the Continent from which further
offensive  operations  can  be  developed.      The  lodgement  area  must contain
sufficient  port  facilities  to  maintain  a force of some 26 to 30 divisions and
enable that force to be augmented by follow up shipments from the United States or
elsewhere  of  additional  divisions  and supporting units at the rate of three to
five divisions per month.

Selection of a Lodgement Area.

2.  In order to provide sufficient port facilities to maintain these large forces,
it  will  be  necessary to select a lodgement area which includes a group of major
ports.    We must plan on the assumption that ports, on capture, will be seriously
damaged  and  probably  blocked.    It  will  take  some  time  to  restore normal
facilities.    We  shall thus be forced to rely on maintenance over beaches for an
extended period.

3.    A  study  of  the  beaches  on the Belgian and Channel coasts shows that the
beaches with the highest capacity for passing vehicles and stores inland are those
in  the  Pas  de Calais and the Caen-Cotentin area.  Of these the Caen beaches are
the  most favourable as they are, unlike the others, sheltered from the prevailing
winds.    Naval and air considerations point to the area between the Pas de Calais
and  the  Cotentin  as  the  most suitable for the initial landing, air factors of
optimum  air support and rapid provision of airfields indicating the Pas de Calais
as the best choice, with Caen as an acceptable alternative.

4.    Thus  taking  beach  capacity  and air and naval considerations together, it
appears  that  either the Pas de Calais area or the Caen Cotentin area is the most
suitable for the initial main landing.

5.    As  the  area  for  the  initial landing, the Pas de Calais has many obvious
advantages  such  that good air support and quick turn around for our shipping can
be  achieved.    On  the  other  hand,  it  is a focal point of the enemy fighters
disposed  for defence, maximum enemy air activity can be brought to bear over this
area  with the minimum movement of his air forces.  Moreover, the Pas de Calais is
the  most  strongly  defended  area on the whole French coast.  The defences would
require  very  heavy and sustained bombardment from sea and air: penetration would
be  slow and the result of the bombardment of beach exits would severely limit the
rate  of  build  up.    Further,  this  area does not offer good opportunities for
expansion.   It would be necessary to develop the bridgehead to include either the
Belgian  ports  as  far as Antwerp or the Channel ports Westwards to include Havre
and  Rouen.    However,  both  an  advance  to  Antwerp  across the numerous water
obstacles  and  a  long  flank  march of some 120 miles to the Seine ports must be
considered  unsound  operations of war unless the German forces are in a state not
far short of final collapse.

6.    In  the  Caen Cotentin area it would be possible to make our initial landing
either  partly on the Cotentin Peninsula and partly on the Caen beaches, wholly in
the  Cotentin or wholly on the Caen beaches.  An attack with part of our forces in
the  Cotentin  and  part on the Caen beaches is however, considered to be unsound.
It  would  entail  dividing  our limited forces by the low lying marshy ground and
intricate  river  system at the neck of the Cotentin Peninsula, thus exposing them
to defeat in detail.

7.   An attack against the Cotentin Peninsula, on the other hand, has a reasonable
chance  of  success  and  would  ensure the early capture of the port of Cherbour.
Unfortunately, very few airfields exist in the Cotentin, that area is not suitable
for  rapid  airfield  development.   Furthermore, the narrow neck of the Peninsula
would  give  the  Germans  an  easy  task  in  preventing us from breaking out and
expanding  our  initial  bridge  head.    Moreover,  during  the  period  of   our
consolidation  in  the  Cotentin  the  Germans  would have time to reinforce their
coastal troops in the Caen area, rendering a subsequent amphibious assault in that
area much more difficult.

8.  There remains the attack on the Caen beaches.  The Caen sector is weakly held,
the  defences  are  relatively  light  and  the  beaches  are of high capacity and
sheltered from the prevailing winds.  Inland, the terrain is suitable for airfield
development  and for the consolidation of the initial bridgehead and much of it is
unfavourable  for  counter  attacks  by  panzer  divisions.    Maximum   enemy air
opposition  can  only  be  brought to bear at the expense of the enemy air defence
screen  covering  the  approaches  to  Germany  and  the  limited  number of enemy
airfields  within  range  of the Caen area facilitates local neutralisation of the
German  fighter force.  The sector suffers from the disadvantage that considerable
effort  will be required to provide adequate air support to our assault forces and
some time must elapse before the capture of a major port.

After a landing in the Caen sector it would be necessary to seize either the Seine
group  of  ports  or  the Brittany group of ports.  To seize the Seine ports would
entail  forcing a crossing of the Seine, which is likely to require greater forces
than  we  can  build  up  through  the Caen beaches and the port of Cherbourg.  It
should,  however,  be  possible  to seize the Brittany ports between Cherbourg and
Nantes and on them build up sufficient forces for our final advance Eastwards.

Provided  that the necessary air situation can first be achieved, the chances of a
successful  attack and of rapid subsequent development are so much greater in this
sector  than  in  any other that it is considered that the advantages far outweigh
the disadvantages.

The Lodgement Area Selected.

9.    In  the light of these factors, it is considered that our initial landing on
the  Continent  should  be  effected in the Caen area, with a view to the eventual
seizure of a lodgement area comprising the Cherbourg Brittany group of ports (from
Cherbourg to Nantes).

Opening Phase up to the Capture of Cherbourg.

10.    The  opening  phase  in  the  seizing  of  this lodgement area would be the
effecting  of  a  landing  in the Caen sector with a view to the early capture and
development of airfield sites in the Caen area and of the port of Cherbourg.

11.   The main limiting factors affecting such an operation are the possibility of
attaining the necessary air situation, the number of offensive divisions which the
enemy  can make available for counter attack in the Caen area, the availability of
landing  ships and craft and of transport aircraft and the capacity of the beaches
and ports in the sector.

12.    Although the strength of the G.A.F.  available in 1944 on the Western front
cannot  be  forecast at this stage, we can confidently expect that we shall have a
vast  numerical  superiority  in  bomber  forces.   The first-line strength of the
German  fighter  force  is,  however, showing a steady increase and although it is
unlikely  to  equal  the size of the force at our disposal, there is no doubt that
our  fighters will have a very large commitment entailing dispersal and operations
at  maximum intensity.  Our fighters will also be operating under serious tactical
disadvantage  in  the  early  stages,  which  will  largely offset their numerical
superiority.    Before the assault takes place, therefore, it will be necessary to
reduce  the  effectiveness  of  the  G.A.F.,  particularly  that part which can be
brought to bear against the Caen area.

13.    The  necessary  air situation to ensure a reasonable chance of success will
therefore  require  that the maximum number of German fighter forces are contained
in the Low Countries and north west Germany, that the effectiveness of the fighter
defence in the Caen area is reduced and that air reinforcements are prevented from
arriving  in  the  early  stages  from  the  Mediterranean.  Above all, it will be
necessary  to  reduce the overall strength of the German fighter force between now
and  the  date  of  the  operation by destruction of the sources of supply, by the
infliction of casualties by bringing on air battles, and, immediately prior to the
assault, by the disorganisation of G.A.F.  installations and control system in the
Caen area.

14.   As it is impossible to forecast with any accuracy the number and location of
German formations in reserve in 1944 while on the other hand, the forces available
to us have been laid down, an attempt has been made in this paper to determine the
wisest  employment  of  our own forces and then to determine the maximum number of
German  formations  which  they  can  reasonably  overcome.    Apart  from the air
situation,  which  is  an over riding factor, the practicability of this plan will
depend  principally  on  the  number,  effectiveness  and  availability  of German
divisions  present  in  France  and  the  Low  Countries  in  relation  to our own
capabilities.  This consideration is discussed below (paragraph 35).

15.    A  maximum  of 30 and a minimum of 26 equivalent divisions are likely to be
available  in the United Kingdom for cross-Channel operations on the 1st May 1944.
Further build-up can be at the rate of three to five divisions per month.

16.    Landing  ships and craft have been provided to lift the equivalent of three
assault  divisions  and  two  follow up divisions, without 'overheads,' and it has
been  assumed  that the equivalent of an additional two divisions can be afloat in
ships.

17.    Airborne  forces  amounting  to two airborne divisions and some five or six
parachute  regiments will be available but, largely owing to shortage of transport
aircraft, it is only possible to lift the equivalent of two thirds of one airborne
division simultaneously, on the basis of present forecasts.

18.    Even  if  additional  landing  ships and craft could be made available, the
beaches  in  the  Caen  area would preclude the landing of forces greater than the
equivalent  of the three assault and two follow up divisions, for which craft have
already  been  provided.    Nevertheless, an all round increase of at least 10 per
cent  in landing ships and craft is highly desirable in order to provide a greater
margin  for contingencies within the framework of the existing plan.  Furthermore,
sufficient  lift for a further assault division could most usefully be employed in
an additional landing on other beaches.

19.    There  is  no  port  of any capacity within the sector although there are a
number  of small ports of limited value.  Maintenance will, therefore of necessity
be  largely  over the beaches until it is possible to capture and open up the port
of Cherbourg.  In view of the possibilities of interruption by bad weather it will
be essential to provide early some form of improvised sheltered waters.

2O.    Assuming  optimum weather conditions, it should be possible to build up the
force  over  the  beaches  to  a  total  by  D plus 6 of the equivalent of some 11
divisions  and  five tank brigades and thereafter to land one division a day until
about D plus 24.

Proposed Plan.

Preliminary Phase.

21.   During the preliminary phase, which must start forthwith, all possible means
including  air  and  sea  action,  propaganda, political and economic pressure and
sabotage,  must  be  integrated  into  a combined offensive aimed at softening the
German  resistance.    In  particular,  air  action should be directed towards the
reduction  of  the  German  air  forces  on  the  Western  front,  the progressive
destruction of the German economic system and the undermining of German morale.

22.    In  order  to  contain  the  maximum  German forces away from the Caen area
diversionary  operations  should  be staged against other areas such as the Pas de
Calais and the Mediterranean Coast of France.

Preparatory Phase.

23.    During  this  phase  air  action  will  be  intensified against the G.A.F.,
particularly  in  north  west France, with a view to reducing the effectiveness of
the  G.A.F.    in  chat  area  and  will  be  extended  to include attacks against
communications  more  directly  associated  with movement of German reserves which
might affect the Caen area.  Three naval assault forces will be assembled with the
naval  escorts  and  loaded  at ports along the South Coast of England.  Two naval
assault  forces  carrying  the follow-up forces will also be assembled and loaded,
one in the Thames Estuary and one on the West Coast.

The Assault.

24.    After  a  very  short  air  bombardment of the beach defences three assault
divisions  will be landed simultaneously on the Caen beaches, followed up on D-Day
by  the  equivalent  of  two tank brigades (United States regiments) and a brigade
group  (United  States  regimental combat team).  At the same time airborne forces
will  be  used  to  seize the town of Caen; and subsidiary operations by commandos
and,  possibly,  by airborne forces will be undertaken to neutralise certain coast
defences  and  seize certain important river crossings.  The object of the assault
forces will be to seize the general line Grandcamp Bayeux Caen.

Follow-up and Build-up Phase.

25.   Subsequent action will take the form of a strong thrust Southwards and south
westwards  with  a  view to destroying enemy forces, acquiring sites for airfields
and  gaining  depth for a turning movement into the Cotentin Peninsula directed on
Cherbourg.    When  sufficient depth has been gained a force will advance into the
Cotentin  and  seize  Cherbourg.  At the same time a thrust will be made to deepen
the  bridgehead  south- eastwards in order to cover the construction and operation
of additional airfields in the area south east of Caen.

26.    It  is  considered  that,  within 14 days of the initial assault, Cherbourg
should  be  captured  and  the  bridgehead  extended  to  include the general line
Trouville  Alencon  Mont  St  Michel.  By this date, moreover, it should have been
possible  to  land  some  18 divisions and to have in operation about 14 airfields
from which 28 to 33 fighter type squadrons should be operating.

Further Developments after Capture of Cherbourg.

27.    After  the  capture  of Cherbourg the Supreme Allied Commander will have to
decide  whether to initiate operations to seize the Seine ports or whether he must
content himself with first occupying the Brittany ports.  In this decision he will
have  to  be  guided  largely by the situation of the enemy forces.  If the German
resistance  is sufficently weak, an immediate advance could be made to seize Havre
and  Rouen.    On  the other hand, the more probable situation is that the Germans
will  have retired with the bulk of their forces to hold Paris and the line of the
Seine,  where they can best be covered by their air forces from north- east France
and  where  they  may possibly be reinforced by formations from Russia.  Elsewhere
they  may  move  a few divisions from Southern France to hold the crossings of the
Loire and will leave the existing defensive divisions in Brittany.

It  will  therefore  most probably be necessary for us to seize the Brittany ports
first,  in  order to build up sufficient forces with which we can eventually force
the passage of the Seine.

28.    Under  these  circumstances,  the  most suitable plan would appear to be to
secure,  first,  the  left  flank  and to gain sufficient airfields for subsequent
operations.    This  would  be done by extending the bridgehead to the line of the
River  Eure from Dreux to Rouen and thence along the line of the Seine to the sea,
seizing at the same time Chartres, Orleans and Tours.

29.    Under  cover of these operations a force would be employed in capturing the
Brittany  ports;  the  first step being a thrust Southwards to seize Nantes and St
Nazaire,  followed by subsidiary operations to capture Brest and the various small
ports of the Brittany Peninsula.

30.    This action would complete the occupation of our initial lodgement area and
would  secure sufficient major ports for the maintenance of at least 30 divisions.
As  soon  as  the  organisation  of  the L.of C.in this lodgement area allowed and
sufficient  air  forces  had  been  established, operations would then be begun to
force  the  line  of  the  Seine  and  to  capture  Paris and the Seine ports.  As
opportunity  offered,  subsidiary  action would also be taken to clear the Germans
from  the  Biscay  ports to facilitate the entry of additional American troops and
the feeding of the French population.

Command and Control.

31.   In carrying out Operation 'Overlord' administrative control would be greatly
simplified  if  the  principle  were  adopted  that  the United States forces were
normally on the right of the line and the British and Canadian forces on the left.

Major Conditions Affecting Success of the Operation.

32.    It  will be seen that the plan for the initial landing is based on two main
principles  concentration  of  force  and  tactical surprise.  Concentraion of the
assault  forces  is  considered essential if we are to ensure adequate air support
and  if  our limited assault forces are to avoid defeat in detail.  An attempt has
been  made  to  obtain  tactical  surprise  by landing in a lightly defended area,
presumably  lightly defended as, due to its distance from a major port the Germans
consider  a  landing  there  unlikely  to  be successful.  This action, of course,
presupposes  that we can offset the absence of a port in the initial stages by the
provision  of  improvised  sheltered  waters.    It  is  believed that this can be
accomplished.

33.   The operation calls for a much higher standard of performance on the part of
the naval assault forces than any previous operation.  This will depend upon their
being formed in sufficient time to permit of adequate training.

34.   Above all, it is essential that there should be an over-all reduction in the
German  fighter  force  between now and the time of the surface assault.  From now
onwards  every  practical  method  of  achieving  this end must be employed.  This
condition  above all others, will dictate the date by which the amphibious assault
can be launched.

35.    The  next  condition  is  that  the number of German offensive divisions in
reserve must not exceed a certain figure on the target date if the operation is to
have  a  resonable  chance  of success.  The German reserves in France and the Low
Countries as a whole, excluding divisions holding the coast, G.A.F.  divisions and
training  divisions,  should not exceed on the day of the assault 12 full strength
first  quality  divisions.  In addition the Germans should not be able to transfer
more  than  15  first  quality  divisions from Russia during the first two months.
Moreover,  on  the  target date the divisions in reserve should be so located that
the  number  of first quality divisions which the Germans could deploy in the Caen
area  to support the divisions holding the coast should not exceed three divisions
on D- Day, five divisions on D plus 2, or nine divisions by D plus 8.

During  the  preliminary period, therefore, every effort must be made to dissipate
and  divert  German  formations,  lower  their  fighting  efficiency  and  disrupt
communications.

36.    Finally  there is the question of maintenance.  Maintenance will have to be
carried  out  over  beaches  for  a  period  of  some three months for a number of
formations,  varying  from  a maximum of 18 divisions in the first month to twelve
divisions  in  the  second  month,  rapidly diminishing to nil in the third month.
Unless  adequate  measures  are  taken  to  provide sheltered waters by artificial
means,  the  operation  will  be  at  the mercy of the weather.  Moreover, special
facilities  and equipment will be required to prevent undue damage to craft during
this  extended  period.    Immediate  action  for  the  provision of the necessary
requirements is essential.

37.    Given  these  conditions  a  reduced  G.A.F,  a limitation in the number or
effectiveness  of German offensive formations in France, and adequate arrangements
to  provide improvised sheltered waters it is considered that Operation 'Overlord'
has  a  reasonable prospect of success.  To ensure these conditions being attained
by  the  1st May 1944, action must start now and every possible effort made by all
means  in  our  power  to  soften  the  German  resistance and to speed up our own
preparations.

THE FUEHRERS DIRECTIVE ON DEFENCE OF WESTERN EUROPE

Dated  as  3  November  1943,  just a few months until the launch of Overlord, the
following  fascinating  document  shows how aware Hitler was of an attack and what
measures he was taking to prevent it.

Fuehrer Headquarters - 3 November 1943
Top Secret
The Fuehrer
OKW/WFSt/Op.No. 662656/43 g.K. Chefs - 27 Copies
Directive No. 51

For  the  last  two  and  one  half  years  the bitter and costly struggle against
Bolshevism has made the utmost demands upon the bulk of our military resources and
energies.    This commitment was in keeping with the seriousness of the danger and
the over all situation The situation has since changed.  The threat remains but an
even  greater  danger  looms in the West: the Anglo American landing!  In the East
the  vastness of the space will, as a last resort, permit a loss of territory even
on  a  major  scale,  without  suffering  a  mortal  blow  to Germany's chance for
survival.    Not  so  in  the West!  If the enemy here succeeds in penetrating our
defences  on  a  wide  front,  consequences of staggering proportions will follow,
within a short time.  All signs point to an offensive against the Western Front of
Europe no later than spring, perhaps earlier.

For  that  reason,  I  can  no longer justify the further weakening of the West in
favour  of  other  theatres  of  war  I have, therefore, decided to strengthen the
defences  in  the  West,  particularly  at  places  from which we shall launch our
long-range  war against England.  For those are the very points at which the enemy
must  and  will attack; there unless all indications are misleading will be fought
the decisive invasion battle.

Holding  attacks  and diversions on other fronts are to be expected.  Not even the
possibility  of a large-scale offensive against Denmark may be excluded.  It would
pose  greater  nautical  problems and could be less effectively supported from the
air  but  would, nevertheless, produce the greatest political and strategic impact
if it were to succeed.

During  the  opening  phase  of the battle, the entire striking power of the enemy
will,  of  necessity,  be  directed against our forces manning the coast.  Only an
all-out  effort  in the construction of fortifications, an unsurpassed effort that
will  enlist  all  available  manpower  and  physical resources of Germany and the
occupied  areas,  will  be able to strengthen our defences along the coasts within
the short time that still appears to be left to us.

Stationary  weapons  (heavy AT guns, immobile tanks to be dug in, coast artillery,
shore  defence guns, mines, etc ) arriving in Denmark and the occupied West within
the near future will be heavily concentrated in points of main defensive effort at
the  most  vulnerable  coastal  sectors.    At  the  same  time,  we must take the
calculated  risk  that for the present we may be unable to improve our defences in
less threatened sectors.

Should the enemy nevertheless force a landing by concentrating his armed might, he
must  be  hit  by  the full fury of our counterattack.  For this mission ample and
speedy  reinforcements  of  men  and  material, as well as intensive training must
transform  available  larger  units into first rate, fully mobile general reserves
suitable  for offensive operations.  The counterattack of these units will prevent
the enlargement of the beachhead and throw the enemy back into the sea.

In  addition,  well-planned  emergency measures, prepared down to the last detail,
must  enable  us  instantly to throw against the invader every fit man and machine
from coastal sectors not under attack and from the home front.

The  anticipated  strong  attacks by air and sea must be relentlessly countered by
Air  Force  and  Navy  with  all their available resources.  I therefore order the
following:

A) Army:

1.)  The  Chief  of the Army General Staff and the Inspector General Staff and the
Inspector  General  of  Panzer  Troops  will  submit  to  me as soon as possible a
schedule  covering  arms, tanks, assault guns, motor vehicles and ammunition to be
allocated  to  the  Western  Front and Denmark within the next three months.  That
schedule  will conform to the new situation.  The following considerations will be
basic:

a)  Sufficient mobility for all panzer and panzer grenadier divisions in the West,
and  equipment  of  each  of those units by December 1943 with 93 Mark IV tanks or
assault guns, as well as large numbers of antitank weapons.

Accelerated  reorganisation  of the 20 Luftwaffe Field Divisions into an effective
mobile  reserve  force  by the end of 1943.  This reorganisation is to include the
issue of assault guns.

Accelerated  issue  of  all authorised weapons to the SS Panzer Grenadier Division
Hitler  Jugend  [In  this  month  (November 1943) this division was converted to a
Panzer division [12th SS)], the 21st Panzer Division, and the infantry and reserve
divisions stationed in Jutland.

b)  Additional  shipments  of Mark IV tanks, assault guns and heavy AT guns to the
reserve  panzer  divisions stationed in the West and in Denmark, as well as to the
Assault Gun Training Battalion in Denmark.

c) In November and December, monthly allotments of 100 heavy AT guns models 40 and
43  (half of these to be mobile) in addition to those required for newly activated
units in the West and in Denmark.

d)  Allotment of large numbers of weapons (including about 1,000 machine guns) for
augmenting  the  armament of those static divisions that are committed for coastal
defence  in  the  West  and  in  Denmark,  and  for standardising the equipment of
elements that are to be withdrawn from sectors not under attack.

e) Ample supply of close combat AT weapons to units in vulnerable sectors.

f)  Improvement of artillery and AT defences in units stationed in Denmark as well
as  those committed for coastal protection in the occupied West.  Strengthening of
GHQ artillery.

2.) The units and elements stationed in the West or in Denmark, as well as panzer,
assault  gun  and AT units to be activated in the West, must not be transferred to
other  fronts  without my permission.  The Chief of the Army General Staff, or the
Inspector  General  of  Panzer Troops will submit to me a report through the Armed
Forces  Operations  staff  as  soon  as  the  issue of equipment to the panzer and
assault  gun  battalions,  as well as to the AT battalions and companies, has been
completed.

3.)  Beyond  similar  measures taken in the past, the Commander in Chief West will
establish  timetables,  conduct  manoeuvres  and  command  post  exercises for the
procedure of bringing up units from sectors not under attack.  These units will be
made  capable  of  performing  offensive  missions,  however  limited.     In that
connection  I  demand  that  sectors  not  threatened  by  the enemy be ruthlessly
stripped  of  all  forces  except small guard detachments.  For sectors from which
reserves  are  withdrawn,  security  and  guard detachments must be set aside from
security and alarm units.  Labour forces draawn largely from the native population
must  likewise be organised in those sectors, in order to keep open whatever roads
might be destroyed by the enemy air force.

4.) The Commander of German Troops in Denmark will take measures in the area under
his control in compliance with paragraph 3 above.

5.)  Pursuant to separate orders, the Chief of Army Equipment and Commander of the
Replacement  Army  will  form  Kampfgruppen  in  regimental   strength,   security
battalions  and  engineer  construction battalions from training cadres, trainees,
schools and instruction and convalescent units in the Zone of the Interior.  These
troops must be ready for shipment on 48 hours' notice.

Furthermore  other  available  personnel  are  to  be organised into battalions of
replacements and equipped with the available weapons so that the anticipated heavy
losses can quickly be replaced.

B) Luftwaffe:
The  offensive  and  defensive effectiveness of Luftwaffe units in the West and in
Denmark  will  be  increased  to  meet  the  changed  situation.    To   that end,
preparations  will  be  made for the release of units suited for commitment in the
anti  invasion  effort,  that is, all, flying units and mobile Flak artillery that
can  be  spared  from  the  air  defences  of  the home front and from schools and
training  units  in the Zone of the Interior.  All those units are to be earmarked
for the West and possibly Denmark.

The  Luftwaffe  ground  or organisation in southern Norway, Denmark, north western
Germany  and  the  West  will be expanded and supplied in a way that will - by the
most far reaching decentralisation of own forces deny targets to the enemy bombers
and  split  the  enemy's  offensive  effort  in  case  of  large-stale operations.
Particularly  important  in  that   connection   will   be   our   fighter forces.
Possibilities  for  their  commitment  must  be  increased by the establishment of
numerous  advance  landing  fields.    Special  emphasis  is  to be placed on good
camouflage.    I  expect  also  that  the  Luftwaffe will unstintingly furnish all
available forces, by stripping them from less threatened areas.

C) Navy:
The  Navy  will  prepare  the strongest possible forces suitable for attacking the
enemy  landing  Fleets.    Coastal  defence  installations   in   the   process of
construction will be completed with the utmost speed.  The emplacing of additional
coastal  batteries  and  the  possibility  of  laying further flanking mine fields
should be investigated.

All school, training and other shore-based personnel fit for ground combat must be
prepared  for  commitment  so  that,  without  undue  delay,  they can at least be
employed  as  security  forces  within  the  zone of the enemy landing operations.
While  preparing the reinforcement of the defences in the West, the Navy must keep
in  mind  that  it  might be called upon to repulse simultaneous enemy landings in
Norway  and  Denmark.    In that connection, I attach particular importance to the
assembly  of  numerous  U-boats  in the northern area.  A temporary weakening of U
boat forces in the Atlantic must be risked.

D) SS:
The  Reithsfuehrer  SS  will  determine  what  Waffen  SS and police forces he can
release  for  combat,  security  and  guard  duty.    He is to prepare to organise
effective  combat and security forces from training, replacement, and convalescent
units, as well as schools and other home front establishments.

E) The commanders in chief of the services, the Reichsfuehrer-SS, the Chief of the
Army  General  Staff, the Commander in Chief West, the Chief of Army Equipment and
Commander  of the Replacement Army, the Inspector General of Panzer Troops as well
as  the Commander of German Troops in Denmark will report to me by 15 November all
measures taken or planned.

I  expect  that  all  agencies  will  make a supreme effort toward utilising every
movement  of the remaining time in preparing for the decisive battle in the West.
All  authorities  will  guard  against  wasting  time  and   energy   in   useless
jurisdictional  squabbles,  and will direct all their efforts toward strengthening
our defensive and offensive power.

signed: Adolf Hitler


DIVISIONS AVAILABLE TO GERMANY ON 6 JUNE 1944

(BASED ON GERMAN SITUATION MAPS)

Theater                    Inf type             Pz type          Misc

Denmark                       2                 1+2 Brig          3
Norway                       11
Finland                      10
Eastern Front               122                25+1 Brig          17+1 Brig
OB SUEDOST (Balkans)         20                   2                3
OB SUEDWEST (Italy)         17+1 Brig             7                1
OB WEST (France and         41+1 Brig            11                9
low Countries)
Zone of Interior             3+1 Brig           1+2 Brig           4+2 Brig

Total German Divislons     226+2 Brig,         47+5 Brig          37+3 Brig
                                                                   1 Rgt


AXIS SATELLITES

DIVISIONS AVAILABLE TO GERMANY ON 6 JUNE 1944

(BASED ON GERMAN SITUATION MAPS)

Theater                    Inf type               Pz type           Misc

Finnish, Eastern Front
and Finland                 14+8 Brig               1                1 Brig
Romanian, Eastern Front
and Romania                 17+5 Brig               1                2
Hungarian, Eastern Front
and Hungary                  9+2 Brig               2                5
Bulgarian, Occupation
Duty in Balkans and
Bulgaria                      11
Italian In Zone of Interior    4

Total Axis
Satellite Divisions          55+16 Brig             4                7+1 Brig


OVERLORD: THE CAMPAIGN

THE PRELUDE
The  Allies,  at  the  beginning  of  1944, had a measure of numeric and technical
superiority  over  the  German forces.  However, the upcoming 'invasion' of France
required  some  sort  of  surprise  as  the  whole  operation  could  still end in
catastrophe.    Elaborate security precautions were thus taken and a comprehensive
deception plan was worked out.

That  an  invasion  was to be undertaken was pretty obvious to all concerned.  The
object  of  the security measures and the deception plan was to attempt to conceal
the time and place of the operation from the Germans.

The plan was in two stages first to lead the Germans to think that the landing was
planned for the obvious area, the Pas de Calais: the second even after the landing
in Normandy had taken place, to cause them to believe that this was a diversionary
operation to be followed by the 'real' landing in the Pas de Calais.  So important
was  this  considered  that,  during  the whole period of the air preparation, for
every target attacked in the assault area two other targets outside that area were
dealt with.

Tne success of these measures may be judged by the fact that on June 6 the bulk of
the  German forces in France were north of the Seine.  As far back as 1943 General
Morgan  had  drawn  attention  to  two  problems  upon  the  solution of which the
operation  might  well  depend:  reduction  of  the  German  fighter  strength and
reduction of the German reinforcement rate.  By early 1944, there were some 13,000
aircraft  in  the  UK,  of  which  nearly 11,000 were available for the support of
Overlord.    This  figure included, however, nearly 3,500 heavy bombers in British
Bomber  Command  and  the United States 8th Air Force: they were working on a long
term  plan  for the destruction of German industry - particularly the oil industry
and were not under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander.

It  would  be  natural  to  suppose  that  the entire weight of the 7,500 aircraft
constituting  the  Allied  Expeditionary  Air Forces would have been available for
these preparatory air operations.  Unfortunately this was not the case, for during
the  winter  of  1943/44  German preparations for the flying bomb campaign against
London  became  increasingly obvious and considerable effort had to be diverted to
action  against  the  launching  sites.  Nevertheless the air effort available for
these preliminary operations was colossal by any standards.

The  success  of the anti Luftwaffe operation was almost complete: during the last
two  months  the Luftwaffe lost a total of 1,858 aircraft and when D-Day came, air
opposition  was  practically  nil.    By  its  nature, the Transportation Plan was
unlikely  to achieve so complete a success nevertheless aided by the operations of
the  Resistance, it was undoubtedly a major factor in reducing the rate of arrival
of German reinforcements round the bridgehead to an acceptable level.

As  might  be expected the organisation of the actual assault was perhaps the most
complicated problem the planners had to face.

To  carry the overall total of 40-50,000 men with their vehicles and equipment, an
armarda  of over 4000 landing ships, landing craft and barges of varying types was
required; less than half of these were capable of crossing the Channel under their
own  power,  the  remainder having either to be towed or carried aboard the larger
ships.

Only  when  all this had been done, did the Royal Navy assemble for the escort and
support  of  the operation a fleet of over 1,500 vessels, ranging from battleships
to armed landing craft.

Although from the point of view of the assaulting troops there was much to be said
for an assault in darkness, both the navies and the air force had to have daylight
to  carry  out their bombardment tasks and darkness would dangerously increase the
likelihood  of  troops  being landed in the wrong place.  To assist navigation and
for the airborne landings moonlight was essential.  Finally, the German underwater
beach  obstacles meant that landing must be three to four hours before high tide.
The  only  suitable  periods for the operation therefore were those when there was
four to five hours daylight between dawn and high tide and, at the same time, good
moonlight was available.

The  question  of rapid unloading initially appeared the most difficult of all: it
could  clearly  not  be  done  across  the  beaches as a long term measure and the
likelihood  of capturing port facilities intact appeared small, at any rate in the
early  stages.    The problem was solved by perhaps the most famous devices of the
entire  operation  - the artificial harbours known as Mulberries.  They owed their
existence  primarily  to the fresight of Churchill himself, who had directed their
development  as  early as 1942 with his oft quoted minute, "They must float up and
down  with  the  tide....  Don't argue the matter, The difficulties will argue for
themselves".    They  consisted  of  an  outer  breakwater formed partly of sunken
blockships  and  partly  of concrete 'caissons', 220ft long, which had to be towed
across  the Channel: in the area of sheltered water so created were floating piers
adapted  to take coasters, landing ships or barges: unloading was further assisted
by a fleet of amphibious lorries known as DUKWs.

The  supply  of motor and aircraft fuel presented a particular problem.  Initially
tankers  were  moored  offshore and the fuel fed by buoyed pipeline into depots on
land.    preparations  were  made  however  for an underwater pipeline direct from
England  to the French coast - PLUTO or Pipe Line Under-the Ocean, and eventually,
though  not  in  the  early  stages  fuel  supply  was in effect drawn direct from
England.    It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  invasion   was   not   just a
British/American/Canadian operation.  All of the Allies had a hand in it including
the  Dutch,  Norwegians,  Australians, Czechs, Poles, New Zealanders and of course
the  French  themselves  who supplied boats and a co ordinated resistance campaign
assisted by the SOE (Special Operations Executive).

The  actual  invasion was meticulously planned with accurate models of sections of
the  landing  beaches  which  gave  men  a  visual  knowledge  of their own roles.
Practice  landings,  fine  tuning, methodical briefings and specially designed and
prepared weapons all played their part in the detailed build up to the final push.

NEPTUNE

Although  the  D-Day invasion itself was known as Operation Overlord, it is not so
well known that the Channel crossing had its own label, Operation Neptune.

The  sustained  attacks  from the air on the elaborate Early Warning System of the
enemy  had  succeeded  almost  too  well.    In  the  entire Neptune area from Cap
d'Antifer  to  Barfleur,  74  radar  stations were out of action, and the 18 still
capable  of working were silent.  But it was not enough to simply blind the enemy,
it  was important also to mislead.  For this purpose 10 stations were deliberately
left  in  working  order  north of the Seine and onto these screens the Royal Navy
contrived to produce misleading web of shapes and echoes.

There was no inclination on the part of the Allies to under-estimate the powers of
the German army in the west.  Thus, all through June 5 and the night, 105 aircraft
of  the  RAF  and 34 little ships of the Royal Navy contrived, by means of weaving
patterns over the sky and sea and flying barrage balloons, to produce the 'echoes'
in  the enemy radars of a substantial fleet approaching the Pas de Calais.  At the
same  time jamming operations and diversions were carried on against Cap d Antifer
and Barfleur.  The silent approach of the great armada to spread out in a fan from
eight  to 12 miles offshore enclosing the Bay of Seine is the measure of success.
Five  beaches  were  designated as landing areas codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno
and Sword.

The invasion began with the dropping of paratroops.  A haphazard affair which lead
to the mass scattering of for example, the 82nd Division.  In fact, on the day the
82nd  were  4000  men short and still only at one third strength three days later.
Actually,  this  incoherent scattering amongst the enemy created so much confusion
behind  enemy  lines  as  to  prevent  co-ordinated  reinforcement  at the landing
beaches.    In  fact, by the time the US 4th Infantry Division came in to land the
battle  of  Utah Beach was virtually won.  The assault at Utah resulted in just 12
dead.

The  struggle for Omaha was very different.  Heavy enemy cross fire created havoc,
while  waves six foot high caused many landing craft to flounder.  The DUKW's were
overloaded and, in many cases, capsized losing much of the artillery.  The landing
craft  carrying  support tanks came upon similar problems.  There is a devastating
simplicity about disaster.  There were no dry landings.  The assault craft and the
larger  LCVPs  and  LCMs grounded on the sandbanks, slewed in the sand runnels and
cast scores of men knee, waist and neck deep into seas lashed not only by the wind
but  by  mortar  bombs, shells and machine gun bullets.  Many believe that General
Bradleys  refusal  to  utilise  British built specialised armour and weapons, made
especially for the landing formed a major contribution to the resultant chaos.

Why the refusal?  Possibly, Bradley was unimpressed with British confidence and in
some  cases  perceived  (rightly  or  wrongly) arrogance.  Whatever the reason the
steady progress at the other beaches stood in stark contrast to Omaha.

Despite  those  other  beaches  having  experienced similar physical conditions to
Omaha Beach.

By  midnight  the  deepest  penetration was hardly a mile.  In the central sector,
specialised  armour  brought  the British and Canadians swiftly over Gold and Juno
Beaches  and, by the afternoon, they were probing inland towards Bayeux and Caen.
The  Sword  assault  was  equally rapid; by 14:00 hours leading troops had reached
Bieville  and  the  Commandos  were linking up with the paratroops.  This proved a
vital  factor,  for it was through the gap between Juno and Sword that the Germans
made  their  one  major counterattack - a battlegroup of XXI Panzer Division swept
towards the coast, but turned back when British reinforcements were flown into the
airborne  troops  behind  it.    From  the  beginning,  the  main weight of German
resistance  was  on  the Allied left flank and it was there that the German armour
was  pinned  down,  fortunately  far  from the precarious toe hold at Omaha, which
could have turned from a local disaster to a major crisis.

The Normandy beaches had been won: the first German counterattacks had been beaten
off  - and rapidly growing but still confined Allied armies had still to break out
through  the German ring into the interior of France.  However, the Beach head was
now in place, the Allies were here to stay.


OVERLORD - THE COMMANDERS OF THE AIR

The  air  attacks  precluding  and  during  the  day of 6th June 1944 were largely
governed by nine air commanders: six on the Allied side and three on the German.

ALLIED COMMANDERS - AMERICAN

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL LEWIS H. BRERETON
Brereton  commanded the Ninth Air Force, the American element of the Expeditionary
Force.  An aviator since 1913 and subordinate to 'Billy' Mitchell, the far sighted
commander  devoted  to  air  power.    Lewis  Breretons first taste of significant
command  during WW2 was controlling US Far East Air Force under General MacArthur.
A situation he found overwhelming.

"There  was  a  comprehensive  project on paper for the construction of additional
airfields,  but  unfortunately  little  money  had  been  provided  prior  to   my
arrival...."

The  US  surrendered  Manila in 1942 and Brereton was transferred to the Tenth Air
Force  in  India.    He then moved to commanding the US Army Middle East Air Force
where  he  co-ordinated  strikes  against enemy supply lines focusing on Benghazi,
Tobruk and convoys around Greece and Crete in an effort to bolster the RAF's North
African campaign.

Brerecon's  willingness  to  co-operate  and learn from the British forces helped,
with  the  newly  named  Ninth  Air  Force, to end the North African campaign, the
invasion  of  Sicily  and the entry in Italy.  His integration of the best in USAF
and  RAF  techniques  enabled  him  to  produce  a  highly mobile force.  Brereton
streamlined his organisation making it highly effective.

He  also  initiated  attacks on enemy supply lines.  One conspicuous assault being
the  Ploesti  oil  refinery  raids in Rumania which was largely successful despite
navigation errors which resulted in the loss of the leading aircraft.

When  Brereton  arrived  in the UK late in 1943 his wide experience enabled him to
mould  the Ninth Air Force into a useful tactical command that would be supportive
to  Overlord  operations.    His  previous willingness to blend British and US air
plans,  ideas and techniques were to prove highly useful for the Overlord campaign
and proved a testament to a highly adaptable and committed commander.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JAMES H. DOOLITTLE
Doolittle  commanded  the  US Eighth Air Force.  An aviator since 1917 in the Army
Air  Service,  Schneider Trophy winner in 1925 and Thompson Trophy winner in 1932,
Doolittle  worked  as  an experimental engineer in the Air Corps Material Division
and  took  a  leading  part  in blind flying making the first successful flight on
instruments.  His work was recognised by his award of the Harmon Trophy in 1930.

Doolittle  was an out spoken advocate of air power and the formation of a separate
air  arm  during the 1930s and during 1942, he undertook the highly daring mission
to  attack  Tokyo  from  an  aircraft carrier.  The aim - to gain revenge on Pearl
Harbour and provide a psychological boost for the USA.

His  fiight  of  16  B-25  Mitchells  (equipped with dummy guns to save weight and
dissuade  air attack) flew from the USS Hornet on 18 April, 1942.  The mission was
a success and Doolittle was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour.

After  appointments  in  North Africa in 1942 commanding the Twelfth Air Force and
the North west African Strategic Air Force Doolittle was transferred to the Eighth
Air  Force  where  he  provided  for the integration of his heavy bombers into the
overall pattern of air operations for Overlord.

GENERAL CARL SPAATZ
He  was  the  Commander  of the US Strategic Air Forces in Europe from January 1st
1944.  After seeing the Luftwaffe's might first hand during his stint in the UK as
an official observer during the days of the Battle of Britain, Spaatz was familiar
with the UK war situation when he returned to the UK in 1943 as Commanding General
of  the  Eighth  Air  Force.   Spaatz's B-17s landed at Prestwick on July 1, 1942.
Targets  just outside Rouen were the first aim, six weeks later Spaatz learned all
about  attacking  well defended coastlines two days later when his unlikely termed
'reconnaissance  in  force'  flight  of  B-17s and Spitfires paralysed the fighter
station  at  Abbeyville-Drucat for two important hours.  Lessons were learned that
would hold Spaatz in good stead for Operation Overlord.

Before  planning  for  Overlord  became   more   intense,   Spaatz   aided General
Montgomery's  El  Alamein  offensive  by  providing  his  services  as overall air
commander a post that was desperately required at the time.

Spaatz  co  ordinated  operations  of  the Eastern Air Command and the Twelfth Air
Force,  later  the  Mediterranean  Air Command, in February 1943.  He followed the
campaign through to the invasion of Italy.

The  planning  stages  of  Overlord  were  to  bring Spaatz into conflict with the
British  Commanders,  Leigh Mallory and Tedder.  This lead to a quick cessation of
all  co-operation  between  Spaatz and Leigh Mallory.  The problem was that Spaatz
wanted to help the Overlord campaign's strategic objectives with a combined bomber
offensive  as  outlined  in  the  Pointblank  directive.    He would, thus require
complete  freedom of action and control.   Leigh-Mallory was against this concept.

Although  Spaatz  and  Harris were generally in agreement, their opinions diverged
when  it  came  down  to  the question of area bombing.  Harris wanted it where as
Spaatz  wanted  to  adapt the Pointblank directive to the needs of Overlord.  This
directive  was  known  as  the  Oil  Plan  and  was  centred around attacks on oil
installations.    The  whole  idea of the oil plan was an intriguing one with many
possibilities  to  tie  up  the German offensive.  However Leigh Mallory prevailed
with his Transportation Plan as economic experts said that Spaatz's plan would not
achieve  its  effects in time for the operation of Overlord.  Although personality
problems  persisted, which included complaints to Eisenhower himself, Spaatz's oil
offensive  had  begun  by  the  back  door  before D-Day, with the Ploesti attack.
Results  on  oil  installations  did  finally,  change  operational  thinking  and
directives gave priority to oil targets with transportation second.

Spaatz  was to end the war in command of the aircraft which dropped the two atomic
bombs on Japan.


ALLIED COMMANDERS - BRITISH

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR ARTHUR TEDDER
Tedder  was Deputy Supreme Commander for Overlord.  1941 saw Tedder as Air Officer
Commanding  in-Chief,  RAF  Middle East.  This role proved demanding in many ways,
not  the  least  because  of  Tedder's  need to bridge the inter service rivalries
between the RAF and the Army.  A role in which he was highly successful.

In  fact Tedder was no stranger to Eisenhower as he worked closely with him as the
Commander-in-Chief of the new Mediterranean Air Command.  Eisenhower, at the time,
was  Supreme  Commander for Torch - the allied invasion of North Africa.  Tedder's
aim  during  the  operation  was to meld the air/land and sea operations.  However
before  the campaign towards the Italian mainland Tedder recognised the importance
of  Axis  airpower  to the German strategic plans.  Hence Tedders concentration on
anti  air  missions  along  with  communication operations.  The ultimate invasion
against  Sicily, which used airborne troops for the first time, was completed with
all enemy airfields out of action.

Churchill  nominated  Tedder  for  the  Deputy  post  to Eisenhower because of his
recognition  in  the  importance  of  the  air operations in the upcoming Overlord
campaign.

Tedders  appointment  for  the  Overlord campaign was a popular one as many of the
commanders  subordinate  to  him  were  familiar  faces.    However,  Tedder   was
immediately  faced  with  a  problem  that  concerned  the command and role of the
strategic  bombers.  The clashes in personality with Spaatz and Harris only backed
up his initial worries about the need for co-operation.

"As I see it, One of the main lessons of the Mediterranean campaign was not merely
the  advisability  of, but the necessity for, unified command of the Air Force.  I
know  this is Eisenhower's view.  I think everybody in authority, both British and
American,  realises  that  it  is  going  to  be  hard work to maintain harmonious
co-operation  during this next job.  A split on the question of the control of air
forces might well....  precipitate a quite irremediable cleavage".

A  compromise was sorted in the end.  The upshot being that rivalries were ignored
in  favour  of  the  factual  evidence  and  a  close examination of the resources
available.    Only one concentrated target attack would be successful, considering
the  time  limits  of  Overlord.    Hence Leigh Mallory's Transportation Plan, the
scheme  to  hit enemy communications was taken on board.  Both Harris and Spaatz's
plans were examined and rejected.  Later Tedder was able to persuade Spaatz to hit
certain  oil  targets in an effort to draw the Luftwaffe.  This was a good example
of how Tedder was able to modify plans to maintain motivation.

Tedder's  role in Overlord was an essential one.  Eisenhower described him as "one
of the few great military leaders of our time".  Certainly Tedders ability to work
with  his  own  subordinates,  especially  personalities  like  Spaatz and Harris,
complete  with  tact  and  diplomacy  to suite the circumstances helped to get the
allied air forces into an effective fighting force.


AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR TRAFFORD LEIGH-MALLORY
As  Commander  in  Chief  Allied  Expeditionary Air Force, Leigh-Mallory commanded
No.12  Group  during  the  Battle  of Britain which defended the Midlands and east
coast shipping.  An advocate of the 'big wing' theory of fighter tactics (ie: mass
formatiorns  of  fighters  attacking  enemy Bombers before or after they have made
their raid) Leigh Mallory replaced Sir Keith Park as 11 Groups Commander switching
the fighter operations to the offensive.

Leigh  Mallory  replaced Sir W.  Sholto Douglas as Air Officer Commandng in Chief,
Fighter  Command  after  the  Dieppe  landing  in 1942 where valuable lessons were
learnt over the mainly fighter based support for the ground forces.

The  selection  of a fighter commander to Commander in Chief, Allied Expeditionary
Air  Force  was  approved  by  all  concerned  because of the realisation that air
superiority would be required over the beachheads.

Leigh  Mallory  was  rejected  by  Churchill  and  Eisenhower  as  the overall Air
Commander  due to his rather aggressive and forceful attitude.  Especially as this
attitude  conflicted  with  similar  personalities  within  the   Allied   command
structure.   Leigh-Mallory's lack in heavy-bomber experience was another important
factor.    That  is  not  to  demean  Leigh  Mallorys   part   in   Overlord whose
Transportation  Plan  formed  the  basis  for air operations in the invasion.  His
skill  in  planning and administering the Allied air support was very important in
the success of Overlord.

AIR MARSHAL SIR ARTHUR CONINGHAM
Commander,  British  Second  Tactical Air Force, Coningham had served under Tedder
early  in  the war when, in 1941, Coningham served as the Commander of the Western
Desert  Air  Force.    Coningham  was a Commander very much in the Tedder mould in
that,  although  he  believed  that  air operations should be independent in their
operations, he also believed in inter service co operation with active links being
maintained  with  Generals,  Coningham,  Ritchie  and Montgomery during the desert
operations in Africa.  His far sighted approach served him well during the advance
through  Tunisia  and the invasion of Sicily as Commander of the Allied north west
African Tactical Air Force.

For  Operation  Overlord  Coningham  was  responsible  for much of the operational
planning and control of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force up to and including the
opening  phase  of  Overlord.   His attacks on the bridges over the Seine (his own
idea) contributed to the success of the operation.

Coningham's  tactical  skill  was a result of his innovation and bravery which was
well used by Tedder.  He allowed Coningham the freedom to exploit his own positive
attributes.

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR ARTHUR T. HARRIS
Harris was the AOC in C, Bomber Command.  Born in Souch Africa, Arthur Harris flew
as  a  pilot  in World War I.  His career rose steadily during the 1930s until his
most  well  known  posting  as  Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Bomber Command in
early  1942.    Harris, always an aggressive personality was ideally suited to the
needs  of  Bomber  Command  which,  at  one  time was lacking in morale and modern
aircraft.    He  also changed the bombing directive from precision bombing to area
bombing,  initiating  the  highly successful 1000 bomber raid on Cologne.  Harris,
however,  was rather suspicious of new ideas.  For example, he was set against the
bouncing  bomb  used  in  the  Dambuster  raid,  he  feared  the initiation of the
Pathfinder force would create a divisive elite and he was against incendiary bombs
for more standard weapons.

He  supported Spaatz in his beliefs of a strategic offensive although he disagreed
in  picking out specific targets (Spaatz wanted to target oil installations).  The
'area'  catch  all  rule  was the one he liked to follow.  His disregard for those
directives  with which he disagreed lead to personality problems.  For example, he
virtually  ignored  Leigh  Mallory  who  advocated  the  Transportation Plan.  His
loyalty  was  beyond reproach, however.  His handing over of Bomber Command to the
tactful Tedder to initiate a plan which Tedder believed in but Harris did not, for
example  is  a sample of that loyalty.  Attacking the marshalling yards in the run
up  to D-Day was another task he felt Bomber Command should not have been involved
with  as  he  felt  this effort diverted his more productive attentions from night
area-attacks.  The ultimate success in the final marshal yards raids substantiated
Bomber  Command's  role  in the D-Day build up.  Harris urged his crews to perform
these missions to the best of their ability.

His  problems  with  Allied directive, especially the later decision to target oil
installations, grew to new heights as he virtually ignored the order.  This caused
severe tension between Harris and Air Chief of Staff Portal.  Harris, at one point
(early  1945),  even  offered  to  resign  his  commission.  A suggestion that was
impossible to accept given the precarious state of the war at the time.

Harris's  commitment  to winning the war was total.  He had his own ideas of doing
it,  though.  This stubbornness lead to the strengthening of Bomber Command into a
superb  fighting force and Harris was looked upon as an inspiration by the men who
served  under  him.    He  was  ruthless  in  his approach, witness the bombing of
Dresden.    However,  he  believed  that these actions prevented a large number of
British lives being lost.


GERMAN AIR COMMANDERS

GENERALMAJOR DIETRICH PELTZ
Peltz  was  a  major-general  by  the  age  of  29.    He  had commanded Luftwaffe
dive-bombing  and  bomber  units during the 1940-41 assault on England and, later,
low level fighter bomber attacks on English towns.

Commander  Fliegerkorps IX which controlled all the Luftwaffe long range units was
based in northern France and supplied by units in Italy which were being withdrawn
from  that country.  Peltz launched the last major bombing offensive on England in
early 1944 after the descruction of Hamburg.  The attacks had no meaningful effect
on British morale.

Peltz was responsible for the creation of German Pathfinder units similar to chose
created by RAFs Bomber Command.

Peltz's last major action took place in 1945 during the Ardennes offensive when he
threw  800  fighters  and fighter bombers at the Allies.  Lack of training amongst
his pilots severely hampered any chance of success for his units.

GENERALFELDMARSCHALL HUGO SPERRLE
Sperrle  was  in direct confrontation with the Allies during the D-Day landings as
Commander in chief of Luftflotte 3 in France and Beigium.

Previously he had been joint leader with Kesselring of the Luftwaffe forces during
the  Battle of Britain.  Before that he was associated with the Nazi deployment of
air  power  in  the  Spanish  Civil War as first commander of the Condor Legion in
1936.

GENERALLEUTNANT ADOLF GALLAND
A  brilliant  fighter  pilot  and  a  supreme tactician, Adolf Galland was General
Jagdflieger until January 1945 when he was removed by Goring for political reasons
and as a result of constant wranglings between the two men and Galland's insistent
stance  on  protecting  and  standing up for his men.  Galland achieved one of the
highest  ranks  and  most  coverted  decoration,  the  Oak  Leaves with Swords and
Diamonds to the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross.


LIFE? DONT TALK TO ME ABOUT LIFE....

"The weather was not good for invasion last week along the coast of Normandy".  So
began  LIFE's 13-page coverage of D-Day June 6, 1944 - a decisive turning point in
the  war  against  Hitler's  Germany.  It took the largest armada in history, some
5,000  ships and 150,000 men, to launch "a 53 year old Kansan with a crooked grin"
onto  our  cover.    On  D-Day  plus  one  the  Supreme  Commander  of  the Allied
Expeditionary  Force,  Dwight  David Eisenhower, first visited the French beaches.
Five  days  later he crossed the English Channel again bringing with him what LIFE
called  "an  astonishing concentration of four star commanders.  Then in mid June,
he  was joined in a tour of the front by his newly commissioned son John, 21.  Ike
would  go  on  to  become the first head of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(NATO)  and  a  two term president of the US.  He would also, through out the next
quarter century, make our cover 19 more times, a record for the weekly magazine.

LIFE MAGAZINE


THE DIRECTIVE TO THE SUPREME COMMANDER, ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
The following document was the directive given to Gen.  Eisenhower, as the Supreme
Commander, drawing up his duties just prior to the Normandy invasion.

1.    You  are  hereby designated as Supreme Allied Commander of the forces placed
under  your  orders  for  operations  for liberation of Europe from Germany.  Your
title will be Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force.

2.    Task.    You will enter the continent of Europe and, in conjunction with the
other  United  Nations, undertake operations aimed at the heart of Germany and the
destruction of her armed forces.  The date for entering the Continent is the month
of  May 1944.  After adequate channel ports have been secured exploitation will be
directed  towards  securing  an  area  that  will  facilitate  both ground and air
operations against the enemy.

3.  Notwithstanding the target date above you will be prepared at any time to take
immediate  advantage  of favourable circumstances, such as withdrawal by the enemy
on  your  front,  to  effect a re-entry into the Continent with such forces as you
have  available  at the time; a general plan for this operation when approved will
be furnished for your assistance.

4.    Command.    You  are  responsible  to  the Combined Chiefs of Staff and will
exercise  command  generally  in  accordance with the diagram at Appendix.  Direct
communication  with the United States and British Chiefs of Staff is authorised in
the  interest  of  facilitating  your  operations  and  for  arranging   necessary
logistical support.

5.    Logistics.    In  the  United   Kingdom   the   responsibility for logistics
organisation,  concentration,  movement  and  supply  of  forces   to   meet   the
requirements  of  your  plan  will  rest with British Service Ministries so far as
British  Forces are concerned.  So far as United States Forces are concerned, this
responsibility  will  rest  with  the United States War and Navy Departments.  You
will  also be responsible for co-ordinating the requirements of British and United
States Forces under your command.

6.   Co-ordination of operations of other Forces and Agencies.  In preparation for
your  assault  on  enemy occupied Europe, Sea and Air Forces agencies of sabotage,
subversion  and  propaganda,  acting  under  a  variety  of authorities are now in
action.  You may recommend any variation in these activities which may seem to you
desirable.

7.   Relationship with United Nations Forces in other areas.  Respornsibility will
rest  with  the  Combined  Chiefs  of  Staff for supplying information relating to
operations  of the Forces of the USSR for your guidance in timing your operations.
It is understood that the Soviet Forces will launch an offensive at about the same
time  as  OVERLORD  with  the  objective  of  preventing  the  German  forces from
transferring  from  the  Eastern  to  the Western Front.   The Allied Commander in
Chief,  Mediterranean  Theatre,  will  conduct  operations designed to assist your
operation,  including  the  launching  of an attack against the south of France at
about  the  same time as OVERLORD.  The scope and timing of his operations will be
decided  by the Combined Chiefs of Staff.  You will establish contact with him and
submit  to  the  Combined Chiefs of Staff your views and recommendations regarding
operations  from  the  Mediterranean  in  support  of  your attack from the United
Kingdom.    The  combined Chiefs of Staff will place under your command the forces
operating  in  Southern  France  as  soon  as you are in a position to assume such
command.  You will submit timely recommendations compatible with this regard.

8.  Relationship with Allied Governments the re establishment of Civil Governments
and  Liberated  Allied  Territories  and  the administration of enemy territories.
Further instructions will be issued to you on these subjects at a later date.


PATTON: TALKING TO THE THIRD ARMY - JUNE 1944

Major  General  Cook introduced Lieutenant General William H Simpson (whose Fourth
Army  was  still  in  the  USA,  preparing  for its overseas voyage to the front0.
General  Simpson  spoke  briefly: "We are not here for you to listen to me, but to
the  man  who will lead you into whatever is to be faced, with heroism ability and
foresight  He is a man who has proven himself many times amid shot and amid shell.
My  fondest hope is that some day I may have the privilege bringing my own army to
fight beside his.

General  Patton  arose  and  stepped  swiftly to the microphone.  The men arose to
their  feet,  standing  silently,  General Patton then surveyed the sea of brown.
Grimly:  "Be  Seated" - his words, not a request, were a sharp command.  His voice
was high and clear:

"Men:  This  stuff  some  sources sling about as talk about America wanting out of
this  war  -  not wanting to fight is a lot of b*****t.  Americans, traditionally,
love  to  fight!  All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle!  When you
every  man  of  you  here  -  were kids you all admired the Champion: the champion
marble player the fastest runner, the handiest, boy with his fists, the big league
baseball  player.    Americans  love a winner!  Americans do not tolerate a loser!
They  despise  cowards!    Americans play to win - all the time and every time.  I
wouldn't  give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed.  Thats why Americans
never  lost  and  will never lose a war.  The very THOUGHT of LOSING is hateful to
Americans!

All  you  men aren't going to die.  Only two percent of you, right here today will
die  inj  a  major  battle.  Death, in time, comes to all - it must not be feared.
Yes, every man is scared in his first battle and if he says he isn't, he is just a
God-damned  liar!    Some  are f******g cowards - yes but they must fight just the
same, or they will get hell slammed out of them watching men fight who are just as
scared as they are.  The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared.
Some  men  get  over their fright in a minute under fire for others, it takes days
But  the real man never lets fear of death overpower his honour, his sense of duty
to his country and his manhood.

Throughout all your army careers, you men have bitched about what you call chicken
s**t  drill'  and  like  everything else in the Army, that has a definite purpose:
obedience  to  orders  and  to create constant alertness.  These must be bred into
every  man.    I  dont give a damm for any man whos not always on his toes YOU are
veterans  or you wouldnt be here.  You are ready for what is to come.  To continue
breathing  -  that  is,  to  live  - you must be alert ALL the time.  If not, some
German  son  of  a  b***h  will sneak up behind you and beat you to death [THE MEN
ROARED]

There  are  four hundred nearly new marked graves somewhere in Sicily, all because
one  man  went to sleep on the job.  But they are GERMAN graves, because WE caught
the b*****d asleep before his officers did!

An  Army  is a team.  It lives, sleeps eats and fights as a team.  This individual
hero  stuff  is  a lot of s**t.  The bilious bastards who write that kind of stuff
for  the  Saturday Evening Post don't know any more about real fighting under fire
than they do about f*****g.

[The  men  slapped  each other in glee.  Delighted howls of a Negro outfit carried
above  them  all.   This was Patton as the men imagined him to be.  He was in rare
form.  He hadnt let them down and was all he was cracked up to be.  He had IT!]

"We  have  the  best  food,  the  finest  equipment,  the best spirit and the best
fighting men in the world,

[The  men  roared  their  agreement.    Patton  snapped   erect,   faced   his men
belligerently and continued ]

Why,  by  God,  I  actually  PITY  some  of  those Sons of b*****s we are going up
against.  Yes, by God, I do!'

[There  would  be  many barracks tales about the old man's choice of phrases; they
would become part and parcel of Third Army history and the bible of their slang]

"My  men  dont  surrender.    I don't want to hear of any soldier under my command
being  captured  unless he has been hit.  Even when hit, you can still fight and -
thats  not  bulls**t  either!    The  kind  of  men  I want under me is (like) the
Lieutenant  who,  in Libya, with a slug in his chest, jerked off his helmet, swept
the  gun  aside  with  one hand and busted hell out of the Boche with it!  Then he
jumped  on  the gun and went out and killed another German before he knew what the
hell  was  coming  off  and  all the time this man had a bullet in and through his
lungs THERE WAS A MAN!

All the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters either.  Every single man in
the army plays a vital part.  Don't ever think that your role is unimportant Every
man has his job to do he is a link in the great chain.  What if every truck driver
decided  he didnt like the whine of shells overhead, turned yellow and jumped into
the  ditch?    This  bird could say to himself.  Hell they won't miss one guy in a
million!    What  would  our country, our loved ones, our homes even the world be?
No!    Thank God AMERICANS do not think like that!  Every man DOES his job.  Every
man  serves  the  WHOLE.    EVERY  department, EVERY unit is important in the vast
scheme  of this war!  Ordnance men are needed to supply the guns and the machinery
of  war  to  keep us rolling.  The Quartermaster brings up food and clothing - for
where we are going, there isn't a hell of a lot to steal.  Every one of you - even
the  ones who heat the water to keep us from getting the GI s***s has an important
job to do!

[Patton paused and half turned to the officers behind him:]

Even  the  Chaplain is important, for if we got killed and he wasn't there to bury
us,  we'd  all  go to hell.  Every man must not think of himself alone but also of
his  buddy fighting besides him.  We don't want yellow cowards in THIS army!  They
should  be killed off like rats.  If not, they will go back home after the war and
breed  some  more cowards!  The brave men will breed more brave men.  Kill off the
God damned cowards and we will have a nation of brave men!

[The  vast hillside stirred and thought of these words Patton's personal banner, a
great  scarlet  devils  head  in  a  white field waved triumphantly in the morning
breeze.    That  banner  would become the scourge of Central France and Germany to
thousands of retreating Germans]

One  of the bravest men I ever knew was in the African Campaign - one fellow I saw
on  top of a telegraph pole in the midst of furious fire.  We were plowing towards
Tunis.   I stopped and asked what the hell he was doing up there at that time.  He
answered  "Fixing the wire, sir, "Isn't that a little unhealthy spot right now?' I
asked  'Yes,  sir  but  the God-dammed wire has got to be fixed!' Now, there was a
REAL  soldier!    THERE was a man who devoted all he had to his duty.  It mattered
not  how  great  the  odds,  no  matter how seemingly insignificant his duty might
appear  at the time.  And, you should have seen those trucks on the road to Gabes.
The  drivers  were  magnificent!   All day and night they rolled over the son of a
b******g roads never stopping, never faltering from their course - shells bursting
all around them all the time!  WE GOT THROUGH ON AMERICAN GUTS!  Many of those men
drove  over  40 consecutive hours; they weren't combat men but there WERE soldiers
with a job to do!  They did it and in a whale of a way.  They were part of a team!
Without  them,  the fight would have been lost.  All links in the chain worked and
pulled together - and that chain became unbreakable!"

[The  General  paused.  He stared challengingly out over the silent sea of men.  A
pin-drop could have been heard anywhere on that vast hillside]

"Don't forget - you don't know I'm here.  No word or fact of that is to get out or
be mentioned in any letters.  The world is not supposed to know what became of me.
I'm  not  supposed  to  be  commanding  this  Army; I'm not even supposed to be in
England.   Let the first b******s to find out be the God damned Germans!  Some day
I  want  them  to  rise  up on their hind legs and howl, 'Jesus Christ!  It's that
God-damned Third Army and that son of a b***h Patton again!'

We  want to get the hell over there.  We want to get this thing over with, then go
home  But  a war can't be won lying down.  The quicker we clean up this God dammed
mess,  the  quicker  we can take a jaunt against the purple-p*****g Japs and clean
their nest out, too before the Marines get all the credit.

Sure,  we want to go home; sure we want to get this thing over with.  The quickest
way  to  get  it  over  is to GET THE B******S!  The quicker they are whipped, the
quicker we get home!  The shortest way home is through Berlin!

When  a  man is lying in a foxhole, if he stays there all day a Boche will get him
eventually.

TO  HELL  WITH  THAT  IDEA!    My  men  won't dig foxholes.  Foxholes only slow up
offensives  Keep  moving!   Don't give the enemy time to dig in.  We will win this
war  and  win  it  by fighting and showing the Germans we have more guts than they
have.

There  is  one great thing you men will be able to say when you get home.  You may
thank  God  for  it.  Thenk God - at least 30 years from now, when you are sitting
around  the  fireside with your grandson on your knees - and when he asks what you
did  in  the Great War, you won't have to cough and say that you shovelled s**t in
Georgia!


REQUIEM FOR A FIASCO

Sunday,  November  15,  a day Ken Small had long anticipated, dawned to gale force
winds  and torrential rains lashing the bleak seafront of Slapton Sands, England.
The  grey  beach  in South Devon was a mournful setting for the commemoration of a
nearly  forgotten tragedy.  Just after 12:30 pm in the nearby village of Torcross,
as  Small  stood  proudly  by and a group of 500 people huddled under umbrellas, a
band  struck  up Amazing Grace.  A US Army colour guard presented arms and a small
stone  memorial  was  unveiled beside a WW2 Sherman tank that had been pulled from
the seabed offshore.

In  that  moment  43  years  of  dark rumours and official neglect surrounding the
deaths  of  at least 749 American GIs and 97 Navy men in an ill-fated battle drill
called  Exercise  Tiger  were  formally  laid  to rest.  The ceremony also was the
culmination  of  Small's  one  man  crusade  to honour the victims of a disastrous
misadventure  by  the  US  arnd  British wartime military.  "Call my role what you
like,  it  seemed  fate  destiny,"  says the 51 year old Englishman and owner of a
local  guest  house.    This  has  taken  6  years  and  a  lot of money, time and
frustration,  a  lot of dreams and nightmares.  But never even remotely considered
giving up I knew that I just had to do it.

Until  Small grabbed Exercise Tiger by the tail, the incident had remained wrapped
in  obscurity.   In the pre dawn hours of April 28 1944 a flotilla of US LST troop
carriers,  loaded  with thousands of troops and live ammunition for a rehearsal of
the  D-day  invasion  of  Normandy,  were surprised and attacked by German torpedo
boats.    A  series  of  command blunders had left the troop ships so inadequately
protected that more men died on this training manoeuvre for the Utah beach landing
than  on  the actual D-Day assault.  The bodies of hundreds of drowned service men
washed  ashore at Slapton Sands but since seaside communities in the area had been
evacuated to make way for the invasion rehearsal there were few civilian witnesses
to  the  catastrophe.    The  pressing  need  for secrecy at the time and official
embarrassment  later  kept the disaster out of the public mind, if not out of some
history books.  After the war rumours that there had been an official cover up and
that  GIs had been buried in mass graves became the stuff of local legend, through
both  rumours were repeatedly denied by US authorities and seemed to have no basis
in  fact.   The incident was swamped at the time by the big news of D-Day.  It was
then forgotten until Small happened to stumble on evidence of Exercise Tiger while
walking the beach near his home.

A  former  police  officer who had gone into a ladies hairdressing business, Small
had  bought  the  guest  house  and  moved to Torcross.  In 1967.  He subsequently
suffered a nervous breakdown and, after being treated with valium and electroshock
therapy,  was  befriended  by  a  local  fisherman  who  got  him  interested   in
beathcombing  as  a  relaxation.   Early in 1972 he came across unexpended bullets
mines  and shells washed up on the shore.  Neighbours told him about Tigers tragic
outcome  but  the  only  official  acknowledgement  was  a  monument put up by the
Americans  thanking  the  local people for leaving their seaside homes, which were
frequently  damaged by the elaborate invasion rehearsals.  In the midst of his own
troubles  Small  felt compassion for the fate of the American GIs whose lives were
unnecessarily  lost.    Says  he,  "I  thought  to  myself,  Why  did the American
government  put  this  here in 1954, 10 years after they had lost all these lives,
with no mention of the lives?' It didn't seem right to me"

Small's  budding  interest found a focus shortly thereafter when he joined a local
fisherman and two divers who were investigating an underwater object that had been
snagging  trawler  nets  a  mile offshore.  The sunken mystery turned out to be an
American  Sherman tank.  Of course I thought, 'Well, if I could acquire this thing
and  recover  it  it  would be a really fitting memorial to the men who had died,'
says  Small.    "But  thinking  that  was one thing and doing it was another thing
entirely".    For Small the memorial was becoming an obsession.  He spent the next
2.5  years  trying  to  wrest  the  tank  from  both  the  sand  and  the Pentagon
bureaucracy,  which refused to consider it abandoned even though the hulk had been
left 30 years on the seabed.  A US government official visited, trying to dissuade
Small  from  the  project,  while  the  British  War Office warned him that it was
illegal  in the UK for private individuals to own or import a tank.  In 1974 Small
nevertheless  succeeded  in  purchasng the sunken Sherman from the US Treasury for
$50.    He next spent 10 years and $28,000 to have the tank salvaged.  Just before
the  40th anniversary of D-Day, the Sherman was finally floated to the surface and
towed  ashore.    Water  was  gushing  from  the hulk," recalls Small, "and a lady
commented that it looked like the tank was crying".

The  tank  was  restored  and  placed  on  a  plinth and the town affixed a plaque
dedicating  it  to  the  dead  of  Exercise Tiger.  Still, Small wasn't satisfied.
"Having done the tank," he says, "I decided that the ultimate must be the official
American  government  recognition  of this whole thing.  I really took the bull by
the horns".

Ex-US  Army  Major  Attlee Wampler, whose tank battalion had operated the Sherman,
invited  Small to the US and introduced him to Congresswoman Beverly Byron (D-Md),
whose  father,  Captain Harry Butcher, had participated in the Tiger manoeuvres as
naval aide to the Allied Supreme Commander Gen Dwight D.   Eisenhower.  In January
1983,  Byron  introduced a bill in Congress for a US-sponsored memorial.  Thinking
to  do  some  lobbying  of his own, Small called the Pentagon, which he did in May
1983 and was eventually connected with the office Deputy Defence Secretary William
Taft.    Two days later he was invited to meet with Taft at the Pentagon, which he
did  May 1983.  Taft offered his full support.  Recalls Small "One colonel said to
me,  "Man, you've climbed one mountain of bureaucracy, and you've gone up and down
the  second  and  now  you're halfway up the third.  How the hell you've done it I
don't know".

Though  the Slapton Sands ceremony was a tribute to Small's tenacity, he was by no
means alone in his wish to remember the men of Exercise Tiger.  Among the mourners
that  Sunday  was  Manny  Rubin  64,  an American-born clothier who had married an
English  girl  and  made  his  home  in  nearby  Plymouth after the war.  He was a
signalman second class aboard a landing ship the night of the disaster.

According to sailing orders, we had a British destroyer on our starboard flank, he
says.    "I  didn't  learn  until  40  years  later that it never left port".  The
destroyer  had  been  disabled,  apparently  after hitting another vessel, but the
Allied  Command  nevertheless  allowed the operation to go ahead.  A British radar
station  detected  German  torpedo  boats  in the operations area, but the warning
never  reached the ships because their radios were tuned to a different frequency.

At 2 am the fast moving German E boats fell upon the flotilla in a surprise attack
and  Rubin saw two vessels explode after being hit by torpedoes.  In the confusion
the  frightened  soldiers  on  Rubin's  ship  even fired on one of their own troop
carriers.    Two of the troop packed ships had sunk and Rubins ship was eventually
anchored  near  shore, when the light of dawn revealed a horrible tableau.  "There
were hundreds and hundreds of dead bodies," says Rubin.  "Most of them didn't have
a mark on them.  They were just bobbing up and down, up and down.  Some were black
with  oil, some were black groups burnt together.   It was something out of hell".
Many  of the GIs drowned because they were wearing inadequate lifebelts instead of
life  jackets.  Burdened by heavily loaded packs, they toppled helplessly into the
sea.    It  was  a costly lesson for military leaders.  Six weeks later the use of
life jackets saved untold lives when GIs hit the French beaches.

When  the  histories were written, however, the men of Tiger got very short shrift
indeed.   Ike and his generals never had much to say about the bungled operation.
In  fact its not clear that Ike ever knew evactly what had occurred.  According to
Captain Butchers memoir, My Three Year's With Elsenhower, the general was aboard a
ship  observing  the rehearsal from a distance.  He was disturbed by delays in the
manoeuvres,  yet  left  for his headquarters unaware of the tragedy.  The scale of
world war, after all, dwarfed even the losses at Slapton Sands.

A  fitting  tribute  was therefore left to a more peaceful time, and in Ken Smalls
view  even 43 years later was not too late "I have done it all for those young men
-  scared,  ignorant, untrained - who lost their lives, he says.  "More so, I have
done it for their friends and relatives back home in America".

It  was  clear, as the final notes of Taps died away in Torcross village, that the
men  of Exercise Tiger had finally received their due - and Ken Small had done his
duty.


DROPPING IN

Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman had just glanced at his watch.  The time was 40 minutes
past  midnight,  June 6 was less than three-quarters of an hour old.  For the past
hour  there  had been a continuous drone of aircraft above the battle headquarters
of  III  Battalion,  919th  Grenadier Regiment, east of Montebourg.  The roar grew
louder.

Hoffman stepped outside the bunker.  He gave a start.  Six giant birds were making
straight for his battle headquarters.  They were clearly visible, for the moon had
just  broken  through  the  clouds  "They're bailing out".  For an instant Hoffman
thought the aircraft had been damaged and its crew was going to jump.  But then he
understood.    This  was  an airbourne landing by paratroops.  The white mushrooms
were floating down - straight at his bunker.

"Alarm!  Enemy paratroops!" The men at III Battalion headquarters had never pulled
on their trousers so fast before.

Alarm! Alarm!'

The  sentries' carbines were barking.  They were firing at the parachutes floating
down  from  the sky.  Then the moon hid itself.  Darkness enveloped the descending
army.   Hoffman grabbed a rifle.  Then the darkness was rent by the first burst of
fire from an American submachine-gun.

The battle for Normandy was on


BIBLIOGRAPHY

SPITFIRE AT WAR VOL I & 2..............ALFRED PRICE - IAN ALLAN
THE BIG SHOW ..........................PIERRE CLOSTERMAN - CORGI
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE ...................PROFILE PUBLICATIONS
SPITFIRE STORY ........................ALFRED PRICE - ARMS & ARMOUR
I FLEW FOR THE FUHRER .................HEINZ KNOCK - EVANS
LUFTWAFFE NIGHT FIGHTER
UNITS 1939-45 .........................OSPREY - JERRY SCUTTS
WINGS OF THE WEIRD AND
WONDERFUL VOL.2 .......................AIRLIFE - CAPTAIN ERIC BROWN
HIGH FLYERS ...........................MICHEAL FOPP - GREENHILL BOOKS
WW2 FIGHTER CONFLICT...................ALFRED PRICE - PBS
UNITED STATES ARMY IN
WORLD WAR : The European Theater of
Operations, CROSS CHANNEL ATTACK.......Gordon A Harrison, Office of the
                                       Chief of Military History Department
                                       of the Army, Washington DC 1951
TYPHOON/TEMPEST IN ACTION .............JERRY SCUTTS - SQUADRON SIGNAL



PART TWO - THE AIRCRAFT
=======================

THE AIRCRAFT

MUSTANG III
The  Mustang  III  was  the  RAF's  designation for the equivalent USAAF mark, the
P-51B.    It  was  a superb aircraft with a roll rate only slightly worse than the
excellent  Focke-Wulf  Fw  190A.  The greatest advance in the Mk III over the Mk.I
(which had been in service in the RAF for some time) was the fitting of the Merlin
63 engine and a four bladed airscrew.  The initial engine change took place in the
UK  by  Rolls  Royce.  This success was taken by North American who redesigned the
P-51  to  take the Packard 1520hp V-1650-3.  This engine was basically a Merlin 63
with  a  two speed, two stage supercharger and aftercooler.  The airframe was also
beefed  up to take the new engine, there was a new radiator installed and a set of
new ailerons were fitted to improve roll rate.

The RAFs Mk 111s were rather unique in that they used the Malcom hood.  This was a
backward  sliding  bulged  cockpit  hood  which  was an advancement over the older
hinged style.

The RAF had complained about some American aircraft cockpits saying that they were
overly  large.    However,  the  Mustang III was a welcome exception to that rule.
Taxiing  was a little bit awkward due to the tail sitting approach of the design.
However,  that  problem  was  ameliorated  due  to the tail wheel being able to be
locked  to  the rudder bar.  Hence the Mustang was swung side-to-side in order for
the  pilot  to  see  where  he was going.  During initial take off the Mustang was
totally  blind  looking  forwards.    However,  only  a  small amount of boost was
required for a comfortable take off.  Flight performance was very good indeed with
mild  stall characteristics.  Although, with a fuel tank attached the aircraft was
longitudinally  unstable.   Landing the Mustang was rather more difficult than the
Spitfire as the forward view was poor and the under carriage's high rebound ration
made  a  three-point  landing tough.  In fact, the poor forward view prevented the
Mustang  becoming  carrier  capable  even  though  the US Navy underwent extensive
trials.    The Mustang III was very useful in the later stages of the war as a V-1
chaser, along with the Spitfire XIV and Tempest V.


SPITFIRE MK.IX
Essentially  the  Spitfire  Mk.IX  was  designed  as  a stop-gap until a number of
MK.VIIIs  could be designed and built.  Initially, trials had been completed using
a  Mk  III  with  the  latest  Merlin  61  engine.   The RAF wanted an operational
Spitfire/Merlin  61 combination into service immediately following the realisation
that  the Spitfire V was outclassed by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.  However, to get the
new  fighter,  the  Mk  VIII,  into  the  air required some re-tooling including a
stronger  airframe, additional fuel and a retractable tail-wheel.  This would take
time,  too  much  time  for  the  RAF  who demanded a stop gap to fill the breach.
Enter,  the Mk.IX.  Although under stressed, the new aircraft could handle the new
Merlin.    The  Spitfire's  performance  received  an  immediate  boost.   See the
comparitive performances on page 115 with the Focke Wulf Fw 190.

The  production  Mk.IXs rolled off the lines in June 1942.  One of the first Mk.IX
flights  was  a  specialist  squadron  formed  to hit high altitude Junkers Ju 86R
bombers.  Although bereft of a pressurised cabin, the stripped Mark IX was able to
achieve the required interceptor height.  Armament was reduced to two 20mm cannons
for weight reasons.  Even the propellor was changed to a new light-weight version.

The  only  Mk  IX  SpitfIre to perform without any guns at all was the PR IXs, the
reconnaisance  version,  painted  in  "PRU  Blue" and first used in November 1942.
Those Mk.IXs that fought during the run up to D-Day however, were rather different
from  the  early  production  versions.  These Spitfires had a differently shaped,
rather  straighter rudder, the E-Type wing containing either 4 x20 mm cannons or 2
x  20 mm cannons and two .5 inch Brownings.  Two, rear mounted internal fuel tanks
and a tear drop canopy were also added.


HAWKER TYPHOON 1B

The  Typhoon,  it  was often said, sorted the men from the boys.  Pilots called it
many  names:  monster  and beast were among them.  Whatever the names, the Typhoon
became a most successful ground attack fighter during WW2.

The  Typhoon had actually been slated, by Hawker's Sidney Camm, as a fighter.  The
early  years of the aircraft were troublesome, in fact the whole project was under
threat  of  extinction  until  the  emergence  of the Fw 190A.  So, far from being
shelved the Typhoon project was accelerated.

However,  the  whole  project  nearly came crashing down when the Typhoon began to
experience  disasterous  structural  failures.    Specifically,  the   entire tail
structure  collapsed, on several occasions, during recovery from a dive.  The main
problem  was  that  lengthy structural tests during the war were just not possible
especially, in this case, when Fw 190s were eating away at the finite Squadrons of
Spitfire  Vs!  Another problem was the seepage of carbon monoxide into the cockpit
-  the  continual  wearing of an oxygen mask became standard practice very quickly
afterwards.

In  the  air, the Typhoon proved a valuable asset against Fw 190s at low level but
flew  like  a  pig  at  20,000ft  plus.    The Typhoon was branded a failure as an
interceptor.    This  fundamental  weakness  brought  an amazing turnaround in its
fortunes  from  interceptor to ground attack aircraft fitted with rockets and 20mm
cannon.

As  D-Day  approached,  Typhoons switched their attacks to shore installations all
along  the French Channel coast.  The "No Ball" sites, radar installations and gun
emplacements were harried and often damaged.  As a prelude to the actual landings,
Typhoons  of  Nos 198 and 609 Squadrons on 2nd June 1944 destroyed the vital radar
installation  of  Dieppe/Caudecote  with  bombs  and  gunfire,  and as part of the
preliminary  air  assault 26 Typhoons of Nos 174, 175 and 254 Squadrons eliminated
the  Joburg  radar  site  which  would have covered the actual landing areas.  The
astonishing  element  of  surprise  achieved  on  D-Day has seldom been adequately
attributed  to  this  attack  yet  its  success must have been a key factor in the
Allies  ability  to  gain a foothold on the mainland.  Certainly the Luftwaffe was
deprived of all local fighter control over the landings.


MEETING THE BEAST

With  my  parachute on my back it took three people to help me up to the Typhoon's
cockpit,  which  is  nine  feet  off the ground.  As the plane is very streamlined
there  is nothing to hang to.  You have to get your fingers into the hollows which
are covered by metal plates on spring hinges.  They close up again when you remove
your  hand  or  your  foot,  just like a rat trap.  In the end they hoisted me up,
settled  me  in,  slapped me on the back, shouted "good luck" and found myself all
alone inside the bowels of the monster.

I  rapidly  called  back  to mind all the gen my instructors had given me.  As the
exhaust  gases  had a high carbon monoxide content and seeped into the cockpit you
had  to  breathe  oxygen  all  the time.  I therefore hurriedly put on my mask and
opened  the  intake  valve.   On take-off Typhoons swing hard right and there fore
adjusted  the  rudder trim very carefully.  I opened the radiator wide checked the
locking  of  the  undercart  - the lever looked uncomfortably like the one for the
flaps.    I lowered the flaps control to open up the pneumatic circuit in order to
avoid ram effect just as I started up.

I  switched  on  the instrument panel light, I regulated the throttle lever - open
five-eigths  of  an  inch  (not one fraction more, otherwise the carburettor would
flood  and  there  might  be  a  blow back) I pushed the pitch control lever right
forward and then back an inch or so, to avoid run away in the constant speed unit.

I  verified that my tanks were full and selected the centre fuselage tanks for the
take-off (gravity feed in case the pump packed up).  I unscrewed the Wobble pumps;
one  sent a mixture of alcohol and ether into the carburettor, the other a mixture
of petrol and oil to the cylinders.

I  inserted  a  cartridge  into  the  starter  (The Koffman system, which uses the
violent  expansion  of  explosive  gases to get the engine turning.  If the engine
doesn't  start  first time it will almost certainly catch fire, being bung full of
juice).   With one finger on the coil booster and another on the starter button, I
fired  the  cartridge.  The mechanic hanging on to the wing, helped to "catch" the
engine and it started up with a deafening roar.  The amount of noise is about five
times  as  great  as  in a Spitfire.  After missing a few times the engine settled
down  to a reasonable steady rhythm, though not without exuding oil at every pore.
The  sound  of  the  engine  and  the way it vibrated struck me as suspicious.  My
nerves  were  very much on edge and I didn't feel at all easy in my mind.  What on
earth had ever induced me to return to ops?

These  reflections  probably  lasted  some  little time because, when I looked up,
there  were the mechanics looking lightly surprised and waiting for a sign from me
to  remove the chocks.  I began to taxi - a bit too fast, I must be careful not to
over-work the brakes.  They overheated very quickly and hot brakes don't function.

That  engine!    You moved forward quite blindly, picking out the way like a crab,
with a bit of rudder now left now right, so as to be able to see in front.  Once I
was on the edge of the runway, before venturing further I cleared the plugs as per
instructions,  by  opening  up  to 3000 revs, and a film of oil immediately spread
over my windshield.  Two Typhoons who were in the circuit landed clumsily, but the
controller  seemed disinclined to give me the green light.  I stuck my head out to
make  a  sign, even though I would probably get a dollop of boiling hot oil in the
eye.    Still  a  red  light.    Christ,  I  must  have forgotten something and my
confounded  engine  was beginning to heat.  My radiator had already got to 95o.  A
glance  round  -  my flaps were at 15o all right, my radiator was open.  Hell, the
radio!    I quickly switched it on and called: "Hallo, Skydoor, Skydoor, Tiffle 28
calling  May  I  scramble?"  The  controller  replied by at last giving me a green
light.   Here goes!  I tightened my straps, released the brakes, carefully aligned
myself  on  the  white  line down the middle of the concrete and slowly opened the
throttle, with my left foot hard on the rudder bar.

I had been warned that the Typhoon swung, but surely not as much as this!  And the
brute  gathered  speed  like  a  rocket!   I corrected as much as I could with the
brakes but even then I found myself drifting dangerously on the right.

Half  way  down the runway my right wheel was practically on the grass.  If I came
off  the runway I would gracefully flip on my back!   To hell with it!  I tore her
off the ground.

This  plane  just  had  no  lateral stability at all.  I still went on drifting to
starboard  and,  with  those miserable ailerons that only a "bit" at speeds higher
than 100mph.  I daren't lower my port wing too much.

Luckily  they had hauled F hanger down, after a series of accidents all due to the
same cause, but even then I passed uncomfortabkly close to E hanger.

I  retracted  my  undercart but forgot to put the brakes on.  A terrific vibration
which shook the whole plane from stem to stern reminded me that my wheels had gone
into  the  cavities  in the wings still revolving at full speed.  I only hoped the
tyres hadnt been ruined.

Really, it had been very pleasant behind that office desk...


MESSERSCHMITT BF 109G

The  Gustav,  although built to increase the ascendency over the Spitfire Mk V was
considered  by  many  to  be  inferior to the Bf 109F.  Early production "G"s were
distinguished  from the "F" model by the installation of a 1,475hp Daimler Benz DB
605A  engine.  Armament consisted of one 20mm cannon and two 7.9mm guns.  The 109G
also  featured  some  structural strengthening and the provision for a pressurised
cabin.    Later  production  models featured a boost control to boost engine power
above  the  engine's  rated  altitude.   Other versions included a tropical, large
ventral  intake  version,  a fighter bomber version, the G-5 which featured a more
powerful  engine  (plus two 13mm guns instead of the 7.9mm guns).  The G-6 was the
most  important model featuring the addition of two underwing 20mm cannons and the
replacement  of  the  nose  mounted  20mm  cannon with a 30mm version.  There were
plenty  of  other  versions  of  the  "G".  Space restricts a fuller account here,
unfortunately.

The  Bf  109G  was  a  widely  used  and  much  travelled aircraft flying for many
airforces  around  the  world  such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechoslavakia, Finland,
Hungary, Rumania, Spain and Switzerland.

One  of  the  many tragic events of the war took place at the very end of the war,
involving  the  Bf  109G  when,  following  suggestions by Obst.  Hajo Herrmann, a
special fighter Geschwade of four Gruppen was formed designated Rammkommando Elbe.
Most  of the pilots were students, children by any other name, with perhaps one or
two  solo  flights  to  their credit, volunteers whose enthusiasm was bolstered by
patriotic speeches and martial music.  Only one mission was undertaken by the Unit
on  7th  April  1945  when  120  aircraft  took  off  to intercept a USAAF bombers
formation.  Only 15 returned.


JUNKERS JU88

Designed  by  W  H  Evers and the American Al Gassner (who worked in Europe during
1935-36)  and  first flying on December 21, 1936, the Ju88 became the Germans most
successful  "all-purpose"  aircraft of the war.  Flying and fighting on all fronts
to  which the German forces were commited to during WW2, the Ju88 was to appear as
a  day  fighter,  night  fighter,  dive bomber, level bomber, torpedo bomber, mine
layer,  reconnaissance  aircraft,  communications aircraft, close support aircraft
and flying bomb.  The Ju88 was to be the most modified the world had ever seen and
prove  itself  to  be the best by far of the indifferent selection of bombers that
the Luftwaffe flew.


FOCKE-WULF FW 19OA

The  brainchild  of  Dipl.    Ing  Kurt  Tank,  technical  director  of Focke Wulf
Flugzeugbau,  the  Fw  190 was a spectacular success combining a bulky air- cooled
engine  with  a  slim  airframe.    Beautifully  proportioned,  the  fw 190 spread
consternation  and alarm throughout the Allied forces especially Spitfire V pilots
who found that they were, suddenly, heavily out-classed.  This gave rise to the Mk
IX.

The  first major action in which the Fw 190A participated was the 'Channel Dash'.
On  the  night of the 11th/12th February 1942 the German capital ships Scharnhorst
and  Gneisenau  left  Brest  with  escorting  vessels and began a hazardous voyage
through  the  Channel  on  their way to safer anchorages in Kiel and Wilhelmshaven
Galland,  newly  promoted to Inspector of fighters on the death of Werner Molders,
had  the  task  of  providing  fighter  cover  throughout the voyage.  The Fw 190s
aquitted themselves well in almost continual combat of February 12th and Operation
Thunderbolt (the official German code name).

Fearful  for  their  depleted fighter units in Northern france, the Luftwaffe High
Command  ordered  the  dispersal  of  the Gruppen of JG 26 away from the intensive
Allied  bombing  of  the invasion coasts in May/June of 1944.  Thus it was that on
the  morning  of  June  6th  the  only  fighter  forces to launch an attack on the
Normandy beaches were two Fw 190As!  They were the machines of Oberst Josef "Pips"
Priller  the  flamboyant  Geschwaderkommodore  of  Wodarczky  I/JG 26 had flown to
Rhiems,  II/  JG  26 to Mont de Marsan in Gascony, and III/JG 26 to Metz.  The two
pilots, strafing run was the only Luftwaffe activity over the beachhead during the
daylight hours of D-Day.


B-25 MITCHELL

The  North  American  was  the  most widely used American bomber in WW2.  A steady
increase  in  firepower adaptability to combat and good flying qualities made this
twin engined medium bomber the most popular plane in its class.

It  was  the  RAF  who used the Mitchell over German occupied Europe.  The RAF had
received 23 B25-Bs, named the Mitchell I and the B-25D, named the Mitchell II.


FIGHTER COMPARISONS

What  follows  are  selected comparisons between many of the combatants and allied
aircraft  to give the reader a general idea as to how technically balanced the air
war  over  the  D-Day  skies  actually  was.  Of course, technical comparisons say
nothing  for pilot skill.  However, pilots can only use what tools they are given.
This section is a digest of those tools.


MUSTANG P-51B v SPITFIRE IX

The  comparison  between these two aircraft is an intriguing one because they both
had similar engines similar in both design and in their capacity.  The Mustang was
rather  cleaner than the Spitfire but a little heavier.  It also had a higher wing
loading of around 12-13 pounds per square foot.

When looking at the endurance of both aircraft it can be seen that the Mustang had
a  greater  range with a maximum fuel load of around 1.5 to 1.75.  The Mustang was
able  to  carry  more  fuel and oil.  With long-range fuel tanks the Mustang could
carry  279  gallons  of  fuel  as  opposed  to  the  Spitfire's  177  gallons (all
measurements  are "imperial").  Fuel consumption was similar but speed was greater
for  the  P-51B,  in  level  flight,  by  around 20mph.  Even with the same engine
settings  the  Mustang  was  20-30mph faster than the Spitfire IX for all heights.
With  the  engine  settings  set  to  maximum  (say,  around  3,000  rpm) the best
performance heights are similar between 10,000 and 15,000ft and between 25,000 and
32,000ft.

Where  the  Spitfire  excelled  was in the rate of climb which was superior at all
heights  to he P-51B at full power.  At other settings the rate is more even.  The
Mustang  had  a better zoom climb, however.  It also required less power to regain
altitude and speed from a dive.

During a dive the Mustang pulled away very quickly.  At the same revs the Spitfire
needed  more  engine  boost  to  remain  in formation.  Another plus point for the
Spitfire  was  the  turning  capability of the aircraft.  It always out turned the
P-51B, even when the Mustang used flaps.  Nor could the Mustang roll as quickly as
the  Spitfire IX at normal speeds.  However the rate of roll was similar at around
the  400mph mark.  Finally, the four .5 Brownings of the Mustang were rather small
in comparison with the Spitfire IXs two 20mm cannon and four Browning .303 guns.


MUSTANG P-51B v FOCKE-WULF FW 19OA

The P-51B was almost 50mph faster at all heights than the Focke Wulf.  This figure
increased  to  around 70mph above 28,000ft.  However the maximum rate of climb was
similar  and  the  Mustang  was  a  lot  faster  in the zoom climb at all heights.
Similarly the P-51B could out dive a Fw 190A.

When  it comes to the turning fight the two aircraft are similar.  If anything the
Mustang  was slightly superior.  Where the Fw 190 was in a class of its own was in
the rate of roll which was exemplary in the Focke Wulf.

Mustang  pilots  were always advised to retain high speeds in order to gain height
advantage  when  attacking  Fw  190s,  although  climbs  at less than 250 mph were
frowned  upon.   As the Focke Wulf could not dive out of trouble the Mustang pilot
was  always  recommended  to  turn steeply and engage full throttle when defending
against the Fw 190.


MUSTANG P-51B v MESSERSHMIDT ME 109G

The  Me 109 was slower than the P-51B at all heights for example at 16,000 ft, the
Mustang  was 30mph faster and at 25,000ft the Mustang exceeded the Me 109 in speed
by 50 mph.

Climb,  however, was similar.  The Mustang was a little bit better above 25,000 ft
but  not  so  good as the Me 109 below 20,000 ft.  The Me 109 did have a very good
climb  rate  which meant that it was similar in this respect to the Mustang.  When
defending  against  the  Me  109  the Mustang could pull away from the Me 109 in a
prolonged dive.

Although  the Mustang could out-turn the Me 109 the rate of roll was very similar.
However,  because  the  Me  109's  wing slots kept opening at the most inopportune
moments,  the  Mustang  could defend itself against the Me 109 by quickly changing
its  direction.  This would normally throw the sights of the Me 109 off the chased
P-51B.   If the P-51B was on the attack, the Mustang would always catch the Me 109
except  in  a  climb.    When defending, the P-51B pilot was advised to initiate a
steep turn and a dive if necessary.


TYPHOON 1B v TEMPEST V

Only  the  Typhoon  is simulated in this game, the Tempest V appeared on the scene
after  D-Day  However,  as  the  Typhoon  was  the  principle air to ground attack
aircraft  of  the  war,  that is, the Typhoon was tailor made for this purpose, it
might  be  interesting  to  see  what the RAF had to deal with before the improved
Tempest came into the inventory.

Both  aircraft  were  similar  in  many  respects  and differed mainly in the wing
section which was around two pounds less for the Tempest.  Without extra tanks the
Typhoon  and  Tempest had similar ranges.  The Typhoon cruised at around 15-20 mph
less  at  the  same engine settings.  Similarly the Typhoon was 15 - 20 mph slower
than the Tempest at all heights and at all engine settings.

The  Typhoon  climbed  at  a  rather  shallower angle than the Tempest at the same
airspeed  producing  200 - 300 ft decrease in the maximum rate of climb.  The zoom
climb  was  less,  too  due  to  the  "dirty"  configuration of the Typhoon to the
Tempest.    Again, in a dive, the Tempest was faster.  The turning circle was very
similar  with  any differences favouring the Typhoon although the Typhoon lost out
on the rate of roll.


FOCKE WULF FW 19OA V SPITFIRE IX

The  Spitfire  was  slightly  superior  in  speed to the Fw 190 at medium and high
altitudes  with  the  Fw  190  gaining  the  edge  in low altitudes.  However, the
difference  was a matter of around three to eight miles per hour over all heights.
Again,  the  Spitfire  IX  was  slightly  better in climb under maximum continuous
climbing  conditions.    Above  22,000 ft the improvement was increased.  Climbing
from level flight or up from a dive resulted in the Fw 190 gaining the edge.

In  a  dive,  however,  the Fw 190 was faster and more manoeuvrable in all regimes
other  than  turning  circles.   The rate of roll was excelled by the Fw 190.  The
flicking  into a dive turn by Fw 190 pilots enabled it to evade the Spitfire IX on
numerous  occasions.   If the Spitfire was cruising at high speeds then the Fw 190
could  never attack it successfully.  The Fw 190s superior acceleration meant that
an  attack on a Spitfire which was cruising at low speeds was far more successful.



PART THREE - FLYING YOUR AIRCRAFT
=================================

BASIC FLIGHT SKILLS

TAKING OFF

Assuming  that  you  want  to  begin  the night from the airfield, on entering the
cockpit you will notice that the engine has already been started and that the RPMs
quickly run up to full power.

The  first  job is to drop the flaps and ease the nose of your tail sitter forward
in order to allow your aircraft to gain maximum take off speed.  As the speed hits
140mph ease back on the stick.  Notice the vertical speed indicator indicates that
the  aircraft  is climbing.  Once you have between 50 and 100 ft on your Altimeter
raise  your  gear  to  increase your speed still further (raising the landing gear
reduces  drag  on  your  aircraft) and join the outward bound squadron who will be
taking off, simultaneously, with you.

If  you  forget  to raise your landing gear, or inadvertently lower it during high
speed  flight  you  risk  jamming  the  gear in the lowered position.  At the very
least,  your aircraft will begin to yaw to the right making control difficult and,
eventually, leading into a difficult to control roll.

CLIMBING
To  climb  you  must increase your throttle and pull back on the stick.  The extra
engine  power will result in a climb.  The greater the angle of attack the greater
the rate of climb.  However, do not increase the angle of attack too far otherwise
the aircraft will stall.  Around 20o of climb is a recommended angle of attack.

REDUCING ALTITUDE
There  are  two  ways to reduce altitude.  The first, is to decrease the throttle.
This  will  result in your aircraft losing speed which will mean that the aircraft
cannot  generate  enough lift and, hence, loses altitude.  The second method is to
push the joystick forward to dive which will increase your speed and lose altitude
very quickly.

TURNING YOU AIRCRAFT
To  turn  your  aircraft  you  move the joystick left or right, depending on which
direction  you  wish  to  turn.   Using this method for more acute turns will also
reduce  your speed gradually resulting in some loss of altitude.  To maintain your
altitude you should pull on the joystick as you turn left/right and apply a little
rudder in the same direction as the turn.

STALLING
If  you ever stall your aircraft just let the nose fall below the horizon, it will
then gain enough speed to return control to your joystick.

LANDING YOUR AIRCRAFT
After  you  have  lined  up  with the runway, position yourself about two to three
miles  from  it,  reduce  the  throttle to 60%, then drop your flaps.  This action
lowers  your  stall  speed enabling you to approach the airfield at a slower speed
and a steeper angle.  Gradually descend towards the runway itself.  When you cross
the  threshold of the runway you should be around 40 feet from the ground.  Reduce
your  height  to  around  20ft,  then  cut the throttle and pull the nose up.  The
aircraft  will  then settle on the airfield.  Try to position this landing so that
all  three wheels hit the floor at the same time.  This is the classic three point
landing.

COMBAT BOOST
The  Combat Boost is a valuable feature that boosts the performance of your engine
for  a  brief period.  However, as this increase in performance extends beyond the
rated  power of your engine it does put a considerable strain upon it.  Hence, you
should  only use the Combat Boost very sparingly.  As a guide the first 30 seconds
of  use  should  offer no damage to the engine every 10 seconds after that reduces
your engine power by 1/16th.  At zero power your engine blows up.

AIR BRAKES
Air  brakes  are  very  handy  for  gaining  an  advantage  during  combat as they
drastically reduce your speed and force pursuing enemy aircraft to over shoot, for
example.    The  problem  is that WW2 aircraft, in general, didn't use air brakes.
So,  therefore, using this feature in the game will not give you historical flight
conditions.    We  recommend  air  brakes for those of you who have become used to
using  them in other simulations and wish to become familiar with flight combat in
Overlord before "weaning" yourself off them for more realistic flight.


GUNNERY TACTICS

DEFLECTION SHOOTING

Deflection  shooting  is required when you are attempting to hit an enemy aircraft
at  an  angle.  That is, when the enemy aircraft is not moving directly towards or
away  from  you.   Deflection shooting is all about prediction.  In effect you are
shooting  at  where  you "predict" the enemy will be.  The reason is elementary by
the  time  your  bullets arrive at the point where the enemy is at the time of the
trigger  pull,  the  aircraft  will  have  moved  onwards.  Deflection shooting is
essential  in air combat, therefore.  The bullets and shells leave the aircraft at
over  twice the speed of sound.  An enemy fighter, at a range of 250 yards, flying
at  300mph,  travels  a distance of 70 yards in the time it takes for the bullets/
shells  to  reach  it.  In a beam attack (from the side), the pilot must aim at 70
yards in front of the targets to get a hit.

Normally  the  angle  between the two aircraft is much less than the 90o of a beam
attack.    As the angle is reduced then the "lead" required is reduced from the 70
yards  mentioned  above.    In  the  stern  attack  (directly behind) no 'lead' is
required  at  all.  A stern attack is only usually likely when the target is taken
completely  by  surprise.    Normally  you  will  be  faced  by a deflection shot.
Becoming  an  expert  on deflection shooting is essential if you want to become an
Ace.  The gunsight can be used when setting up a deflection shot.

First  of  all it is necessary to estimate the angle between your aircraft and the
target.   For instance a target is 20o off, if lines extending along the length of
yours and his aircraft meet an an angle of 20°.  For a target which is 20° off the
target should touch the ring and point at the centre of the ring.

GROUND TARGETS

Ground  targets  consist  of  Buildings and Bunkers of various types, E Boats, V 1
Sites,  Trucks and the like, Trains and Marshalling Yards, Triple A guns large and
small calibre, Radar stations, etc.  There are also other objects scattered around
such as Chateaus and so on.

To  attack a ground target, especially as we are talking about the WW2 period is a
rather  hit  and miss affair.  Precision bombing / strafing especially for fighter
type  aircraft  was  fairy  tale  stuff.  Hence, you will become more adept at the
techniques with more practice and adjustment.

However,  as  a  guide  if  you are bombing or attacking a target with rockets you
should  begin  an attack in a shallow dive, pointing your aircraft at the target a
fair  distance away in order to allow you to make minor course adjustments.  For a
rocket  attack  you  will  need  to  get  close  in for a kill with both bombs and
rockets.   When you have released your load quickly pull up and get the hell out.
There  are two reasons for this, firstly, as you are concentrating on your target,
enemy  aircraft will be concentrating upon you.  As you're unaware of what's going
on around you as you line up for a target it's best to make sure of your safety by
pulling  up,  jinking  and weaving.  In addition this evasive manoeuvring is handy
for  avoiding  the  small  arms ground fire that will home in on you as you reduce
your altitude.  Finally, do not get too close to the target upon weapon release as
you are liable to shoot yourself down from the blast of the explosion.

For  ground  strafing it is best to "walk" the bullets to the ground target.  That
is,  start  firing  your  guns, see where they are hitting and adjust your line of
flight so that the line of bullets will coincide with your target as you progress.

One  hint  for  Triple A attacks is wait for the guns to fire then hit them as the
guns have to be reloaded after a burst of fire.

For  trains,  it is best to crlpple the engine to stop the train and then pick off
the carriages at your leisure.

When  attacking E boats you should be aware that, although the individual armament
of a single E-boat is no great threat, the combined efforts of a bunch of E- boats
IS.  Beware of cross-fire.

AIR TARGETS

Dealing  with  enemy  fighters is discussed in detail, elsewhere.  However, if you
want  to  hit  a  bomber  then  there  are  alternative  attacks that should prove
effective.

The Ju88 has two rearward facing machine guns and a nose mounted gun thus there is
no  rearward  blind-spot.    However  the  front  gun  is  very  restricted in its
manoeuvrability  so  a  frontal  assault can be more productive.  Nevertheless you
will  also  have to contend with the higher degree of manoeuvrability the Ju88 can
employ.  Of course, the Ju88 will normally be escorted by fighters which makes the
job  that  much  harder.    As  for  the  He III you could try the stern approach.
However,  you  must  be careful of rearward firing guns.  This approach requires a
high  degree  of  flight  skill.  High and low attacks from the rear of the He III
could be more fruitful.  Approach the bomber at a 45o angle and utilise deflection
shooting  to  gain a hit.  As you pass the bomber, turn when you are alongside the
bomber  and turn into 45o to try another pass.  Another successful attack position
is  to  dive  onto the side of the bomber from height, using the speed gained from
the dive to zoom past and climb again over the opposite side.  The head-on pass is
similar  to  the  stern attack as it requires high skill to avoid the nose gunner.
It  can  be a lethal attack though if it hits the cockpit and engines in the right
place.    Probably the most fruitful approach is the lower rear attack.  The lower
gunner has a greater difficulty in achieving a good sighting.


THE SIX O'CLOCK NEWS

FIGHTER COMBAT GUIDELINES

Dogfighting provided the staple diet of all fighter pilots during WW2.  Getting on
the tail, or the "six" of the enemy was all important to achieve a kill.  Here's a
few  manoeuvres  and  procedures  on  how you can best get to grips with the enemy
psyche in Overlord.

Having  a  highly  specified  aircraft  is  all very well.  However, the principle
variable in determining just whose butt gets shot off is the pilot himself and his
intimate  knowledge  of all aspects of relative performance and design, as well as
familiarity with his weapons.

Basically, if you know your own aircraft and your enemys aircraft like the back of
your hand then you have an enormous advantage over the enemy.  Despite the popular
misconception,  air-to air combat is a very "human" affair.  Pilots aren't kidding
when  they say that they strap on a aircraft.  Never forget that technology is but
a tool of the pilot.

The  aim of the game is all about one pilot exploiting the opponent's most serious
weaknesses  while  taking  full advantage of his own fighter's greatest strengths.
For  example,  what  do you do if your aircraft is highly manoeuvrable (eg Fw 190)
but  your opponent is more powerful and, hence, faster (eg Typhoon)!  You employ a
system  known, in some quarters, as Angles Tactics.  The manoeuvrable aircraft can
get  up  close to the faster aircraft by using Pure and Lead Pursuits (Figure 1 on
page  131) High and Low YoYos (Figures 2a & 2b on pages 132 & 133) and Barrel Roll
attacks  (Figure  3 on page 134) also may be useful.  On the other hand if you are
flying  the  faster, more powerful aircraft, your best option is to keep the fight
to the horizontal plane.

Nose  To  Nose Turns (Figure 4 on page 135) make best use of turn radius potential
and  Lead  Turns  (Figure  5  on  page  136) can be very useful for immediate turn
superiority.   Hence, the pilot of the faster, less manoevrable aircraft will want
to watch and keep clear of these manoeuvres.  He"ll also want to try to anticipate
his  opponent  attempting to trap him into these manoeuvres.  If this happens then
it's time to break off and start again.

The  Typhoon  would  suffer by a Flat Scissors (Figure 6 on page 137) since it has
both turn performance and minimum speed disadvantages.  The Fw 190 might also have
some  advantage  in  a  Rolling  Scissors (Figure 7 on page 138) because of better
slow-speed controllability although not as great as the Flat Scissors.

It  is  plain  that  the  Typhoon  should  keep to what he knows best, high energy
tactics when engaging a highly manoeuvrable aircraft like a Fw 190.

A  handy manoeuvre for the Typhoon which is on the defence is the Defensive Spiral
(Figure  8 on page 139).  A Typhoon often can generate much greater drag than a Fw
190  which  can  lead  to  a  rapid vertical overshoot and a subsequent positional
advantage  for  the Typhoon which can then blow the Fw 190 out of the sky with its
guns.  However, if this spiral cannot be initiated quickly then the Fw 190 can use
its  superior  low speed turn performance to shallow out the spiral and regain the
upper hand as the manoeuvre continues.

Throughout  the fight, the pilot of the Fw 190 can be somewhat less concerned with
overshoots  than  he would be in the case of similar fighters, since the Typhoon's
larger  turn  radius and higher speed make it more difficult for its pilot to gain
advantage  after  an  overshoot  by  the Fw 190.  Gross vertical overshoots should
still  be  avoided  by  the  Fw  190  since they may allow the Typhoon a temporary
advantage  and, possibly a snapshot after one of the Rolling Scissors.  The Fw 190
should  resist  climbing or diving when faced with a Typhoon to guard against zoom
manoeuvres  from  the  Typhoon.   Greed is the Fw 190's greatest enemy.  He should
avoid  trying  to  grab  angles  faster  than  the  Fw  190's performance permits.
Patience  is  the key.  The Fw 190 pilot must wait for the Typhoon to wear himself
out,  to dissipate the majority of his energy so that his flight becomes sluggish.
Now,  with  the  Fw  190's greater degree of manoeuvrability at low speeds, he can
finish off the Typhoon at his leisure.

Again,  though,  the  Typhoon,  must be aware that this is just what the Fw 190 is
wishing  and  wanting.    Hence, the Typhoon pilot must maintain a relatively high
speed.    Even  if  the situation becomes to look favourable, if the Fw 190 is not
within  the  gun  sight  then it is safer to get out of there, gain more speed and
live to fight another day.

When  two  aircraft  are  more  evenly matched then a pilot's cunning becomes more
important and the dissimilar aspects of the aircraft's performance might be rather
closer  to  the 10% figure.  Stepping back in time the two famous adversaries that
epitomised  dogfighting  were  the Sopwith Camel and the Fokker Triplane.  As both
aircraft  are highly manoeuvrable pilots had to develop new tactics.  For example,
when  flying  at  slow  airspeeds  the  pilot may choose to push over the top of a
vertical  climb  or  to  employ  a rudder reversal, at the peak of his zoom.  Also
called  the  hammerhead  turn,  the latter manoeuvre causes the aircraft to rotate
about  its vertical axis, pivoting sideways from a nose high to nose low attitude.
In  most  aircraft  the  rudder  reversal is performed in an unloaded condition by
applying  full  rudder in the direction the pilot wishes the nose to fall.  If you
ever  get  to an airshow watch the aerobatic Pitts Specials or the Sukhois perform
this  manoeuvre.      They  tend  to  spill smoke whilst doing so to emphasise the
action.    The lazy tipping of the aircraft looks like the aircraft is balanced on
its tail and is slowly tipping over to the side.

This  technique  apparently  was first used in combat by Max Immelmann, the famous
WWI  German  flyer  who  was  also  one of the world's first fighter aces.  One of
Immelmann's  favourite  tactics  was  to  make  a  high speed diving attack on his
victim,  then  pull  up vertically, perform rudder reversal and dive back down for
another  attack  and  so  on,  until  the  target  was  destroyed.  This tactic so
confounded  the  Allied opponents that they dubbed it the Immelmann Turn (Figure 9
on  page 140) and were convinced that it defied the laws of aerodynamics.  Once it
was figured out, the technique was widely copied by both sides.  American ace, Air
Vice  Marshal,  Jonnie  Johnson explains, however, how when more powerful aircraft
like  the Camel came onto stream, that the manoeuvre could be a dangerous one.  If
it wasn't timed properly.

"...for  the  lower pilot could climb after the Fokker Triplane and attack when it
hung  almost  motionless  in  the  vertlcal  position,  not under full control and
presenting an easy shot".

Of  course, all of the above look nice in a manual.  However, in practice you have
the  practical  problems  of  keeping  your eye on your opponent looking over your
shoulder  at  a  bogey  and  trying  to keep a visual during high g manoeuvres, is
tough.    Although,  in Overlord, this situation is eased somewhat with the use of
the Inside Lock.  Keeping visual under these conditions makes aircraft control and
energy  management  difficult  to  maintain.   For example, it's difficult to know
whether  your wings are level.  Also, speed and altitude have to be judged by feel
since  the  pilot may not be able to afford the luxury of actually taking his eyes
off  the  bogey to look at the gauges - arduous and hazardous when you're fighting
at low level.


THE 'LEAD' AND 'PURE PURSUIT'

The Pure Pursuit is where the chasing aircraft keeps his nose firmly on the target
aircraft  at  all times, generating a curved flight path that ends in a tail-chase
with the target intercept at about point 5.

The  Lead Pursuit results from the aircraft leading the aircraft somewhat, keeping
the  nose of the aircraft ahead of the enemy by a small amount.  This pursuit also
results in a tail chase but it takes less time to do it between 4 and 5.

HIGH AND LOW YO-YOS

The  High  Yo-Yo  is  handy  for  preventing overshoots and reducing the angle off
the-tail.    Speeds  of  both  aircraft should be about the same.  One tip for the
attacker  is,  not  to  raise  your nose too high as this can result in you losing
speed/energy and the defender getting away from you.

The  Low Yo-Yo should be used to get closer to the aircraft and improve your angle
off the tail.  This is handy for less manoeuvrable aircraft who can not pull their
nose  around  to  get a shot in.  This manoeuvre allows you to turn your aircrafts
nose  down  whilst  rolling your aircraft into the turn thus manoeuvring your nose
well  in  front  of,  but  below,  your enemy's position.  Gravity also helps this
turning manoeuvre.  Thus backing up your belief that God is on your side.

BARREL ROLL

The  Barrel Roll is a classic manoeuvre to defend against a gun attack.  Completed
as  per  the  illustration  the  defender  can cause the attacker to break off the
attack  or  overshoot  the  defender's  flight path.  This form of nose low high g
manoeuvre is not recommended at low altitude, though.  Don't forget to keep a look
out  for  bogies because this manoeuvre is best adopted after the bogey is spotted
at  some  distance  from  your aircraft.  If you allow him to get too close before
going  for  the  Barrel Roll you will not divert the bogey from his flight path at
all.  Also, if you let him get too far away he will be able to correct.

NOSE-TO-NOSE TURN

A  handy turn for manoeuvrable aircraft as, when the two aircraft have passed, the
manoeuvrable  aircraft  is  able to turn quickly to achieve superiority.  It's the
aircraft  with the tighter turn radius that wins the nose to nose turn battle, not
the aircraft with the better turn-rate capability.

LEAD TURN

A Lead Turn is where the attacker turns early before he passes his opponent.  This
manoeuvre  is  often used as a linking operation to a Lead Pursuit or a high angle
gun  snapshot.    This  manoeuvre  has  to  be  well timed, though, to prevent you
planting yourself in front of the opponent's nose and guns.

FLAT SCISSORS

This  manoeuvre  is,  actually,  a  series  of  nose to nose turns and over shoots
performed  by  two aircraft flying in the same direction and at a similar altitude
both  are  trying to get behind the other.  However, the aircraft with the smaller
turn radius will always win this tussle as it can turn tighter into the opponent's
tail.

ROLLING SCISSORS

A  Flat  Scissors approach follows a slow speed horizontal overshoot.  However the
Rolling  Scissors  often  results from a high speed overshoot.  Here, the defender
pulls  up to reduce speed, the attacker follows and starts the Scissors sequence.
The  secret to winning this bout is more a combination of aircraft performance and
pilot technique in preventing an overshoot whilst maintaining energy.

DEFENSIVE SPIRAL

Related  to the Scissors, the Defensive Spiral is a form of tight Rolling Scissors
going straight down.  This manoeuvre benefits the faster aircraft as it results in
a  transferal  of  the  faster aircrafts energy into useful energy.  If recognised
early  the attacking aircraft can maintain a level turn, passing over the position
of  the  target, then beginning the pull down.  Thus, the defender cannot keep the
attacker  in  sight.    This  maintains  a  degree  of separation and prevents any
possibility of an overshoot.

IMMELMANN TURN

Often  performed as the result of a head on pass by two aircraft.  The 'Hammerhead
Turn',  'Rudder  Reversal' or 'Immelman Turn' allows the aircraft with the highest
energy  to perform this manoeuvre and become the attacker as shown in the diagram.
The  attacker, by having the option of deciding which way to flick his rudder, can
choose  the  position of attack.  If performed correctly the defender is in a heap
of  trouble.    He might try a high g turn to gain a sight for his guns.  However,
this  will result in dramatically slowing his aircraft and, thus, endangering it.
If  he  decides  to  run for it the defender will be diving away to gain speed and
distance  breaking  away  from  a  possible  attack from the attacking aircraft is
guesswork  at best and will either end up as a lucky shot by the defender onto the
over  shooting  attacker  or  the  defender  breaks  off from the combat entirely.
Again,  defending this manoeuvre is best done before the manoeuvre is accomplished
in  the  first  place.   If recognised early enough the defender can break off and
gain height to maintain energy.

DESIGNER ADVICE

by Rod Hyde

Would  an ace pilot from the second world war be able to cope in the hot seat of a
modern jet fighter?

Would the best of today's fighter jocks be at home in the cockpit of the legendary
Spitfire?

Well many of the hard lessons learnt over 50 years ago are as relevant now as they
were  then.    However  there  are  enough  differences  to  make  the speculation
interesting.

In  this article I am going to consider the differences and similarities, but with
special emphasis on the problems that the World War 2 pilot faced.

In  the  real  world  of  air  combat,  over  eight  out  of  10 kills are forgone
concluslons  by  the  time  the  victim  knows  there is a problem.  So if you get
involved  in a dogfight, you have already given up your best weapon: surprise.  It
is  essential  that  you  become a hunter and not one of the hunted.  A modern jet
fighter has radar, TVs with magnification and threat indicators to help detect the
enemy.    In  comparison,  the  WW2 pilot was limited to the Mark I Eyeball.  Good
eyesight  was essential, far more important than it is now.  It was also important
to  use  the  gift  of  good  eyesight  properly:  this   comes   with experience.
Inexperienced pilots would be concerned with flying and not fighting.  So here are
some tips to help you live long enough to gain your experience.

.Keep the sun behind you.  If you have to fly away from the sun, 'tack' away at 45
degrees from the direct course.

.Keep  your  eyes  out  of  the  cockpit.  Don't get fixated by the instruments.
Relying  on  the  3D view displayed on the cockpit screens of a typical flight sim
will also lead to trouble.  In a real aircraft the pilot is not limited to a small
tunnel  of  vision, he moves his head to cover as much of the sky as possible.  In
Overlord, you need to move to the Inside Lock view to get the same effect.

.Look  for  relative  movement.    At  the  edge  of visibility where a stationary
aircraft  would be invisible, the relative motion of a moving aircraft against the
backdrop will give it away.  In many flight sims, designers include layers of dots
to  enhance the impression of speed and perspective.  These make it more difficult
to  pick  up  aircraft.   However relative motion will give away a moving aircraft
every time.

.WW2 aircraft did not fly as high as modern fighters.  This means that a pilot can
also look for aircraft shadows over the ground and sea.  Sometimes it is easier to
see the shadow than the aircraft casting the shadow.

.Watch  out  for  the  messages  from your ground controllers and fellow aviators.
These should help you to make your search more profitable.

.Watch  your  six  and  don't  rely on the rear view mirror.  More often than not,
danger  comes  directly  from behind you (your six).  Although your mirror gives a
view of the area, it is only a very narrow view.  Use the Inside Lock view.

.Fly  in  pairs.    A man on his own is a liability, a pair is an asset.  Having a
buddy  close  by is like having an extra pair of eyes.  Not only that, it complies
with  the  ancient doctrine of concentration of firepower.  However, this doctrine
resulted  in  the  RAF  adopting some very poor tactics in the early months of the
World  War  2.    Large  wings of fighters were instructed to fly so close to each
other  that  only  the leader couldspend any time looking out for the enemy.  Many
"Tail  end Charlies" were shot down before the tactics were discarded in favour of
the  approach adopted by the Luftwaffe.  It is essential that you should fly close
enough to provide mutual support but not so close that the act of formation flying
requires too much attention.

One  you  have spotted the enemy, you should attempt to keep out of his sight.  If
you  have  not already done so, move up sun and gain more height and use and cover
provided by clouds oor high ground.  Modern fighter pilots will attempt to move to
the  rear of the enemy.  If the opponent is unattentive it is possible to approach
to  missile  or gun range without detection and without danger.  The WW2 pilot did
not  have things so easy.  Some aircraft had rear facing crew with guns.  This was
a  real sting in the tail for an unsuspecting pilot coming in for the kill.  So it
was  important  to  identify  the aircraft before adopting attacking tactics.  For
aircraft  bristling  with  guns, an aggressive fast slashing attack would make the
most  sense.  This doesnt give the gunman a chance to take aim.  Sometimes aircrew
were  left  at home to increase aircraft range.  Once discovered, this would be an
unexpected bonus for RAF pilots.

After  the  attack,  get away as quickly as possible using all speed.  Only go for
the  deck  as a last resort.  At low altitude, small arms fire from the ground can
be very dangerous.

A pilot is at his most vulnerable when he is attacking another aircraft.  He needs
to  concentrate  his  attention  on the attack and does not have much time to look
around.    So  getaway  as soon as possible, there could be a bandit on your tail.
Incidentally,  target  fixation  is  a real problem in its own right.  Pilots have
collided  with  other  aircraft,  been shot done and hit the ground when they have
concentrated  on  the  target  to  the  exclusion  of  everything  else.  All this
strengthens the argument of flying with a buddy.

You  should attack suddenly and aggressively.  Be sure of the shot before you open
fire.    Once  the shells start to fly, your position will not remain a secret for
very  long.    Once  war  time  commander ordered that tracers be removed from his
squadron's  ammunition.  This removal of the squadron's calling card increased the
kill rate significantly.

Now  there are no absolutes in air combat.  It has been said that if you ask three
American  pilots  the  correct  procedure given the same set of circumstances in a
combat  situation,  you  will get three different answers.  Ask three Russians and
you  will get the doctrinal answer.  Who is to say who is right?  Anyway, here are
a couple of examples to contradict the advice to hold your fire until you are sure
of a shot.

In  a tail chase where you have an enemy aircraft in front and you are not gaining
on him give him a burst of gun fire.  This may scare him into weaving about.  This
could  be  enough to slow him down and let you catch up.  This next trick was used
by  Adolf  Galland  when he found himself in a sticky situation with a Thunderbolt
fighter  behind him.  Galland tried a burst on his guns.  The shells had no chance
of  hitting,  they  were  going  in  completely  the wrong direction.  However the
Thunderbolt pilot was so surprised to see smoke and shell cases coming towards him
that  he  broke off the attack.  He probably thought he was the unlucky guinea pig
for the Luftwaffe's latest weapon: fighters with rear facing guns!

The  modern  jet  will  be  armed  with  a  range  of  missiles.  One of the major
differenccs  between World War 2 and modern fighters is the introduction of guided
missiles.   These missiles have improved tremendously and now it is much easier to
get  a  kill.    The World War 2 fighter was limited to his gun/cannon.  Obviously
shells  don't  guide  like  modern  missiles, so this makes combat more difficult,
demanding, interesting and stimulating.   You have to aim your shells ahead of the
target  so that the shells and the target arrive at the same point of space at the
same time.  This is called deflection shooting (see elsewhere).

Once you have made visual contact, don't let the bandit out of your sight.

There are two basic problems:

.When  you  start  a manoeuvre the bandit will respond.  If you are not looking at
him  he  certainly  will  not  be  where you expect him to be when you finish your
manoeuvre.

.The  bandit can turn away during the moment of your inattention.  This could make
him  almost  invisible as he presents a smaller area to you.  Also as he is moving
away,  relative  motion  will  not be enough to pick him out of the backdrop.  The
distance  that the bandit covers in the few seconds you are not looking could give
him enough of a lead to get away.

No  matter  how  skillful  a  pilot  is, sooner or later he will find himself in a
vulnerable  or  defensive  position.    Here are some words of wisdom from fighter
pilots:

.The  best  defensive  tactic  is a hard and fast offensive movement.  At the very
least this will unsettle the attacker.

.Don't  run  from  the  aggressor,  turn  towards  him.  This may make the attaker
overshoot.

.If you try to protect something, you protect nothing.  Attack is the best form of
defence.

In summary then:

1.  spot the enemy first
2.  get into a strong attacking position
3.  attack swiftly, suddenly and aggressively
4.  then get out as quickly as possible




PART FOUR - IN-GAME TOUR
=========================


TANGMERE STATION MENU

This  is  the  main menu for Overlord.  From here you can reach any station in the
game  (ie  the  Tower,  Gatehouse,  your  Bedroom, the CO's Office, Briefing Room,
Dispersal).    Selection  can  be  made  via  mouse  or you can toggle through the
selections via the <TAB> key on the keyboard.

There  will  be  random occasions when Tangmere will find itself under attack from
enemy  aircraft.   When this happens you will have the option of running for cover
for  an available trench to dive into (if you are slow with this decision there is
a  random  chance  that  you will be killed).  As an alternative, you will also be
able to face the foe by jumping in your cockpit and attempting to get into the air
to  beat  off  the Hun.  The main problem here is that, as you are taking off, the
enemy aircraft will be looking to shoot you up before you leare terra firma.

TOWER MISSIONS

If  you  arrire  at Tangmere and you just want to jump into the air, but you would
like  a  little  more control to your combat than the Scramble mission offers you,
then you can select the Tower.

Here, you can select what aircraft you want to fly, the height and the position of
the  combat,  the  bombers involved in the combat, whether they should be escorted
and, if so, by what.

YOUR BEDROOM

This  bedroom  is  where  you,  oddly enough, sleep and, more importantly for this
game, where your diary is kept.  Your diary is kept by all three pilots (ie : your
three lives - see Noticeboard on p.157 for more information).  All the days events
are  recorded  here.   You'll also hear of events and people who surround Tangmere
and  the  goings  on  therein.  Each pilot has his own personality and will record
diary  entries  in  a slightly different way, in sympathy to that personality.  If
you  have  been  grounded or cannot fly due to weather problems then you will find
yourself in your bedroom.

DIARY

This  is  where  you will be able to read about the day's events.  Move the cursor
over red hotspots to see associated illustrations.

COs OFFICE

This is where you will receive any awards coming your way.

Medals  include the DSC and Bar, DFC and Bar and the VC.  There are other 'awards'
such  as  citations from Churchill himself plus a few surprises that we'll let you
discover yourself.

Sometimes,  an  officer  will jump on your wing after a mission to inform you that
you are wanted at the CO's office.  This could be an indication that a medal is on
the  way.    A  note  will  be  made  regarding  the  medal or award in your Diary
(available in your Bedroom).

Other  happenings  that  could  warrant a visit to the CO's Office would be if you
have  done  something wrong such as shooting down a friendly - or the Spy has some
additional  intelligence information for you.  There is no need to pop off to this
office on the off chance of something happening, you will always be informed.

NEW PILOT BRIEF OPTIONS

As a new pilot you can choose:

OVERLORD BRIEF
Examine the Overlord situation as you arrive at RAF Tangmere

AIRCRAFT BRIEF
Look at a breakdown of the aircraft involved in the game.

GUN CAMERA FILM
Examine any gun camera film made in fliglt during a Scramble or Tower mission

CHOOSE AIRCRAFT
Choose an aircraft to fly in

AIRCRAFT SELECTION MENU
Select  the  aircraft  of  your  choice  at this menu.  Just click on the required
picture.

OVERLORD BRIEFING
If  you  have  selected  a  briefing of any sort, such as the Overlord briefing as
illustrated  here,  you  will  be taken to the left hand side of the briefing room
where a full slide/film show will be given along with explanationary text.

MAP SCREEN

The map screen shows the target area, the list of viable ground targets (red), the
railways  (black),  rivers  (blue)  and night waypoints which you should follow to
enable  you  to  find your target and your way home (pink).  The map screen can be
called  up  in  night  using  the  hot-key  'M' This also shows your aircraft as a
flashing  blue  dot  and  other  aircraft in the area Light blue dots are friendly
aircraft;  pinkdots  are  enemy  aircraft  and red dots are mobile targets such as
tanks, trains and trucks.

DISPERSAL

This  room  changes  in  appearance  when  you change the type of aircraft you are
flying  and,  hence, the Squadron you are attached to.  However, it will always be
the  place  that you can select the Logbook, Noticeboard, Combat Reports and Score
board.

NOTICEBOARD

This is the area in which you can check on the well being of your pilots.  If your
pilot  is on duty or missing or killed in action, you'll see his fate posted here.

You  can  also change your aircraft type by transferring to another squadron.  You
experience no drop in standing or any detriment to your campaign with this option.
It  has  been  included  in  order  for you to get to see the other aircraft types
relatively painlessly whilst retaining the realistic atmosphere.

When  you  start  the  game  you  are  allocated Bill Scott.  If he dies then Jack
Goodwin takes orer and finally Sandy Wallace.  Three game lives, if you like.  The
three  lives serve as a handle for you to use as a focal point for your control of
the  entire  campaign.    This  pilot selection process provides one divergence in
gameplay.  For example....

You should not look upon the pilot as the be all and end all.  He is not your sole
persona.    What  he  does  is  help connect you with Tangmere and the build up to
Overlord  itself.    As  an  example,  during flight, if you're Bill Scott and his
aircraft  is  terminally  damaged then you can (via the use of a keyboard hot key)
jump  into  another  cockpit  leaving  your last mount to dive to its death.  Now,
you're  in  a new cockpit, yet you are still Bill Scott What?  The RAF dabbling in
the  paranormal?    No, it's just that, in Overlord we want to steer you away from
'the  few'  in  Favour  of  'the many' So, Bill Scott returns home to carry on his
fight.    Think  of Bill being a symbol for the squadrons of pilots who fought for
the Allies.

On the other hand....

Okay,  if  you don't like that idea then you can take the three pilots personae as
individuals  in  a  big  war and play Overlord as a one-character game, protecting
them  with  all your might and going down with the ship, as it were, when mortally
hit.

This is one example of how free form Overlord can be.

THE SCORE
Available  in  the  Dispersal  area,  the  Score rudder gives you all of your kill
statistics, broken down into individual target types and hits types.

LOGBOOK
When  you  have  completed  a flight the results of the flight are recorded in the
Logbook.

EXTERNAL VIEW

There  are  many  external  viewpoints to select in Overlord.  However, if you are
concerned  about  losing  control  of  your  aircraft whilst at this view then the
performance  bar at the base of the screen will provide all of the information you
require.

On the top line of the box is the information for the aircraft you are flying in.

The second line, after the Next Wp (Next Waypoint) is a selectable mission profile
(use keys ';' & ''' to toggle through the different waypoints).  Using this system
you  can guide the other aircraft in your flight to change their mission profiles.
The missions are:

Navigation:  Fly to the next waypoint
Attack:      Attack the selected target
Land:        Land at the home base

The  Rel  Bearing  (Relative  Bearing) is a bit like the carat shown on the HUD of
many  jet  simulations.    That is, if you move your aircraft so that the relative
bearing  reads '0' you will be on the waypoints course.  The range is the distance
to  the  next  waypoint.    The altitude is the altitude you should be at the next
waypoint in order to achieve the objective.

The  third  line shows the position information.  Hence, select the object of your
choice  (SHIFT :) and inFormation regarding its position will be offered.  Objects
can either be:

Home - Your home base

Opposition - Your goal or target

Escortee - The bomber you are escorting

Buddy - Information about your buddy or wingman

The  bottom  line gives you information for the view type and viewee that you have
selected.


INSIDE COMBAT LOCK

The  problem with most flight simulations is that, during flight combat, your view
is fixed lorwards.  In effect, you are given a small window onto the outside world
without  any  peripheral  vision.  Options for turning your head are restricted to
cumbersome key/view changes that plant your view left/right/back.  It does the job
but  without  fluidity  and,  if you're grappling to keep a bead on a bogie, it is
unusable  in  the  tension  of combat.  There are other flight simulation examples
that allow the game view to roam freely around the cockpit in a realistic 3D mode,
tracking  the target around the sky with ease and allowing you to keep your eye on
all  air  bogies.    The  trouble  with  this  system  is that it often results in
disorientation.    For  the  player  which  can  be  catastrophic  for your combat
situation  as  you  lose  your  mental positioning in the sky.  Overlord's 'Inside
Combat Lock' solves all of these problems.

When  you  switch  on  the  Inside  Lock view, via the <BACKSPACE> key, the normal
cockpit  view  disappears  and  a  floating  view  appears.  It looks like you are
sitting  on  a  higher  chair  inside  the cockpit itself.  This view position was
created to remove those instruments that get in the way of your outside view.

The  first thing that the Inside Combat Lock does is to look for a flight target.
If  it  finds one then it will 'lock' onto it and follow it wherever it goes until
you  ask  the  Inside  Combat Lock to do otherwise (see Keyboard Reference Chart).
This  allows  you  to track the enemy aircraft as if you were turning your head in
the  cockpit,  and  anticipate  it's  manoeuvres  when it would normally be out of
normal  forward  vision.    Hence, you can manoeuvre your own aircraft and perform
productive manoeuvres to counter enemy moves rather than having to second guess an
out of-sight out-of-mind bogie.

Now,  this  is  all  very  well such a floating viewpoint is, in this day and age,
nothing  new.    The difference in Overlord's Inside Combat Lock view point is how
the  Lock  prevents  you from becoming disoriented.  It does this by providing you
with  noticeable  orientation markings that never get in the way.  At the front of
the  cockpit  you  are  provided with a gunsight on both sides of the cockpit is a
stretched  arrow  pointing towards the front of the aircraft.  Finally, at the top
of  the  canopy  is  a squashed arrow presented in a denser shade to differentiate
between  the  top  and  sides  of  the  canopy.   Couple the arrows with the usual
additional furniture and canopy framing that you would normally expect to see in a
cockpit  and  you  have  a  perfect  combat  utility that, for the first time in a
simulation presents a usable combat viewpoint.

When  using the Inside Combat Lock, practice with it for a few Scramble missions.
Of  course,  it'll  be strange to use at first but you will quickly become used to
the orientation and Inside Combat Lock will become second nature to you.

REAR VIEW MIRROR

Using  the  square brackets on the keyboard (i e: [ & ] ) you can examine the rear
view mirror for those enemy aircraft who like to sneak up on your 'Six'

CURRENT OPERATING CONDITIONS

This screen is the core of the Overlord engine as it controls all of the variables
in  the game.  This screen allows you to modify some of the important variables in
the game.

MISSION TYPE

This option allows you to override the mission chosen by the computer.

CIRCUS - Escort bombers.

There are three types of Circus mission:

RAIL     -  Attacking the larger Marshalling Yards
AIR      -  Attacking airfields
BATTERY  -  Attacking Coastal batteries

Circus  missions  are  handy  to  use  when you need some heavy bombs to destroy a
target, such as those listed immediately above.

TRANSPORTATION  PLAN  -  A  set  of  fighter  missions.    There  are  eight small
Marshalling  Yards  and  eight  large  Yards.    If  a previous Circus mission has
damaged,  but  not  destroyed, a large Marshalling Yard, then the fighters will be
tasked  to  finish  it  off.  This is all related to the categorisation of targets
that the AEAF used:

Category A: destroyed
Category B: damaged
Category C: undamaged

If  there  are  no  Category B large Marshalling Yards then one of the eight small
Yards will be targeted.

RANGER  -  This  is  a  Sweep  mission.  A Sweep is a general mission, flying over
France  looking  for  trouble.    In  this case your Squadron Leader chooses which
mission you should fly.

RODEO  &  RHUBARB  -  These  are  both Sweep missions to hit coastal and secondary
waypoint  targets.    However,  Rodeo  involves  more  aircraft on the attack than
Rhubarb.

TRAINS  -  Another Sweep but the computer encourages more trains to hit the tracks
than would normally be the case.

BRIDGES  -  Attacks  against  one of eight bridges that cross the River Seine.  In
this  mission  you  will  be  carrying  rockets  (Typhoon)  or  bombs (Spitfire or
Mustang).  You will have escorts on this mission.

RADAR  -  Similar  to  the Bridges mission.  Here you will be hitting one of eight
radar stations.  Again, you will carry rockets or bombs and will be escorted.

ROADSTEAD - This is a Sweep against boats.

RANK

The  increases in ranks signify an increase in the difficulty level of the game in
general.    For  example, if you selected the highest rank you would automatically
toggle  the  other  options  on  this  screen  to  more  realistic  and/or tougher
selections.    If  you  begin at the lowest rank you will during the course of the
game,  be promoted which will, again, increase the difficulty levels on a relative
basis.

FUEL
Either historical or unlimited

ENGINES
The  engines either work as they did historically or, if you select Super Engines,
the  engines  will  perform  without any problems.  They will also run 50% faster.
This increase in speed allows for "smoother" engine performance.

VULNERABILITY
Select this option to make your aircraft indestructible or open to damage

ARMS
Weapon numbers are either finite and historical or unlimited

TARGET
An  Easy  target  selection  means  that the object kill volume is larger than the
shape.    Medium  means that the kill volume is about the same size as the shape.
However, the Hard selection means you must centralise your hit to kill the target.


ENEMY ACTIVITY
This alters the enemys ability to manoeuvre from hardly any manoeuvres to an enemy
who will do his damnedest to out turn and out manoeuvre you.

STARTING POSITION
When beginning the mission you can start on the tarmac in your home base or in the
air on the way to a mission target.

REAL TIME
Visible  means that, when you automatically come out of Acceleration Mode you will
stop  within visible range of the enemy, about eight miles.  Combat means that you
will  come  out  of Acceleration Mode within combat distance or around a mile from
the enemy.

CONTROL TYPE
Joystick  -  This is a standard joystick with two axes and two fire buttons (A and
B).    However,  if you have a second joystick connected, the fire buttons on that
stick can also be used as buttons C and D.

Joy-Throttle  - This joystick also has an additional independent lever that can be
used  as a throttle, controlling the aircraft's fuel intake and RPM.  There may be
up  to  four fire buttons.  If you have a standard Flightstick or a Maxx Yoke then
this option should work with them.

FlightStick  Pro  -  The FlightStick Pro has a throttle to control RPM on the base
and a "coolie hat" on the top of the stick which provides four extra switches.

Thrustmaster  -  The  Thrustmaster PFCS has a "coolie hat" on the top of the stick
which provides four extra switches.

Recalibrate  -  This  option allows you to re centre your joystick if you notice a
tendency  to  yaw or pitch when the joystick is centred.  Note that certain events
in  the  simulation also have this effect, so it is worth checking that the rudder
is  centred  and  the gear is up before blaming the joystick.  Having changed this
option  the  joystick  will  have to be calibrated after you "accept" the changes.
See later section for details on this procedure (Page 172).

SEPARATE RUDDER
If  you  have  separate  rudder pedals you will need to toggle the separate rudder
selection.

SOUND
Turn Sound on, off or have all the sound on bar the engine's

MUSIC
Turn music on or off

DETAIL LEVEL
Allows  you  to  manually  select the detail level according to your PC type: 386,
486,  486  33Mhz  or  faster.    However,  this  manual  method does not take your
individual  PC's  features  into  consideration.  For example, a particularly fast
video card, a slow memory management system and so on might affect your selection.
Hence, experimentation is a wise move.

AUTO DETAIL
This system automatically turns off detail that is beginning to slow down your PC.
It  does this on the fly, turning off and on detail as you progress throughout the
sky.

AUTO WINDOW
This system is an alternate detailing system that offers the additional feature of
automatically  reducing  the  size of the window onto the outside world if your PC
cannot  handle the flight detail.  It does this on the fly reducing and increasing
the window size when necessary.

SCREEN FADES
Toggle  on  or  off.  Faster machines might like to leave this on - well, it looks
pretty.    However, slower PCs might benefit with this option turned off as screen
fades eat up CPU power.

JOYSTICK CALIBRATION
After  changing  the joystick option and choosing accept you will be asked to move
the  joystick controls in order to calibrate the game to your joystick.  On the PC
and  AMIGA  there  are  a  number of factors which can effect the operation of the
analogue  joystick  and it is necessary to go through this process in order to get
the best from it.  First, ensure that any auto-fire devices are turned off.  These
will not be useful in this simulation and will confuse the calibration process.

ALL JOYSTICKS
For all joysticks you will be asked to:

"Centre Stick & Press Fire Button"

Then you will be asked to:

"Move Stick thro' full movement & Press Fire Button"

Make  sure  that  you push the stick to its maximum deflection in each of the four
sides.    On some joysticks the maximum deflection is in the corners, on others it
is  in the middle of each edge, so to be certain of covering all the positions you
should  run along each edge and into each corner before pressing the joystick fire
button.    If the joystick is not connected then after a few seconds the following
message  is  displayed  and  the  keyboard  will be selected as the flight control
device.

"CALIBRATION ERROR"

"Press Enter"

You may also see the message:

"Warning Poor Calibration"

"Press Enter"

This  means  that  in  order  to  accommodate  a  small reading on one side of the
joystick  there will be a large dead area on the opposite side.  You may find that
flight  control  is still acceptable, in which case you may ignore the warning, or
you may wish to use the trim controls on your joystick to give better centreing.

This is the end of the joystick configuration for normal joysticks.

FLIGHTSTICK PRO AND THROTTLE CALIBRATION

For  the  FlightStick  Pro  and  Throttle  joysticks  there  are two extra request
screens.    These vary depending on whether you have also selected analogue rudder
pedals.

If you have not selected rudder the first screen reads:

"Min Throttle" "& Press Fire Button"

You  may  arbitrarily decide to make your throttle work in either direction so you
can choose either end as the minimum.

If you have also selected Rudder pedals then this request will read:

"Min Throttle", "Centre Pedals" "& Press Fire Button"

If  the  screen  times  out,  or  the  throttle  or  pedals cannot be detected the
following  message  is  displayed  and the keyboard will be selected as the flight
control device.

"CALIBRATION ERROR" "Press Enter"

If you have not selected rudder the second screen will then ask you:

"Max Throttle" "& Press Fire Button"

You  should  move  the  throttle  control  to  the opposite extreme then press the
joystick fire key.  If you have selected rudder the second screen will ask you:

"Max Throttle"

"Move Pedals thro' full movement & Press Fire Button"

As  well as moving the throttle to the opposite extreme you should also press down
each of the rudder pedals in turn before pressing the joystick fire key.

If the centring of the rudder pedals is poor then you may be warned:

"Warning: Poor Calibration" "Press Enter"

This  means that in order to accommodate a small reading on one side of the pedals
there  will  be  a large dead area on the opposite side.  You may find that flight
control  is still acceptable, in which case you may ignore the warning, or you may
wish  to  use  the  trim  controls  on  your pedals if you have any to give better
centring.

The coolie hat on the FlightStick Pro does not require calibrating.

THRUSTMASTER CALIBRATION

For  the  Thrustmaster  PFCS  coolie hat there are two additional request screens.
These vary depending on whether you have also selected analogue rudder pedals.

If you have not selected rudder the first Screen reads:

"Centre Coolie" "& Press Fire Button"

If you have rudder selected the screen will read:

"Centre Coolie", "Centre Pedals" "& Press Fire Button"

The  coolie  centre  position is the position it returns to when released.  If the
Screen  times  out,  or  the  coolie  hat  or  pedals  cannot be detected then the
following  message  is  displayed  and the keyboard will be selected as the flight
control device:

"CALIBRATION ERROR" "Press Enter"

NOTE:  If  you  have  also attached the WCS (Weapon Control System) you can either
calibrate  the PFCS as a standard joystick and use the keyboard mapping program to
activate  the coolie hat or set the mode switches to TEST and ANALOGUE on the WCS.

If you have not selected rudder the second screen will then ask you:

"Move Coolie thro full movement" "& Press Fire Button"

It is important that you push the coolie-hat into all four possible positions.

If you have selected rudder the second screen will then ask you:

"Move Coolie thro' full movement"

"Move Pedals thro full movement & Press Fire Button"

It  is important that you push the coolie hat into all four possible positions and
press  down  each  of  the rudder pedals in turn before pressing the joystick fire
key.

If the centring of the rudder pedals is poor then you may be warned:

"Warning Poor Calibration"

"Press Enter"

This  means that in order to accommodate a small reading on one side of the pcdals
there  will  be  a large dead area on the opposite side.  You may find that flight
control  is  still  acceptable in which case you may ignore the warning or you may
wish  to  use  the  trim  controls  on  your pedals if you have any to give better
centring.

If  you have Thrustmaster's WCS Mk II, which attaches to the keyboard port and can
emulate  the  keyboard  keys  that  control  the  throttle,  as  well as any other
functions, here are the keys that can be used for that unit:

/?            Boost throttle
.>            Max throttle
shift=+       Continuous large increases
pad +         Single large increase
=+            Continuous small increases
shift pad +   Single small increase
shift pad -   Single small decrease
-             Continuous small decreases
pad -         Single large decrease
Shift -_      Continuous large decreases
,<            Min throttle

RUDDER PEDALS

If  you have selected Thrustmaster or FlightStick then you have already configured
the  rudder.    If  you selected joystick and rudder pedals then the following two
additional screens will calibrate the rudder.  Screen 1 requests:

"Centre Pedals" "& Press Fire Button"

If  the  screen times out, or the pedals cannot be detected then following message
is displayed and the keyboard will be selected as the flight control device:

"CALIBRATION ERROR" "Press Enter"

The second Screen will then ask you:

"Move Pedals thro' full movement & Press Fire Button"

Press  down  each  of  the rudder pedals in turn before pressing the joystick fire
key.  If the centring of the rudder pedals is poor then you may be warned:

"Warning: Poor Calibration" "Press Enter"

This  means that in order to accommodate a small reading on one side of the pedals
there  will  be  a large dead area on the opposite side.  You may find that flight
control  is  still acceptable, in which case you may ignore the warning or you may
wish  to  use  the  trim  controls  on  your pedals if you have any to give better
centring.

JOYSTICK CONTROLS

The  basic joystick provides elevator (pitch) and aileron (roll) controls, and two
fire  buttons.    Button "A" fires the guns.  Button "B" switches between guns and
other weapon types.

There are two additional buttons fitted to many extended joysticks:

Button "C" switches to track view.

Button  "D"  steps  though  the  available  targets in "Nearest Friendly" "Nearest
Unfriendly", and "Nearest ground target" view.

When available the throttle controls the RPM of the aircraft.

When available, the four positions of the coolie hat are used to select additional
views and aircraft controls:

front:   engages and disengages boost
back:    engages and disengages air brakes
left:    switches to an inside lock view of anything currently being viewed
right:   switches to an outside lock view of anything currently being viewed

TECHNICAL INFORMATION FOR ADVANCED JOYSTICK USERS

It  is  possible to take advantage of the rudder throttle and additional fire keys
using  two  joysticks attached to a two port joystick card or using a joystick 'Y'
splitter.    Note that basic 'multi i/o' cards fitted as standard in many machines
often  only implement the standard two axes of one joystick, so a "Y" splitter, or
an  extended  joystick will not work with these cards.  On the second joystick the
trim  control  of  the "Y" pitch axis cqan be used as the throttle and the left to
right movement of the joystick can be used for rudder.  This is similar to a model
aircraft radio controller.  In addition the two extra buttons can be utilised.

The  joystick  configuration  data  is  held within the player record and could be
binary edited by the experienced user to define a more customised configuration of
the  joystick interface than is possible using the program.  This editing allows a
few  additional  permutations  of analogue devices to be created, the curve of the
stick  to be modified, clipping of noisy sticks, and the remapping of the joystick
switches to different keys.

The Joystick configuration block is in the SAVEGAME\*.SAV file.

There are numerous other game control flags in this file.

Changing  a  named  player  record,  eg SWORD.SAV, will only effect that game, but
modifying NEWPLAY.SAV will effect any new games.

The  joystick  block  starts  with the ascii text "STIK".  This is followed by the
translate  table  for  the  elevators.  This table is 64 bytes long and is indexed
with absolute joystick Y position scaled to the range 0 to 63.  It should return a
value  in  the  same range.  This is followed by six overflow entries for elevator
making 70 entries in total.

This  is followed by the translate table for the ailerons.  This table is 64 bytes
long and is indexed with absolute joystick X position scaled to the range 0 to 63.
It should return a value in the same range.

This is followed by six overflow entries for aileron to make 70 entries in total.

This  is  followed  by  the scaling and centring factors needed by the program for
each  stick axis.  These can vary depending on the speed of the machine, the brand
of  interface,  and  the  joystick itself.  Once set, however, it may be useful to
make  slight  modifications  to the values.  For each axis there is a word reading
for  the  centre,  and  a  word reading for the distance between centre and closer
edge.  The order of the words is:

CentreX1, CentreY1, DistanceX1, DistanceY1
CentreX2, CentreY2, DistanceX2, DistanceY2

This is followed by a word defining the current controller mode:

Basic modes:

  0    Keyboard
  1    2 axis joystick
  2    Y2 axis used for Throttle
  3    Y2 axis used for Thrustmaster coolie hat
 +4    X2 axis used for rudder
 +8    Button patterns used for FlightStick coolie hat

It  is  possible  therefore  to  use  rudder without joystick, the FlightStick Pro
button  patterns  with a normal 2 axis stick, or just the Flightstick switches and
no joystick.

This  is  followed  by  the  keyboard  mappings  for  the  various switches on the
joystick.  There are up to four buttons and four positions on the coolie hat.

Button  A  is  reserved  for  fire.    The other seven switches are encoded as two
consecutive  bytes  defining the scancode and simultaneous shift keys.  The values
for scancode can be found in PC references.  The values for shiftkeys are:

1  Normal key on its own
2  Shift key pressed simultaneously
4  Alt key pressed simultaneously
8  Ctrl key pressed simultaneously

Only  the  initial  press  event  is  detected  by  the  program  for  the  switch
translations,  so  they cannot be used to emulate keys that are normally held down
in use - such as the outside view rotates.

The order of the switch codes is:

Switch           Default use      Key        Encoding

Button B         Weap sel         PgUp        01 49
Button C         track view        F6         01 40
Button D         next viewee      Alt F       04 21
Coolie Left      Inside lock       F9         01 43
Coolie Back      air brakes         b         01 30
Coolie Right     Outside lock      F8         01 42
Coolie Forward   Boost rpm        slash       01 35

The encodings for the coolie hat are as follows:

Coolie hat        Thrustmaster        FlightStick
 position           axis Y2           Pro buttons

centred              100%
left                  75%                 AB-
back                  50%                 ABC-
right                 25%                 AB-D
forward                0%                 ABCD

Those  building  their  own  sticks  may like to note that our code allows +/- 10%
tolerence  in  the  Thrustmaster  position  reading,  and that the Flightstick Pro
blocks multiple button presses except for the patterns above for the coolie hat.

GATEHOUSE

This  is  where you can restart, save or quit the game.  If you have accessed this
screen  by mistake just click on "Continue" to return to the Tangmere menu screen.



PART FIVE - VIDEO EDITING SUITE
================================


TITLE BAR
This  strip  runs  along  the  top  of  the Video Editing Suite and tells you what
filename  the present video relates to, the Position (within RAM) that the current
video frame is in and the Last Page (of RAM) that the video ends at.


VIEW TYPE SELECTOR
The red label shown at the top of this box is the selected viewpoint.

INSIDE      - The view within the aircraft's cockpit
OUTSIDE     - The view outside your aircraft
CHASE       - As if you are flying behind your piloted aircraft in a "chase" plane
SATELLlTE   - A look down viewpoint
IN LOCK     - Locks on to an external object looking from your cockpit
OUT LOCK    - Locks  on to an  external object but this time you are looking at it
              from outside your aircraft


VIEWEE SELECTOR
The Selected viewee position is always shown in red text.

PILOT AC    - This shows the view in the aircraft's cockpit
NR GROUND   - This selection shows the nearest ground target to you
HOME BASE   - Shows Tangmere
NR UNFRND   - Shows the nearest enemy aircraft to your aircraft
NR FRIEND   - This option shows the nearest friendly to you


MOVEMENT BLOCK
Moving from left to right and then downwards the buttons are:

PLAY/PAUSE              - Play the video or pause it at a paticular frame.
MOVE FORWARD ONE FRAME  - Move the video film a single frame forwards
STOP                    - Stop the video
REWIND TO BEGINNING     - Rewind the video to the beginning of the entire video.
FAST REWIND             - Rewind the video at an accelerated pace
REWIND ONE SECTION      - Rewind the video one section
FORWARD ONE SECTION     - Move one section forwards
FAST FORWARD            - Move the video forward at an accelerated pace
FAST FORWARD TO END     - Move the video forward to the end of the entire video.

Note: A section is an area of EMS RAM totalling 16K in size.


ZOOM & ROTATE KEYS

H = Horizontal. The left and right arrow keys allow you to rotate left and right
V = Vertical. The up and down keys allow you to rotate up and down
Z = Zoom. The up and down keys allow you to zoom in and out.

NOTE.  With the rotation keys, click once to start the rotation and again to pause
the action.  When you click on either H, V or Z keys you will reset to the default
setting for that command.

MARKER BOX
All symbols [i e : 1, 2, 3,] within this block are keyboard hotkeys

Start Marker
START - Places Start Marker at the beginning of the video. That is, position 0
MARK  - Places Start Marker whereever you are on the video 'tape'.
GO    - Go directly to the Start Marker

Block Edit
NOTE  - The definition of a 'Block' is a section of video that has been braketed
        with a 'Start' and 'End' marker.
DEL   - Delete a block of video you no longer want.
WRITE - Write a block of video to disk.
READ  - Read a block to RAM. That is, this option allows you to insert ablock of
        video from the disk to the video already in RAM at the current position

File Edit
LOAD  - Remove a video in memory and load in a new video from the disk
SAVE  - Save the current video to disk
DEL   - Delete a video from the disk

End Marker
END   - Places the end marker at the very end of the entire video
MARK  - Place the End Marker wherever you are on the tape
GO    - Go to the End Marker


FLAGS
The  following  flags  work  in  conjunction  with  the other options on the Video
Editing  Suite.  All of the options are hot-keyed to respond to their flrst letter
(eg : the hot key for Viewee fix is "V").

VIEWEE FIX/FREE  - Toggled as "fixed" or "free", this option moves the view to the
                   nearest object (ie Free) or fixes the viewpoint  to the nearest
                   object and then fixes upon it, following it wherever it goes.
                   The latter option is handy to follow an aircraft within a crowd
                   ed sky.
COCKPIT OFF/ON   - Toggles the cockpit on or off. When "off " the cockpit dis-
                   appears and you get a 'window' onto the outside view.
TIME NORM/ACCEL  - Gives you normal time or accelerated time
NEXT ITEM        - If you have selected the VIEWEE FIX option then this selection
                   moves your view to the next available "fixed" item.
MSL VW OFF/ON    - This toggles the missile (which can be a rocket/bomb/gun) on
                   or off. If "On" will follow launches that have been recorded
IMPT VW OFF/ON   - If toggled "On" then just before your weapon hits the target
                   you are whisked to the target to see it blow up and expel smoke
                   etc. Then you are taken straight back whence you came.


PART SIX - THE VIEW MATRIX
==========================

One  of  the  most  important features within Overlord is the large amount of wide
ranging  viewpoints  that  can be accessed whilst flying your aircraft.  The sheer
amount  of  viewpoints  on  offer  is  staggering and potentially confusing to the
beginner.    However,  once  you  have  become  accustomed  to  the  game and have
experimented  with  the various viewpoints (see the Keyboard Reference charts) you
will  be  able to use the View Matrix, as the Overlord viewing system is known, to
your advantage (see below).

It  must  be  stressed,  however,  that the View Matrix is not, merely, a bunch of
random  viewpoints thrown together haphazardly.  The View Matrix is unique in that
it allows you to select a view, then it requests how you would like to modify that
view to your own satisfaction.  The large amount of viewable combinations that are
possible  using  this system gives you just about any scene you could wish to have
at  any  position  in  the  sky  and  in  response to any situation that you might
encounter.

To  give  you  some  idea of what can be achieved using the View Matrix let's take
three mission profiles to act as vehicles for the viewable options.

AIR COMBAT
To begin with from the initial main Tangmere menu, select the Tower.

Then select the default mission to get up into the air.

Once  up  in  the air, with the sky full of unfriendly aircraft, press the <ENTER>
key  to  get  an Outside Lock of the nearest unfriendly aircraft.  Because you can
see  the  piloted  aircraft  in the foreground it is easy to understand the combat
situation.

Next  type  <ALT f> to step through the enemy aircraft in the sky.  This gives you
some idea of what you are up against in terms of total numbers.

Once you've spotted your target aircraft you can obtain a track view by pressing
<f6>.

To get a different viewpoint of this aircraft you can press <ENTER> again to
obtain an Outside Lock of the target aircraft.

Now  that  the  enemy  aircraft have been examined you will want to manoeuvre your
aircraft into a favourable position to press home your attack.  A rear attack, for
example.  You may wish to press "7" for a traditional cockpit view.

Once  you  have  positioned yourself into this favourable position you may wish to
revert to the Inside Combat Lock to prosecute the kill <BACKSPACE>.

The  Inside  Combat  Lock  is  invaluable to maintain a visual fix on your target,
especially  if  they  decide  to  manoeuvre away from you.  If you get disoriented
pressing <ENTER> to get the Outside Lock will allow you to become oriented.

If  another  enemy  becomes  a threat you can also use <ALT F> to target it.  This
view  shows  a  possible threat which is present over your left shoulder.  You can
see part of your seat, the bogie is still a small dot on the horizon.

Pressing <SHIFT F> will free the lock so that the view is automatically changed to
the  nearest  aircraft.    This will prevent surprises.  However, you will have to
balance the advantages that this view can offer with the possible disadvantages of
the view changing just as you are about to make a kill.


GROUND TARGET

Now  for a ground mission let's hit a bridge.  Select this mission via the current
operating conditions' screen (P 165).  To begin the mission, you must select bombs
via the weapon selector <PG Up>.

To  take  a  look  at the target, as you approach the bridge, select <SHIFT F8> to
move to the inside lock of the target.

If you need to shift to the front cockpit instruments hit "7".

Check  out  your  situation and then fly until the target is 90o relative bearing.
Next,  you  must  wing over to get the bridge onto the centre screen.  This should
involve  a  dive.    When  bomb  aiming,  the cross hair should just be behind the
target.

There's  a  wide  selection  of  views  that  can  be utilised at this point.  For
example, <F8> will give you an Outside Lock of the target.

<F6> gives you another view, the Track View of the target.  Here, you can see that
your  wingmen  are  already  attacking  the bridge, this attack resulted in a near
miss.

"X"  gives  you a Missile viewpoint, In effect, in this case, you follow the bombs
down to the ground.

Selecting "Z" gives you the Impact toggle to give you a close up view point of the
target as it is hit.


SWEEP

To finish this brief look at the View Matrix let us fly a typical Rodeo Sweep over
the French coast.  Select this mission via the current operating conditions screen
(P 165).

Once  in  the  air key <SHIFT F9> to check out the nearest ground target.  In this
case it's a juicy E Boat.

Switching  to  <F6>  gives  you  a  close up view of the E Boat within the nearest
target Track View.

Then  <ALT  F>  steps  through  each  of  the  remaining  targets that lie in your
immediate  area.   This allows you to quickly change your mind and re-target.  For
example, here's a train.

On  the  other hand, you might want to hit the "M" key to access the in flight map
and select a new target this way.

When  you  have  finally  made your decision (we'll stick with the E-Boat for now)
regarding  your  selected target you can select <F8> to get an Outside Lock of the
target.    No,  we haven't made a mistake, your aircraft isn't that target.  The E
Boat  target is shown at some distance.  However, your aircraft is in shot to give
you a relative bearing as to the position of your aircraft and its target.

Then you can fly towards the target to finalise your attack position.  To help you
to  establish  your  perfect attack posture try hitting <F9> to move to the Inside
Lock and then initiate the attack.

GENERAL ADVICE FOR VIEW KEYS:

The shift & Function plus Shift & Numeric keys give you a view of something.

The number and function keys by themselves define what you want to do with that
view.



PART SEVEN - KEYBOARD REFERENCE
===============================

NORMAL KEYS
-----------

1................ Increases the keyboard flight control sensitivity
2................ Decreases the keyboard flight control sensitivity
5................ A view of the rear of your aircrafts cockpit from inside
6................ A view of the left of your aircrafts cockpit from inside
7................ A view of the front of your aircrafts cockpit from inside
8................ A view of the right of your aircrafts cockpit from inside
9................ A view of the rear of your aircrafts cockpit from inside
0................ Brings you back to your cockpit from an outside viewpoint
-................ Reduce your RPM continuously, in small increments
+................ Increase your RPM continuously, in small increments
BACKSPACE........ Inside Combat Lock
TAB.............. Acceleration time toggle
W................ Wheel brake
E................ External fuel toggle switch (switches fuel from external tanks)
R................ When at an external viewpoint and using the F2 and F3 keys to
                  rotate around the aircraft, this key will increase the speed of
                  that rotation
T................ Autopilot will fire the guns for you. It works only when the
                  autopilot is switched on.
P................ Pause
[................ Look up towards the rear-view mirror
]................ Look down to see instrumentation
ENTER............ The Outside Combat Lock looks across your aircraft towards the
                  nearest unfriendly.
A................ Autopilot
S................ Sound toggle (There are three levels: off, no engine sounds &
                  engine sounds)
F................ Flaps
G................ Gear
J................ Increase the rate of fire to guns
K................ Decrease the rate of fire to guns
;................ Previous Waypoint
'................ Next Waypoint
Z................ Impact Viewpoint. Automicatically switches the views to any
                  target your weapons hit
X................ Missile Viewpoint. Automatically switches the views to any
                  weapons you fire
V................ Video toggle
B................ Air Brake toggle
M................ Map screen
,................ Minimum Power setting
................. Maximum Power setting
SPACE............ Fire
/................ Boost. Excessive use of the boost causes engine damage.
F1............... Zoom In
F2............... Rotate vertically around your aircraft whilst at an external
                  viewpoint
F3............... Rotate horizontally around your aircraft whilst at an external
                  viewpoint
F4............... External Chase position
F5............... Establishes a view of your aircraft with the camera maintaining
                  absolute heading and pitch
F6............... External Track viewpoint in which the camera pitches and turns
                  with the aircraft
F7............... External Satellite viewpoint
F8............... Gives the view across your aircraft to the selected target
F9............... View from your aircrafts cockpit of the selected target.
F10.............. Configuration menus


NUMERIC KEYPAD AND CURSOR CLUSTER

ESCAPE............ Return to the piloted aircraft
HOME (7).......... Weapon Ripple select
PAGE UP (9)....... Weapon select
END (1)........... Full rudder deflection, Left
PAGE DOWN (3)..... Full rudder deflection, Right
INSERT (0)........ Gradual rudder deflection, Left
DELETE (.)........ Gradual rudder deflection, Right
DWN ARROW (2)..... Climb
LFT ARROW (4)..... Roll to left
RGT ARROW (6)..... Roll to right
UP ARROW (8)...... Dive
- ................ Decreases your RPM by single, large increments
+ ................ Increases your RPM by single, large increments


'SHIFT &' KEYS

1.................. A view of Flight 1 while keeping control of your aircraft
2.................. As 1 but for Flight 2
3.................. As 1 but for Flight 3
4.................. As 1 but for Flight 4
5.................. As 1 but for Flight 5
6.................. As 1 but for Flight 6
7.................. As 1 but for Flight 7
8.................. As 1 but for Flight 8
9.................. A view of your wingman
0.................. View of the lead flight
- ................. Reduce your RPM by double the normal amount
+ ................. Increase your RPM by double the normal amount
TAB................ Super Acceleration time key [normal acceleration restricting
                    events such as approaching enemy aircraft will not affect this
                    option]
F.................. Toggle the Fixed viewpoint on current aircraft. In fixed Mode,
                    if you have switched to the nearest unfriendly view the
                    aircraft shown will always be selected, even if another
                    unfriendly gets closer, until its destroyed, In Free Mode the
                    nearest or current viewed object will be reselected if
                    another comes closer.
;.................. Position information
F1................. Tangmere - View of your home base
F2................. Missile - View of the missile you just launched
F3................. Nearest friendly - View of the nearest friendly aircraft.
F4................. Nearest enemy - View of the nearest unfriendly aircraft
F5................. Current enemy - View of the object you have been assigned
                    to attack, according to the on-screen messages
F6................. Last message - View of the last friendly aircraft to send you a
                    message
F7................. Message about - View of the object that the last message refers
                    to.
F8................. Ground target - View of the object that you should attack next
F9................. Nearest target - A list of possible ground targets



NUMERIC KEYPAD

ESCAPE............. Returns to your own aircraft from another viewpoint but
                    retains the viewpoint you had last. For example, if you were
                    looking behind an enemy aircraft this option would return
                    you to behind your own aircraft.
-.................. Decreases your RPM by the normal amount
+.................. Increases your RPM by the normal amount
8, 4, 6 & 2........ Inside View directions, 8 = Front view.



'CTRL &' KEYS

1................. Jump into the cockpit of Flight 1 leader and take control as
                   the pilot
2................. Jump into the cockpit of Fiight 2 leader and take control [some
                   missions will only have one flight]
3................. Allows you to jump into the cockpit of Flight 3 leader and take
                   control [many missions only have one or two flights]
4................. Jump into the cockpit of Flight 4 leader and take control [most
                   missions have less than four flights]
5................. Jump into the cockpit of Flight 5 leader and take control [few
                   missions have more than four flights]
6................. Jump into the cockpit of Flight 6 leader and take control [few
                   missions have more than four flights]
7................. Jump into the cockpit of Flight 7 leader and take control [few
                   missions have more than four flights]
8................. Jump into the cockpit of Flight 8 leader and take control [few
                   missions have more than four flights]
9................. Jump into the cockpit of your flight Buddy and take control. If
                   you are in the flight leaders aircraft then you will be taken
                   to the wing man. If you are in the wing-mans aircraft you will
                   be taken back to the flight leaders aircraft.
0................. Jump into the cockpit of the mission lead aircraft and take
                   control [as long as this is not a bomber]
Q................. Bail Out. You can only bail out of the aircraft if you turn your
                   aircraft upside down. No wing-walking here!
E................. Dump external fuel. The tanks automatically switch to internal
                   fuel at this point.
R................. When at an external viewpoint and using the F2 and F3 keys to
                   rotate around the aircraft, this key will decrease the speed
                   of that rotation
D................. Manually toggle the 3d detail to suit your machine
F................. Reset the Fixed viewpoint on current aircraft in order that you
                   move to the nearest aircraft [Only works in Fixed mode - In
                   Free mode you are always viewing the nearest]
G................. If the gear is locked in the up position either repeatedly press
                   G to simulate manual pumping of the gear pumps or try this key
                   combination to simulate the use of Carbonic Acid. This bottle
                   of chemicals created a reaction when used to produce a sharp
                   burst of gas pressure which could lower your gear due to lockage
V................. Resets video to start and begins recording
F1................ Reset zoom
F2................ Reset the upwards rotate rate to initial positions
F3................ Reset the sideways rotate rate to initial positions
F8................ Locks the view across your aircraft to the selected item
F9................ Locks the view from in front of your aircraft to the selected
                   item
F10............... Increases the rate of flight acceleration


'ALT &' KEYS

X................. Exit Flight
R................. When at an external viewpoint and using the F2 and F3 keys to
                   rotate around the aircraft, this key will increase the speed
                   of that rotation
D................. Automatically selects the level of detail suitable for your
                   machine
F................. Moves to the next nearest fixed view object [Onlyworks in
                   Fixed mode]
F1................ Zoom out
F2................ Rotate down around your aircraft whilst on an external
                   viewpoint
F3................ Rotate left around your aircraft whilst on an external
                   viewpoint
F4................ External Chase position (this key combination duplicates F4]
F5................ View looking away from the outside of your aircraft with
                   absolute heading and pitch
F6................ View looking away from the outside of your aircraft with
                   pitches and turns with your aircraft
F7................ View looking down from your aircraft
F8................ View looking from your aircraft to the selected target
F10............... Slows the rate of flight acceleration



KEYS BY SUBJECT VIEWPOINTS

5................. A view of the rear of your aircrafts cockpit, from inside
6................. A view of the left of your aircrafts cockpit, from inside
7................. A view of the front of your aircrafts cockpit, from inside
8................. A view of the right of your aircrafts cockpit, from inside
9................. A view of the rear of your aircrafts cockpit, from inside
0................. Brings you back to your cockpit from an outside viewpoint
BACKSPACE......... Inside Combat Lock
R................. When at an external viewpoint and using the F2 and F3 keys
                   to rotate around the aircraft, this key will increase the
                   speed of that rotation
CTRL R............ When at an external viewpoint and using the F2 and F3 keys
                   to rotate around the aircraft, this key will decrease the
                   speed of that rotation
ALT R............. When at an external viewpoint and using the F2 and F3 keys
                   to rotate around the aircraft, this key will increase the
                   speed of that rotation
[................. Look up towards the rear-view mirror
]................. Look down to see instrumentation
ENTER............. The Outside Combat Lock looks across your aircraft towards
                   the nearest unfriendly


VIEWPOINTS

Z................. Impact Viewpoint. Automicatically switches the views to any
                   target your weapons hit
X................. Missile Viewpoint. Automatically switches the views to any
                   weapons you fire
F1................ Zoom in
ALT F1............ Zoom out
CTRL F1........... Reset zoom
F2................ Rotate vertically around your aircraft whilst at an external
                   viewpoint
ALT F2............ Rotate down around your aircraft whilst on an external
                   viewpoint
CTRL F2........... Reset the upwards rotate to initial positions
F3................ Rotate horizontally around your aircraft whilst at an external
                   viewpoint
ALT F3............ Rotate left around your aircraft whilst on an external viewpoint
CTRL F3........... Reset the sideways rotate rate to initial positions
F4................ External Chase position
F5................ Establishes a view of your aircraft with the camera maintaining
                   absolute heading and pitch
ALT F5............ View looking away from the outside of your aircraft with
                   absolute heading and pitch
F6................ External Track viewpoint in which the camera pitches and turns
                   with the aircraft
ALT F6............ View looking away from the outside of your aircraft which
                   pitches and turns with your aircraft
F7................ External Satellite viewpoint
ALT F7............ View looking down from your aircraft
F8................ Gives the view across your aircraft to the selected target
ALT F8............ View looking from your aircraft to the selected target
F9................ View from your aircrafts cockpit of the selected target.
ESCAPE............ Return to the piloted aircraft
SHIFT 1........... A view of Flight 1 while keeping control of your aircraft
SHIFT 2........... As 1 but for Flight 2
SHIFT 3........... As 1 but for Flight 3
SHIFT 4........... As 1 but for Flight 4
SHIFT 5........... As 1 but for Flight 5
SHIFT 6........... As 1 but for Flight 6
SHIFT 7........... As 1 but for Flight 7
SHIFT 8........... As 1 bet for Flight 8
SHIFT 9........... A view of your wingman
SHIFT 0........... View of the lead flight
SHIFT F........... Toggle the Fixed viewpoint on current aircraft. In Fixed Mode
                   if you have switched to the nearest unfriendly view the air-
                   craft shown will always be selected, even if another unfriendly
                   gets closer, until its destroyed. In Free Mode the nearest or
                   current viewed object will be reselected if another comes closer
ALT F............. Moves to the next nearest fixed view object [Only works in
                   Fixed mode]
CTRL F............ Reset the Fixed viewpoint on current aircraft in order that you
                   move to the nearest aircraft [Only works in Fixed mode - in
                   Free mode you are always viewing the nearest]
SHIFT F1.......... Tangmere - View of your home Base
SHIFT F2.......... Missile - View of the missile you just launched
SHIFT F3.......... Nearest friendly - View of the nearest friendly aircraft
SHIFT F4.......... Nearest enemy - View of the nearest unfriendly aircraft
SHIFT F5.......... Current enemy - View of the object you have been assigned
                   to attack, according to the on-screen messages
SHIFT F6.......... Last message - View of the last friendly aircraft to send you a
                   message
SHIFT F7.......... Message about- View of the object that the last message refers
                   to
SHIFT F8.......... Ground target - View of the object that you should attack next
SHIFT F9.......... Nearest target - A list of possible ground targets
SHIFT ESCAPE...... Returns to your own aircraft from another viewpoint but retains
                   the viewpoint you had last. For example, if you were looking
                   behind an enemy aircraft this option would return you to behind
                   your own aircraft



VIEWPOINTS [NUMERIC KEY PAD] SHIFT

8, 4, 6 & 2....... Inside View directions, 8 = Front
CTRL F8........... Locks the view across your aircraft to the selected item
CTRL F9........... Locks the view from in front of your aircraft to the selected
                   item
ALT F4............ External Chase position (this key combination duplicates F4]



ACCELERATION CONTROLS

TAB............... Acceleration time toggle
SHIFTTAB.......... Super Acceleration time key [normal acceleration restricting
                   events such as approaching enemy aircraft will not affect this
                   option]
CTRL F10.......... Increases the rate of flight acceleration
ALT F10........... Slows the rate of the flight acceleration



GEAR

W................. Wheel brake
G................. Gear
CTRL G............ If the gear is locked in the up position either repeatedly
                   press G to simulate manual pumping of the gear pumps or try
                   this key combination to simulate the use of Carbonic Acid.
                   This bottie of chemicals created a reaction when used to
                   produce a sharp burst of gas pressure which could lower
                   your gear due to lockage


FLIGHT CONTROLS

UP ARROW (8)...... Elevator forward (Dive)
DWN ARROW (2)..... Elevator down (Climb)
LFT ARROW (4)..... Aileron (roll) left
RGT ARROW (6)..... Aileron (roll) right
END (1)........... Full rudder deflection, Left
PAGE DOWN (3)..... Full rudder deflection, Right
INSERT (0)........ Gradual rudder deflection, Left
DELETE (.)........ Gradual rudder deflection, Right
8, 4, 6, & 2...... Keyboard flight keys
1................. Increases the keyboard flight control sensitivity
2................. Decreases the keyboard flight control sensitivity
F................. Flaps
B................. Air Brake toggle
CTRL 1............ Jump into the cockpit of Flight 1 leader and take control as
                   the pilot
CTRL 2............ Jump into the cockpit of Flight 2 leader and take control
                   [Some missions will only have one flight]
CTRL 3............ Allows you to jump into the cockpit of Flight 3 leader and
                   take control [many missions only have one or two flights]
CTRL 4............ Jump into the cockpit of Flight 4 leader and take control
                   [Few missions have less than four flights]
CTRL 5............ Jump into the cockpit of Flight 5 leader and take control
                   [Few missions have more than four flights]
CTRL 6............ Jump into the cockpit of Flight 6 leader and take control
                   [Few missions have more than four flights]
CTRL 7............ Jump into the cockpit of Flight 7 leader and take control
                   [Few missions have more than four flights]
CTRL 8............ Jump into the cockpit of Flight 8 leader and take control
                   [Few missions have more than four flights]
CTRL 9............ Jump into the cockpit of your flight Buddy and take control.
                   If you are in the flight leaders aircraft then you will be
                   taken to the wing-man. If you are in the wing-mans aircraft
                   you will be taken back to the flight leaders aircraft
CTRL 0............ Jump into the cockpit of the mission lead aircraft and take
                   control [as long as this is not a bomber]
CTRL Q............ Bail Out. You can only bail out of the aircraft if you turn
                   your aircraft upside down. No wing-walking here!



ENGINE CONTROLS
, ................ Minimum Power setting
. ................ Maximum Power setting
/ ................ Boost, Excessive use of the boost causes engine damage
E................. External fuel toggle switch (switches the fuel feed to the
                   external tank)
CTRL E............ Dump external fuel. The tanks automatically switch to the
                   internal fuel at this point
- ................ Reduce your RPM continuously, in small increments
+ ................ Increase your RPM continuously, in small increments
SHIFT- ........... Reduce your RPM by double the normal amount
SHIFT + .......... Increase your RPM by double the normal amount

[NUMERIC KEY PAD]

- ................ Decreases your RPM by single, large increments
+ ................ Increases your RPM by single, large increments
SHIFT- ........... Decreases your RPM by the normal amount
SHIFT+ ........... Increases your RPM by the normal amount



GENERAL CONTROLS

A................. Autopilot
T................. Autopilot that will fire the guns for you. It works only when
                   the autopilot is switched on
P................. Pause
S................. Sound toggle (There are three levels: off, no engine sounds &
                   engine sounds)
V................. Video toggle
CTRL V............ Resets video to start and begins recording
F10............... Configuration menus
CTRL D............ Manually toggle the 3D detail to suit your machine
ALT D............. Automatically selects the level of details suitable for your
                   machine
ALT X............. Exit flight



WEAPONS CONTROLS

J................. Increase the rate of fire to guns
K................. Decrease the rate of fire to guns
SPACE............. Fire

[NUMERIC KEY PAD]

HOME.............. Weapon Ripple select
PAGE UP........... Weapon select



WAYPOINTS & MAPS

; ................ Previous Waypoint
, ................ Next Waypoint
M................. Map screen
SHIFT; ........... Position information



CREDITS

Programming Team:         Paul Dunscombe, Rod Hyde, Chris Orton, James Taylor
                          Steve Tickle, Dave Whiteside

Artwork:                  Mark Shaw, Andy McCann

Others:

Music:                    Martin Walker
Manual Text:              Paul Rigby
Pack and Manual Design:   Definition
Pack Illustration:        Philip Castle
Shape file:               Andy McCann
World file:               Mary Hyde

Photo Ref: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Photo Archives
Compression:   LZEXE: Bellard, France - PKZIP: Pkware Inc, USA

Testing:                  Andrew McCann, Mark Shaw, Tony Hinds, Paul Welton
                          Mike Wenn, Tony Byus, Carl Perrin, Richard Hewison
                          Paul Coppins, John Martin

Virgin Team:

Marketing:                Danielle Woodyatt & Doug Johns
Design Co-ordinator:      Matthew Walker
Production Co-ordinator:  Rosemarie Dalton
Production Assistant:     Rizwan Khan
Producers:                John Roberts(ex), Jon Norledge

'Meetin the Beast' on Page 101, taken from 'The Big Show' by Pierre Clostermann
                         Published by Chatto & Windus