SZ/AEAF/7/1/3 - Minutes of the meeting held in the Defence Map Room on Thursday, 13th April, 1944, at 10.30 pm, 14/4/44

SZ/AEAF/7/1/3

Item

Minutes of the meeting held in the Defence Map Room on Thursday, 13th April, 1944, at 10.30 pm, 14/4/44

1944

6 leaves

Great Britain. War Cabinet. Defence Committee (Operations).

The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. In addition to members of the committee Air Chief Marshals Tedder and Leigh-Mallory, Air Marshal Bottomley, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, and SZ were in attendance.

The meeting considered a paper, D.O. (44) 7, which was a note by the Chief of the Air Staff and a revised list of targets with estimates of casualties like to be incurred by attacks on them. It also discussed a report in the Press on 13/4/44 that the fighter strength of the German Air Force was greater than it had been in November 1943 and the circumstances in which such a report had appeared.

The committee authorised attacks on rail centres for another week, the policy to be re considered, in the light of results achieved, casulties caused, and the reaction of the French people, at a meeting on 20/4/44, and "invited" the Chief of the Air Staff to arrange for warning leaflets and broadcasts addressed to the French and Belgian populations to be issued, and to liaise with the French Committee of National Liberation and canvass its views.

The committee also authorises " a greater weight of attack" on Crossbow (V. weapon) targets and "invited" the Secretary of State for Air to prepare a report on the press report on German fighter strength.