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








World War II: European Allied Strategic Bombing Campaign--Forces

World War II bombing forces
Figure 1.--RAF Bomber Command began the strategic bombing of Germany by dropping leaflets on German cities. And had no way of hiiting German cities heabily until the arrival of the Avro Lancaster (1942). At the same time the American 8th Air Force began arriving. There were already British air bases all over Britain, even more were opened for the Americans. Most were opened in England in areas facing the Continent, but there were based all over Britain. The 8th arrived in fact before many American soldiers began arriving who also needed bases. The impact in addition to the military was the first time that large numbers of Brits encountered Americans outside of Hollywood movies. Here we see American airmen thrwing a party for British children, including many evacuee children. The children who were fascinated by the big bombers they observed daily were ghrillked to meet who were flying them.

The strategic bombing campaign was begun by the the British Royal Air Force's Bomber Command (BC). BC had the capacity to bomb Germany from bases in France an the onset of the War, but declied to so out of fear of retaliation. After the fall of France, BC's relatively short range bomber fleet had a limited capability of reaching targets in the Reich. Thus British strikes were limited while a new long-range force built primarily around the Aero Lancaster was built. The British unlike the Germans did have the capability of building both a tactical and strategic air force. BC carreied the brunt of the air war through the first half of 1943. American military planners developed aar comncept based on strategic planning and even before the War began had developed the B-17 Flying Fortress to do just that. As soon as America entered the War, American airmen began arriving in Britain. The principal American force to pursue the strategic bombing campoaign was the 8th Air Force based in Britain. It was was eventually to muster larger number of bombers than the British, but in 1943 was still a smaller force. The 8th Air Force began initial opeations against the Germans in 1943. The 8th Air Force was still a relatively small force for the objective assigned. The average daily strength of the 8th Air Force was only about 100 bombers for the first half of 1943. American air commanders were convinced that the heavily armed B-17s and 24s could fight their way into Germant against fighter oposition. Thus in addition to the assigned targets the destruction of the Luftwaffe was a secondary objective. [Rumpf, pp. 61-62.] British air comanders were doubtful, but could not convince the Americans who did not yet have experience with raids into the heavily defended Reich. A range of aircraft were involved in the campaign. By far he most important were the British Avro Lancaster and the American B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator. The opposing force was the German Luftwaffe whose primary air defense planes were their standard fighters, the ME-109 and the FW-190.

Forces

The strategic bombing campaign was begun by the the British Royal Air Force's Bomber Command (BC). BC had the capacity to bomb Germany from bases in France an the onset of the War, but declied to so out of fear of retaliation. After the fall of France, BC's relatively short range bomber fleet had a limited capability of reaching targets in the Reich. Thus British strikes were limited while a new long-range force built primarily around the Aero Lancaster was built. The British unlike the Germans did have the capability of building both a tactical and strategic air force. BC carreied the brunt of the air war through the first half of 1943. American military planners developed aar comncept based on strategic planning and even before the War began had developed the B-17 Flying Fortress to do just that. As soon as America entered the War, American airmen began arriving in Britain. The principal American force to pursue the strategic bombing campoaign was the 8th Air Force based in Britain. It was was eventually to muster larger number of bombers than the British, but in 1943 was still a smaller force. The 8th Air Force began initial opeations against the Germans in 1943. The 8th Air Force was still a relatively small force for the objective assigned. The average daily strength of the 8th Air Force was only about 100 bombers for the first half of 1943. The U.S. 19th Air Force joined the campaign from North Africa, but only began hitting the Reich in force after Italy surrendered and bases on the Iralian Peninsula were possible. The Soviets did not participate significantly in the strategic bombing campaign. The major opising force was the Luftwaffe. After the Luftwaffe was largely disabled by the American P-51 escorts (early-1944), German defenses became primarily the FLAK batteries, another arm of the Luftwaffe.

Planes and Missles

British Bomber Command had a number of bombers at the onset of the War, but they were too slow and had limited ranges for an effective strategic bombing campsign. Only with the arrival of the kengendary Avro Lancaster was BC able to reach the Reich in force. American air commanders were convinced that the heavily armed B-17s and 24s could fight their way into Germant against fighter oposition. Thus in addition to the assigned targets the destruction of the Luftwaffe was a secondary objective. [Rumpf, pp. 61-62.] British air comanders were doubtful, but could not convince the Americans who did not yet have experience with raids into the heavily defended Reich. A range of aircraft were involved in the campaign. By far he most important were the British Avro Lancaster and the American B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator. The campaign radically shidfted in favor of the Allied bombers when the P-51 Mustang was introfuced as a long range escort. The opposing force was the German Luftwaffe whose primary air defense planes were their standard fighters, the ME-109 and the FW-190. The Luftwaffe also deployed the ME-234 Swallow jet (1944). Hitler who had delayed the development of jet aircraft also interferred with the deployment of the ME-234. He wanted it used as an attack bomber. Here it was not well suited, it was, however, a very effective air defense fighter, but not available in sufficent numbers to affect the outcome of the campaign. The Luftwaffe also deployed a rocket plane and a surface to air guided missle.

Sources

Rumpf, Hans. Edward Fitzgerald, trans. The Bombing of Germany (Holt, Rinehart and Winston: New York, 1962), 256p.







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Created: 9:16 PM 4/8/2011
Last updated: 11:40 PM 11/15/2023