Tiger Force (air)

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Tiger Force, also known as the VLR Bomber Force, was the name given to a World War II British Commonwealth long range heavy bomber force, formed in 1945, from squadrons serving with RAF Bomber Command in Europe, for proposed use against targets in Japan. The unit was scheduled to be redeployed to the Pacific theatre in the lead-up to the Allies' proposed Allied invasion of Japan. The unit was disbanded after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war.

At the Quebec Conference of September 1944, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill proposed to transfer a large part of Bomber Command to the Pacific, comprising from 500 to 1,000 heavy bombers, once Germany was defeated. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the offer, stating that a "long and costly struggle" still lay ahead of the Allies.^[1]

The proposed force was soon scaled back to 22 squadrons in three groups: one British Royal Air Force (RAF), one Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and one from various air forces. By late 1945 this had been scaled back to 10 squadrons in two composite groups, made up of RAF, RCAF, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) squadrons. Tiger Force to have been based on Okinawa and would have used Avro Lancasters, Avro Lincolns and Consolidated Liberators.

Escort duties would have been performed by fighter units from the U.S. Far East Air Force, the Australian First Tactical Air Force and/or other Commonwealth units.

The colour scheme for Tiger Force aircraft was white upper-surfaces with black undersides; this scheme, despite the cancellation of operations against Japan, was apparent on many post-war Lancasters and Lincolns.

Tiger Force was officially disbanded on October 31, 1945, by which stage it included only British units.^[2]