Published Aerospace Power Journal - Winter  2000

The Quest: Haywood Hansell and American Strategic Bombing in World War II by Charles Griffith. Air University Press (http://www.au.af.mil/au/oas/aupress ), 131 West Shumacher Avenue, Maxwell AFB, Alabama 36112-6615, 1999, 226 pages.

Of all the “Great Captains of Airpower” produced by World War II, only one—Maj Gen Haywood Hansell Jr.—is remembered more for a lone failure than for his many triumphs. Dismissed as commander of the Mariana Islands–based XXI Bomber Command in January 1945, Hansell is regarded by some historians as the man who bungled the initial bombing campaign against Japan, setting the stage for his replacement by the estimable Curtis LeMay.

Unfortunately, that simplistic summary does a grave disservice to a man who made incalculable contributions to the development of airpower and the United States Air Force. Half a century later, many analysts have forgotten Hansell’s instrumental role in creating Air War Plans Division—Plan 1, the blueprint for American aircraft production and employment during World War II; his pioneering work in establishing the Army Air Corps’s first intelligence division; his dauntless leadership of two bombardment wings in the European theater; and (finally) his herculean efforts in getting the B-29 into combat. Such achievements clearly dwarf Hansell’s setback at XXI Bomber Command, dictating the need for a more detailed—and balanced—account of his life and career.

Fortunately, military historian Charles Griffith has satisfied this requirement with The Quest, a comprehensive, independent assessment of General Hansell’s varied roles as Air Corps officer, campaign planner, combat leader, and airpower visionary. In fewer than 230 pages of text and footnotes, Dr. Griffith does an admirable job of tracing his subject’s evolution from daredevil pursuit pilot (Hansell was an original member of Claire Chennault’s pioneering aerial-demonstration team in the 1930s), to wartime bomber commander, to tireless airpower advocate (in retirement) whose writings and speeches influenced future generations of air strategists.

Carefully researched and written, The Quest offers a fascinating portrait of a complex man. The Haywood Hansell who emerges in Griffith’s book is a study in contrasts: a man who combined an engineer’s rational mind with an incurable romantic streak, and a key member of Hap Arnold’s inner circle who, nonetheless, remained something of an outsider to the very end. Gen Ira Eaker considered Hansell “nervous” and “high-strung.” Gen Barney Giles, Arnold’s deputy, regarded General Hansell as a “brilliant staff officer” but fought against his selection as leader of XXI Bomber Command, opining that Hansell was “not a tactical commander.” Griffith’s passages highlight the sometimes tense relationships within the Air Corps hierarchy and suggest the need for a separate volume on Arnold’s staff, along the lines of Douglas Southall Freeman’s Lee’s Lieutenants.

Against this backdrop, Dr. Griffith traces the climactic battles of General Hansell’s career as he struggled to launch the B-29 campaign against Japan. In retrospect, as the author reminds us, Haywood Hansell faced a virtually impossible task, trying to implement a strategic bombing campaign with green crews and untested aircraft against enemy targets more than a thousand miles away. Factor in maintenance problems, logistics nightmares, and a unique command relationship (Hansell reported directly to the always-impatient Hap Arnold), and the reader soon discovers that the seeds of Hansell’s dismissal were sown almost from the moment he took command of the fledgling B-29 force.

Although Griffith does a solid job of recounting General Hansell’s triumphs and tragedies, The Quest still falls short in several areas. First, the book never fully explores the mercurial relationship between “Possum” Hansell and General Arnold, the man who served as both patron and executioner during his subordinate’s career. Hansell’s dismissal in the Pacific came less than two years after Arnold lobbied personally for his return to the Air Corps staff. Was General Hansell merely a scapegoat for early difficulties in the B-29 campaign, or did General Arnold secretly share the view that Hansell wasn’t up to the rigors of command? Dr. Griffith lays much of the blame for Hansell’s firing on officers who had Arnold’s ear (Gen Willis Hale, Gen Lauris Norstad, and Col Emmett “Rosie” O’Donnell), but a better analysis of the Arnold-Hansell relationship would explain why General Arnold sacked a commander who previously enjoyed his full confidence.

Additionally, Griffith spends little time on Hansell’s recall to active duty during the Korean War and his subsequent promotion to major general. Since Hansell worked in the Pentagon’s Military Assistance Program, we can only assume that he (again) crossed paths with former colleagues and rivals, yet there is no real assessment of how past events affected his “second” career in the independent Air Force. Likewise, despite having interviewed the Hansell family and having access to their private collection of letters and memorabilia, Dr. Griffith offers no rationale for General Hansell’s unusual decision to burn his personal correspondence. Instead, the reader is left wondering why General Hansell would make such a dramatic choice and what critical historical documents were lost in the process.

The Quest also suffers, in spots, from faulty illustrations. The single-tailed B-32 bomber pictured on page 97 is misidentified as a twin-tailed B-24 Liberator, an error that anyone with rudimentary knowledge of World War II aircraft should catch—and correct. A section on B-26 bomber operations during World War II is illustrated with a photo from the Korean War, depicting a B-26 in the distinctive black-paint scheme of the Far East Air Forces. Readers—and authors—clearly expect better from Air University Press.

Despite these flaws, The Quest remains an important work. Dr. Griffith succeeds in resurrecting Haywood Hansell from the shadows of airpower history, offering an insightful, balanced account of a man who played a seminal role in the formulation and execution of strategic bombing theory and operations. The Quest places General Hansell squarely in the pantheon of airpower heroes and cements his reputation as one of the “Great Captains” of his era.

Maj Gary Pounder, USAF
Maxwell AFB, Alabama

Disclaimer

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.

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