We have discussed the pros and cons of the allied bombers (and agreed to differ
) Lets look at the situation should the Luftwaffe have had the allied heavy bombers, escort fighters etc and 'we' had the German aircraft.
Given the resources of the Americans and ingenuity of the British would we have still won the war?
Starting with the Blitz....I'm not necessarily convinced that we would have won the BoB as the factories and airfields could have been totally destroyed.
What do you all think?
Cheers
John
No, it wouldn't have had much effect, other than a drain on German resources.
You don't need an escort fighter when bombing at night. Which is how the Luftwaffe attacked the Port of London during the fall of 1940 and the Port of Liverpool during May 1941.
Indeed, but night bombing produced very poor results vs losses in 1940 - 1941.
A British report (Butt Report) in the summer of 1941 found that only 10% of the bombers which reported attacking the Ruhr bombed within 5 miles of the target.
On the whole, the British night bombing from June 1940 - June 1942 was very costly for poor results.
While it was easier to attack ports, the Germans would still need to fly many hundred miles over Britain (to Liverpool, Glasgow, Bristol, Belfast etc) while dealing with British radar equipped defences.
I think the outcome in Russia might have been a bit different if the LW could hit the factories in the Urals.
It's unlikely in the extreme that they could ever find the blacked-out factories in the middle of a Siberian (or Ural) forest, after flying 1,000+ miles with no geographical markers.
How many aircraft did RAF Bomber Command have as of June 1941?
About 500 - 600 or so. They had just over 1,000 for Operation Milennium (Cologne) on 30/31 May 1942, but only by using some Training Command aircraft.
In the final analysis, would it make much difference? No
If Germany produced similar heavy bombers that the British did, it would be swapping Ju88's (4 crew, 7 - 8,000lb bombs, 1,400 mile range) for something similar to Short Stirlings (7 crew, 14,000 lb bombs, 2,300 mile range)
This is likely what the He177B would have been, had it not had design engine problems, and not been intended as a dive bomber.
Not really much savings in crew or fuel. The greater ranges of the British "heavies" was useful to the British to bomb Germany from the UK, but not as important for Germany. (with nearer French bases)
The big downside is that the German mediums were much more useful in ground attack army support missions, compared to the British bombers. This was vital to the LW, as it was able to switch it's bombers to the Eastern front.