The ‘Special Relationship’

  • Published
  • By Maj. Jeff Olsen
  • 48th Maintenance Operations Squadron
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  The ongoing 70th anniversary observances of the Battle of Britain prompted me to consider the circumstances under which we came to be stationed at RAF Lakenheath.
In the summer of 1940, Great Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany. Denmark, Norway, Poland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands had fallen to remarkably effective blitzkrieg tactics. The only thing protecting Britain from invasion was a narrow strip of water and a few thousand airmen in RAF Fighter Command.

They would participate in the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces. Through a combination of courage, determination, superior command and control, tactics and technology, they would emerge victorious against a previously unstoppable Luftwaffe and in doing so, helped sway American public opinion toward the belief that Great Britain could survive and should be supported as much as possible.

When the U.S. entered the war immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, American forces began arriving in the U.K. and setting up operations at dozens of airfields. From here the RAF and the Army Air Corps commenced alternating day and night bombing attacks on Germany. By 1944, the tide had turned and the invasion of the Europe, Operation Overlord, was launched from British shores on June 6, D-Day. It is clear that our two nations' militaries were closely integrated; all Allied Forces in Overlord were under the command of a British Army general, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.

It was during the planning phase for Operation Overlord that the British American Forces Dining Club was founded. Originally intended as a way to strengthen relationships among the combined staff planning the invasion, BAFDC is a tradition that continues to the present day. Two annual events are held; a summer social and a winter formal dining in.

After the war, Sir Winston Churchill spoke of the "special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States" in the prevention of war. Although the Empire no longer exists, the special relationship is alive and well. It is in evidence in the shared military bases, including RAF Lakenheath.

Without access to Diego Garcia, we could not have begun Operation Enduring Freedom as rapidly as we did. The United Kingdom provided the largest number of allied troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. In Iraq, the British Army's interoperability and high level of professionalism led to them being responsible for securing the southern part of the country, a mission they successfully concluded last year. Nearly a quarter of their army was deployed to Iraq, a greater ratio of forces than even the United States sent.

The United Kingdom is the only other nation with both the military capability and political will to deploy significant forces around the world in defense of freedom. Our shared history of military cooperation has helped shape the world and liberate people from oppressive regimes, from Nazi Germany to the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. All who work on RAF Lakenheath today are part of an ongoing legacy that began 70 years ago.