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Is it true that U.S. bombers weren't to bomb Ford factories in Germany or was that a myth?
Ford vehicles were crucial to the revolutionary Nazi military strategy of blitzkrieg. Of the 350,000 trucks used by the motorized German Army as of 1942, roughly one-third were Ford-made. The Schneider report states that when American troops reached the European theater, "Ford trucks prominently present in the supply lines of the Wehrmacht were understandably an unpleasant sight to men in our Army." Indeed, the Cologne plant proved to be so important to the Reich's war effort that the Allies bombed it on several occasions. A secret 1944 US Air Force "Target Information Sheet" on the factory said that for the previous five years it had been "geared for war production on a high level."
There was a thread awhile back where what targets the Allies should attack (can't find).
One of the targets mentioned was the Electric Utilities. This is the USSBS report on that industry, 205 - German Electric Utilities Industry Report.pdf - Google Drive
Nothing in Cologne was spared (including Ford's plant), same goes for GM's Opel plant in Brandenburg, which was partially damaged by RAF raids.Is it true that U.S. bombers weren't to bomb Ford factories in Germany or was that a myth?
Myth busted.Nothing in Cologne was spared (including Ford's plant), same goes for GM's Opel plant in Brandenburg, which was partially damaged by RAF raids.
When the RAF was lucky to get bombs within a 5 mile radius it's pretty hard to exclude a target.
Essential reading:
But you all knew those!
- Richard Overy: The Bombing War (2013) — not least because of the 160 pages of bibliography and citations. Absenteeism at the Cologne Ford factory gets a passing mention on pp 462-3
- James Holland: Big Week (2018)—specific to "Operation Argument" of February 1994, but a small mountain of other information.
Indeed. See here: https://www.ww2-weapons.com/bombing-accuracy/That was certainly the case early in the war. By the end of the war, however, Bomber Command was putting over 90% of the bombs dropped within three miles of the aiming point, and a good proportion within one mile.
I said RAF not USAAF. And my comment still stands. Area bombing by the RAF was still the policy up until the last few months of the war and the exclusion of a target at night within a city under this policy would have been impossible.
There was always a massive difference between best and worst. if a bomber box releases all bombs on a signal then the factory target has to be the size of a city. In the raid on Dresden 14 Feb 1945 wiki says "316 B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed Dresden, dropping 771 tons of bombs.[66][67] The remaining 115 bombers from the stream of 431 misidentified their targets. Sixty bombed Prague, dropping 153 tons of bombs, while others bombed Brux and Pilsen.[" So 115 bombers didn't aim precisely at any factory or marshalling yard Some didn't bomb Germany.I said RAF not USAAF. And my comment still stands. Area bombing by the RAF was still the policy up until the last few months of the war and the exclusion of a target at night within a city under this policy would have been impossible.
There was always a massive difference between best and worst. if a bomber box releases all bombs on a signal then the factory target has to be the size of a city. In the raid on Dresden 14 Feb 1945 wiki says "316 B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed Dresden, dropping 771 tons of bombs.[66][67] The remaining 115 bombers from the stream of 431 misidentified their targets. Sixty bombed Prague, dropping 153 tons of bombs, while others bombed Brux and Pilsen.[" So 115 bombers didn't aim precisely at any factory or marshalling yard Some didn't bomb Germany.
That is basically why Mosquitos dropped a cookie on Berlin and other cities night after night. It was also a factor in UK production during the Blitz.33k in the air brought up a point I never thought about. I've read about disruptions to industry even though precision bombing wasn't. It never occurred to me to consider downtime due to running for shelter, waiting for the "all clear" and getting back to the factories.
33k in the air brought up a point I never thought about. I've read about disruptions to industry even though precision bombing wasn't. It never occurred to me to consider downtime due to running for shelter, waiting for the "all clear" and getting back to the factories.