Operation Bolero

What later became the Bolero plan – the buildup of a strategic air force in the United Kingdom, in preparation for Roundup – was first submitted by Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces, Henry H. Arnold, to General George Marshall, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, on April 12, 1942, and set in motion a huge movement of men and material that laid the groundwork for Operation Overlord.

A combined committee of key British and American logistical officers worked in both Washington, D.C., and London planning the build-up, to co-ordinate the effort on the highest level.

Lee would spend two weeks in Washington on initial planning and key staff, and then fly to England to build the operation, and begin work on the hundreds of bases, airfields, warehouses, depots, hospitals, and storage tanks that would support the 3 million U.S. military personnel eventually coming overseas.

These groups were gathered on the east coast in what was termed the "concentration area" to stage for the overseas flights via the northern ferry route.

920 airplanes had been sent from the United States to England by the end of 1942, and 882 had arrived safely, almost all of them delivered by their combat crews and not specialized ferry command personnel.

In London the Bolero Committee drew up plans for the accommodation of 1,147,000 troops, including 137,000 replacements, in the United Kingdom by the end of March 1943.