Re: Was The American Bombing Campaign In World War II A War Crime?
- From: "Walt" <Walterm140@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 28 May 2006 01:58:39 -0700
D. Spencer Hines wrote:
Precision bombing simply wasn't possible in World War II -- as well as in
Vietnam.
Dropping the bombs "in a pickle barrel from 20,000 feet with the Norden
Bombsight" was always a myth.
The Americans could and did achieve very good accuracy for the day.
"On March 18th [1943] at Vegesack, the 305th managed to place 76% of
its bombs within
1,000 feet of the MPI in what proved to be the most precise piece of
bombing so
far turned out by the B-17's.
After two further missions to other French railyards without loss, the
Force
revisited to Germany. In perfect visibilty 73 B-17s and 24 B-24's
dropped 268
tons of high explosive squarely on Bremer Vulkan Schiffbau, the
submarine yards
at Vegesack that had also been the briefed target for the first raid
on the
Reich back in January. From the evidence of reconnaisance photographs,
seven
submarines were assessed as severely damaged and two thirds of the
shipyard
buildings and much of the plant appeared to have been
demolished....this
mission was later said to have proved the case for high-altitude
precision
bombing, and its success doubtless influenced those US war leaders who
sought
evidence to justify the direction of a goodly part of the US war effort
to
creating a strategic bombing force."
"The first mission of April brought more evidence of the value of the
bombardment campaign when Fortresess left the Renault works at Paris a
smoking
ruin; It took six months to resume full production, denying the enemy
3,075
lorries...the target was picked out inspite of industrial haze that
shrouded
much of the city...bombs of the 305th Fortresses struck at least 19
factory
buildings..."
"The first mission fulfilled under the new directive was the disruption
of the
synthetic rubber plant at Huls...Although the Eighth's first large
scale
penetration of the Ruhr, the most heavily defended area of the Third
Reich at
that time, the mission resulted in the most effective bombardment of a
strategic target yet achieved...just under one quarter of the bomb
tonnage
dropped, exploded within the factory area rendering the plant
inoperative for a
month. Full production was not resumed for six months."
--The Mighty Eighth, by Roger Freeman
"The raiders managed to inflict heavy damage on the Focke-Wulf Factory
at
Oscherleben, where half their bombs fell within 1,000 feet of the
aiming point,
and on one of the three targets near Brunswick, where three quarters of
the
bombs found their mark."
"Despite the punishment they took, both the Regensburg and Schweinfurt
raiders
managed to inflict substantial damage on their targets. At Regensburg
every
important building was hit by incendiary or high explosive bombs."
--The Airwar in Europe, Time Life books
Walt
.
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