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Generally agree with your opening statements. That said, in context of prosecuting The campaign from D-Day to VE Day, destruction of LW was number one factor. Denying Germany air supremacy over a.) the battlefield and b.) over key industry, enabled Allied bomber campaign to strike critical targets - even if inefficiently. Simple Battlefiels/Front Line/MLR air superiority reduced Wermacht mobility window by half (more than half as night time logistics is harder).Had a little time to kill this morning and read the entire thread. It seems to me that the original post is based on the inherent belief that "precision" placement of ordinances will be the ultimate game changer in conflict. This was the same precision delivery of ordinance belief that the Bomber Mafia based their theories of air combat on, but differing in the platforms for delivery. I think the postwar studies by the 8th Air Force are insightful on how effective the bombing campaign was, or wasn't, and how wrong allied planners were in what targets were most critical to the German war effort. IIRC, where the air campaign was most successful was in the inadvertent (as in unplanned) destruction of Germany's coal stocks and infrastructure as Germany ran on coal vs oil for industry/transportation/power. This had a greater effect on hindering German war efforts than any of the other targets. Second was the attack on German mobility especially leading up to D-Day and its impact Nazi military effectiveness. Third was the destruction of the Luftwaffe. Fourth, and last was the drain on the German economy and resources to support ever greater anti-bombing defense infrastructure and damage repair. These successes are far less about targeted precision attacks and more about campaigns that rely on mass and overbearing weight of attacking forces.
The Mosquito is a formidable aircraft and it has a devoted cult following, but it wasn't the aircraft to carry out the type of air campaign that ultimately proved most decisive. The belief in targeted precision air attacks often overestimates actual effectiveness and in the 1940's that precision was very hard to achieve on a regular basis. Even today, with the kinds of technologies that we have precision is not always that precise, I'm still struck by how many dumb bombs vs smart bombs are dropped in combat today.
Thanks drgondog,Generally agree with your opening statements. That said, in context of prosecuting The campaign from D-Day to VE Day, destruction of LW was number one factor. Denying Germany air supremacy over a.) the battlefield and b.) over key industry, enabled Allied bomber campaign to strike critical targets - even if inefficiently. Simple Battlefiels/Front Line/MLR air superiority reduced Wermacht mobility window by half (more than half as night time logistics is harder).
As to wrongness of allied planning, selection of key bottleneck industry such as Ball Bearings, Engine manufacturing, chemical and fuel plants, weren't wrong - but inability to follow up often impinged on the ultimate success. True that less than optimal bombing accuracy was huge even in clear weather - but bomb selection was also flawed.
To last point - yes but recall that the electronic based target acquisition and aiming systems in aircraft beginning with A-7 have produced 'battlefield acceptable results - even for point targets like tracked vehicles. LGB and JDAM type precision weapons are for high value (Command and Control underground bunker, etc).
KK - the bombing effects of say the first two strikes on Scweinfurt and Ploesti were not total failures, for example, but failure to a.) repeat, and b.) use heavier (min 1000, better 2000#) to destroy machinery and complex systems) weren't the fault of either the strategy of the planners or the method of attack. The concept of 'strategic' bombing in ETO when targets were obscured by late Fall/Winter cloud cover was a misnomer at best and a commentary of sorts on the notion of blind bomber strikes using Mickey.Thanks drgondog,
I agree with you that in chronological order of the war, defeating the LW was the primary objective. It's been some time since I read it, but I believe the post war bombing report was less chronological in its perspective. The thing I most clearly recall is how the bombing campaign was relatively ineffective against industrial bottlenecks, but by targeting rail yards not only affected logistics, but Germany's coal infrastructure which was a more vulnerable resource.
I certainly defer to you on more recent technologies. I've been fortunate to have quite a few Air Force officers as friends and they are my primary source for the ratio of dumb vs smart weapons they have used in either gulf campaign.
Regards.
Kk
Thanks,KK - the bombing effects of say the first two strikes on Scweinfurt and Ploesti were not total failures, for example, but failure to a.) repeat, and b.) use heavier (min 1000, better 2000#) to destroy machinery and complex systems) weren't the fault of either the strategy of the planners or the method of attack. The concept of 'strategic' bombing in ETO when targets were obscured by late Fall/Winter cloud cover was a misnomer at best and a commentary of sorts on the notion of blind bomber strikes using Mickey.
Rail was always productive for several days of outage, but unless switching controls were destroyed, the M/Y was only abused for say a week until manual labor could clear and replace... but a lot easier to fix than Schweinfurt. Other potentially lucrative targets like Coal, Fertilizer, and Hydo were all attacked but Allied planners failed to anticipate the resiliency of Germany. Japan and B-29 incindiery attacks were extremely effective because the Japanese typical home within the cities was more populated with wood/bamboo/paper, including small part shops - which made Hamburg look like a 'bad evening' versus Armageddon.
As to iron vs smart. I was in the middle of the LGB development early 70s (in the airframe/aero side curiously on loan from Bell) when TI was doing 'bang/bang control sytems which responded to a laser light seeker placing the image onto a panel quadrant semi conductor plate - telling which set of 'canards' to deflect to move the acquired signal to 'center' the laser designator. Unfortunately the Pave bird had to orbit and designate the target usually innundated in Flak.
At the same time the A-7D HUD/Computing gunsight/bombsite was getting almost twice CEP reduction with iron bombs over F-100, F4, F-105, etc and continued to improve In Gulf War I. A-10s were a lot more accurate with iron bombs than F-16/F-15 and A/F-18 but A-6 pretty good also. LGB technology extending to 'drop and forget' for JDAM type systems were a major step forward - but there is still a wide range of targeting in which iron bombs just fine (i.e. frag/cluster/etc on the Highway of Death.
With regard to the part of your post in bold, in principle this was the same reason the Germans specified (or tried to) every bomber to be a dive bomber to increase accuracy and therefore require less planes to do the same job. In fact level bombing could be highly accurate but it needs a lot of training and practice, not everyone can do it and you cant do it under all conditions.Had a little time to kill this morning and read the entire thread. It seems to me that the original post is based on the inherent belief that "precision" placement of ordinances will be the ultimate game changer in conflict. This was the same precision delivery of ordinance belief that the Bomber Mafia based their theories of air combat on, but differing in the platforms for delivery. I think the postwar studies by the 8th Air Force are insightful on how effective the bombing campaign was, or wasn't, and how wrong allied planners were in what targets were most critical to the German war effort. IIRC, where the air campaign was most successful was in the inadvertent (as in unplanned) destruction of Germany's coal stocks and infrastructure as Germany ran on coal vs oil for industry/transportation/power. This had a greater effect on hindering German war efforts than any of the other targets. Second was the attack on German mobility especially leading up to D-Day and its impact Nazi military effectiveness. Third was the destruction of the Luftwaffe. Fourth, and last was the drain on the German economy and resources to support ever greater anti-bombing defense infrastructure and damage repair. These successes are far less about targeted precision attacks and more about campaigns that rely on mass and overbearing weight of attacking forces.
The Mosquito is a formidable aircraft and it has a devoted cult following, but it wasn't the aircraft to carry out the type of air campaign that ultimately proved most decisive. The belief in targeted precision air attacks often overestimates actual effectiveness and in the 1940's that precision was very hard to achieve on a regular basis. Even today, with the kinds of technologies that we have precision is not always that precise, I'm still struck by how many dumb bombs vs smart bombs are dropped in combat today.
but failure to a.) repeat, and b.) use heavier (min 1000, better 2000#) to destroy machinery and complex systems) weren't the fault of either the strategy of the planners or the method of attack.
True but incomplete if we believe Freeman. August 17 narrative states 1017 250#, 719 500# and 235 1000# - near 8% of tonnage dropped. Suspect mixed load on most of B-17s attacking Scweinfurt. Post war analysis admitted that both Refineries and tough industrial targets required 1000, but better 2000 pound load. A good analogy might be 'Use #6 instead of #9 on high passing Pheasant'The bombers at Schweinfurt 1 used 1,000lb bombs. Not sure about Schweinfurt 2.
There were 80 hits on factory buildings from ~1,000 - 1,200 bombs carried - IIRC each B-17 carried 5 x 1,000lb.
The reason that there was no quick follow up was that the 8th AF lacked sufficient strength and that the bombers and crew on the raid suffered badly at the hands of the Luftwaffe.
And the RAF Bomber Command was busy elsewhere. Not sure why Schweinfurt wasn't on their agenda a few days later.
??? Rail M/Y important, but just looking at Freeman's War Diary, during Big Week as a sample, only One Primary target (of approximately 40) was a specific M/Y (Coevorden 2-21). That said, perhaps a M/Y was the aiming point for the Brunswick city strike or Targets of Opportunity when weather conditions over Primary was too poor.In the disputes over heavy bomber targets pre D-day it was understood the heavies were really only able to hit marshalling yards, which often also had the repair facilites. As the German military trains were made up in Germany, then looped to the forces in France then back to Germany the marshalling yard strikes turned out to be the least cost effective way to stop German military supplies, apart from reducing local rail repair capacity, as long as the yards had through lines the German trains could use those. On the other hand if you wanted to heavily damage the economy they were very cost effective, as the marshalling yards making and breaking up trains was/is crucial in the movement of goods, as the raids on France showed. This evidence was used in the decisions about what to bomb later in 1944/45.
An example is a convoy from the US to England, in March 1944, 18 full and 24 part ship Army cargoes (1,500 vehicles on wheels, 200 cased, 200 aircraft and gliders, 50,000 tons of supplies). Eight days to discharge, 75 trains using 10,000 cars to clear, plus some road transport, these land movements also generated the need for 27 trains with 8,000 cars for things like inter depot movements and rail supplies.
Not sure why Schweinfurt wasn't on their agenda a few days later.
HiHarris was violently opposed to what he called "panacea" targets, and favored continued area bombing.
HiThe bombers at Schweinfurt 1 used 1,000lb bombs. Not sure about Schweinfurt 2.
There were 80 hits on factory buildings from ~1,000 - 1,200 bombs carried - IIRC each B-17 carried 5 x 1,000lb.
The reason that there was no quick follow up was that the 8th AF lacked sufficient strength and that the bombers and crew on the raid suffered badly at the hands of the Luftwaffe.
And the RAF Bomber Command was busy elsewhere. Not sure why Schweinfurt wasn't on their agenda a few days later.
HiDoes put paid to the thought "why didn't they just......"
When the RAF hit Nuremburg the main reason was it was Nuremburg, place of the Nazi Rallies. On the disastrous March 1944 raid 120 of the aircraft actually hit Schweinfurt. Whatever the supposed target was, they bombed through cloud with sky marking.Of the other targets you had listed, Nuremberg caught my eye. I wondered what was the target there. It does seem to tie in with attacks on Schweinfurt. My only knowledge of it is Schweinfurt=ball bearings. Thanks for the post. Very informative.
That's what I first thought of when I read the list of cities targeted. I wasn't aware of any other strategic value of Nuremberg. Its manufacturing value never seems to be mentioned in the cursory histories I've read.When the RAF hit Nuremburg the main reason was it was Nuremburg, place of the Nazi Rallies. On the disastrous March 1944 raid 120 of the aircraft actually hit Schweinfurt. Whatever the supposed target was, they bombed through cloud with sky marking.
Apart from its links to the Nazi regime it was the second largest city in Bavaria and according to Wiki "During the Second World War, Nuremberg was the headquarters of Wehrkreis (military district) XIII, and an important site for military production, including aircraft, submarines and tank engines."That's what I first thought of when I read the list of cities targeted. I wasn't aware of any other strategic value of Nuremberg. Its manufacturing value never seems to be mentioned in the cursory histories I've read.
Hi
Also flying in the summer means long daylight hours and short nights, probably not a good idea for night bombers. BC generally undertook their long range missions when the nights were longest, while the 8th AF generally undertook their long range missions when the days were longest. July/August is long daylight hours.
Mike
A former member here Bill Runnels was a bombardier on B-17s flying from UK. His longest mission was 11 hours. In the depths of winter you need to be taking off forming up and landing in the dark to mount a long raid into Germany. RAF missions were shorter because they didnt have all the forming up stuff and didnt stay in a formation but in the height of summer on June 21st it is only properly dark for about 3 hours and in a full moon it isnt actually dark at all.Right, and I really hadn't considered this aspect that much -- but you're spot-on.