*** war and social upheaval: Second World War II strategic bombing campaign bombing cities








World War II: Precission Bombing


Figure 1.-- This RAF medium bomber was an American Baltimore. The Martin 187 Baltimore was a two-engined light attack bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in the United States, originally ordered by the French. Here it is in Italy during 1943 on a low alditude attack. Given the alditude, the bomb had a good chance of coming close to the target, depending on the skill of the bombdier. But the chances of a direct hit are not as high as might be expected. And heavy bombers operating at high alditudes never lived up picklr barrel expctations.

One of the least understood topics concerning the World War II air war is the accuracy of bombing. This is especially the case today given the accuracy of modern smart weapons. World War II flyers, however, did not have smart weapons. The German Luftwaffe developed considerable accuracy with their low level tactical operations, especially with the Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers. Dive bombing was the most accurate form of bombing which is why American carrier-based dive bombers using the Dauntless at Midway hit four Japanese carriers while Air Force B-17s operating from Midway at higher altitudes with horizontal bombing missed. The Luftwaffe in the opening weeks of the Battle of Britain pursued a precision bombing campaign targeting the RAF. It might well have worked had Hitler not ordered a switch to a terror bombing campaign targeting London and other British cities. American military planners were wedded to the principle of precession bombing. This became ingrained in the American preparations. The Army Air Corps claimed that they could hit a pickle barrel with their Nordon Mark 15 Bombsite. Considerable accuracy was possible with single bombers in the clear and uncontested skies of the Arizona dessert. Conditions proved very different over northern Europe with the German FLAK and fighter defenses, the often cloudy weather, and bombers flying in large inflexible formations. Bombers on test runs in Arizona were able to bring bombs to within 500 ft of the target. The Eighth Air Force pursued day light operations in part to put constant stress on the Luftwaffe (the British bombed at night) and in part to pursue precession raids. Such efforts broke down in some operations. 【Budiansky】 Actual results achieved by American bombers over northern Europe were that most bombs fell more than 1,000 feet from targets. The British bombing at night fared even worse. There were notable successes such as the Marinburg Focke-Wulf raid (October 1943). But in reality, American precision bombing was often not to different then British area bombing






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Created: 1:34 AM 11/7/2015
Last updated: 6:39 PM 1/9/2024