HyperWar: A Hypertext History of the Second World War, by Patrick Clancey

[Richard T Eger]

These are Patrick's introductory comments about the HyperWar site:

"I envision the end result of this project (I should live so long!) to be a collection of material related to the (primarily military) history of the Second World War, completely cross-referenced via hypertext links and enhanced, where appropriate, by various multi-media computer technologies, such as sound, movies, Java applets, etc. I aim to include HTML anchors for page numbers, sections, and various other points, in order to facilitate links to this material from external sites -- please feel free to link in!
Note, however, that the Foundation is not restricted to covering the Second World War: "targets of opportunity" may result in individual documents/histories of interest being included on the site. To that end, the directory structure is being expanding to cover American history in the 17th thru 21st centuries. A specific example being the report ( http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/...ort/ ) of the special commission that investigated the bombing of the US Marine headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983, which was prepared at the request of the US Naval Historical Center for their web site on terrorism--and, naturally, included under the HyperWar site. The recent publication on CD-ROM of "The United States Army in World War I" will facilitate converting that history to HTML and including it here. Serendipity is a wonderful thing...

The source of the material presented here is almost exclusively U.S. Government produced, -- and therefor U.S.-oriented. This choice was made to avoid any copyright issues, and because of my relative familiarity with the material and American outlook on the war. It is not my intention to slight the valor and sacrifice of the other members of the Grand Alliance, just to acknowledge that others are better able to address these aspects of the war. Additional material in the form of tables or "databases" I have/will compile myself. "Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-45" ( http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-ships.html ) is an example.

My personal interest, and therefor the primary focus for Phase I of this project, is the war against Japan, aka the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO). This will likely be followed by material relating to the China-Burmi-India (CBI) theater. And then, if I'm not too feeble to pound the keyboard, by the Atlantic, North African, and European theaters.

This is clearly an undertaking far beyond the part-time resources of one person. Therefor, I am always happy to receive contribution, corrections, additions, and suggestions ( email me at patrick@akamail.com ).

I have already discovered that, in addition to providing an "academic" resource, this project has generated a good deal of personal contact from veterans and their descendents. I have, and will continue to, respond to all queries to the best of my ability -- or to steer the questions toward resources better able to respond. While this adds to the work load, it also provides an unexpected reward that makes it all worthwhile."

The site address is:

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/#eto

While viewed from the U.S. side, the section on Air Campaigns in the European Theater of Operations provides some valuable reference material. Here is the index to this section:

"United States Strategic Bombing Survey: Summary Report (Europe)

Strategic Air Offensive against Germany, Volume 1: Preparation, Webster, Charles and Noble Frankland. [UK Military Series: History of the Second World War]
Strategic Air Offensive against Germany, Volume 2: Endeavour, Webster, Charles and Noble Frankland. [UK Military Series: History of the Second World War]
Strategic Air Offensive against Germany, Volume 3: Victory, Webster, Charles and Noble Frankland. [UK Military Series: History of the Second World War]
Strategic Air Offensive against Germany, Volume 4: Annexes and Appendices, Webster, Charles and Noble Frankland. [UK Military Series: History of the Second World War]

The Royal Air Force, 1939-1945, Volume 1. Fight at Odds, Richards, Denis. [UK Military Series: History of the Second World War]
The Royal Air Force, 1939-1945, Volume 2. Fight Avails, Richards, Denis and Hilary Saunders. [UK Military Series: History of the Second World War]
The Royal Air Force, 1939-1945, Volume 3. Fight is Won, Saunders, Hilary St George. [UK Military Series: History of the Second World War]

Vol. 1 -- Plans and Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942 [The Army Air Forces in World War II]
Vol. 2 -- Europe: TORCH to POINTBLANK, August 1942 to December 1943 [The Army Air Forces in World War II]
Vol. 3 -- Europe: ARGUMENT to V-E Day, January 1944 to May 1945 [The Army Air Forces in World War II]

Sunday Punch in Normandy: The Tactical Use of Heavy Bombardment in the Normandy Invasion [Wings at War Series, No. 2]

The Battle Against the U-Boat in the American Theater [The U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II]
Leaping the Atlantic Wall: Army Air Forces Campaigns in Western Europe, 1942-1945 [The U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II]
Preemptive Defense: Allied Air Power Versus Hitler's V-Weapons, 1943-1945 [The U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II]
D-Day 1944: Air Power Over the Normandy Beaches and Beyond [The U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II]

Origins of the Eighth Air Force: Plans, Organization, Doctrines
The Early Operations of the Eighth Air Force and the Origins of the Combined Bomber Offensive, 17 August 1942 to 10 June 1943
The Combined Bomber Offensive, April thru December 1943
The Combined Bomber Offensive, 1 January to 6 June 1944
Special Operations: AAF Aid to European Resistance Movements, 1943-1945
The War Against the Luftwaffe: AAF Counter-Air Operations, April 1943-June 1944
Tactical Operations of the Eighth Air Force, 6 June 1944-8 May 1945
Ninth Air Force in the ETO [European Theater of Operations], 16 October 1943 to 16 April 1944

Recon in XIX Tactical Air Command, Report, 1945"

Regards,
Richard