U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson stands in the centre of a group of high-ranking officers in the Operations Room of the 352nd Fighter Group at Bodney air base, 17 July 1944. Lieutenant-General Carl A. Spaatz, Commanding General of U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe, stands on Stimson's left. Lieutenant-General James H. Doolittle, Commanding General of the 8th Air Force, leans on the map table. Major-General William E. Kepner, Commanding General of 8th Fighter Command, stands to Stimson's right. To Kepner's right are Major-General Alexander D. Surles, the director of the U.S. War Department’s Bureau of Public Relations and Major-General Norman T. Kirk, Surgeon General of the United States Army. Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph L. Mason, of the 352nd Fighter Group, stands beside Doolittle.