Re: RAF bombing of Germany after 1943

On Dec 27, 9:45 am, "Geoffrey Sinclair" <gsinclai...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
"Rich Rostrom" <rrostrom.21stcent...@xxxxxxx> wrote in message

You do know the latest reports from [[Russia]]...
indicate it lost about the same number of people in air raids as Germany?

That's a bit of a surprise...

The Luftwaffe had no real heavy bombers at all, and at its worst could not
deliver a tithe of the bombloads the Western Allies dropped regularly.

Not in the 1939 to 1942 period. If I remember correctly it took until
around the end of 1942 before the RAF dropped as many bombs on
Germany as the Luftwaffe had dropped bombs on the UK.

I can't find a definite statement of the
total bomb load of the Blitz, but one source
gives 5,300 tons for September 1940. The
Blitz continued for roughly 8 1/2 months,
so 50,000 tons seems a decent estimate.

Wikipedia, citing

Humble, Richard (1975). War In The Air 1939-1945

gives these numbers for bombs dropped
on Germany by Bomber Command.

1939 31
1940 13,033
1941 31,504
1942 45,561

This would indicate the British took the
lead by about March 1942. The total dropped
for the war was 964,644 tons by Bomber Command
and 623,418 tons by 8th AF: about 1.6M tons
all up. That would be about _thirty_ _times_
the size of the Blitz.

To be sure, there
were additional German attacks later in the
war, including the V-weapon barrage which
delivered 14,600 tons (V-1s) and 1,500 tons (V-2).
Hmm: the article on V-1s cites a study by a USAF
general who figured 61,000 tons of bombs for
the Blitz. So total German bombing of
Britain was perhaps as much as 100,000 tons:
still only 1/15 the Allied effort. In 1944,
the Allies dropped over 900,000 tons on Germany:
an average of 75,000 tons a month - well over
ten times Germany's peak effort against Britain.

No Hamburg is around 50,000 dead ...

Dresden is in the 25,000 to 35,000 range...

OK. I had recalled Hamburg as reaching six figures.

US 20th Air Force ... dropped around 171,060 tons
of bombs [on Japan].

Lets see now, 1 ton of bombs per sortie would be 171,060 sorties,
8 years is 2,920 days, so say 60 sorties per day. Remembering there
was much higher activity in the 1937 to 1941 period. Things like the
IJN carriers being used.

That shows it is possible, but given Japan's
shortages of fuel (and airplanes) it seems
unlikely that Japan _sustained_ an effort of
that level. And having to bring in carriers
for a few dozen additional sorties strongly
suggests a relatively small effort overall.

In support, though: the many occasions on which
Japanese forces bombed Chinese cities (or
towns or villages) for tactical reasons,
the population density of Chinese cities,
negligible Chinese civil defense resources,
and minimal Chinese medical resources.

It still seems unlikely to me, but definitely
more plausible than at first glance.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: RAF bombing of Germany after 1943
    ... Germany as the Luftwaffe had dropped bombs on the UK. ... so 50,000 tons seems a decent estimate. ... War In The Air 1939-1945 ...
    (soc.history.war.world-war-ii)
  • Re: Field Innovation
    ... >> July 1943, Bomber Command ... Bomber Command's total effort against targets in Germany, ... bombs dropped that were dropped on Germany. ... give an extra 12,670 short tons. ...
    (soc.history.war.world-war-ii)
  • Re: RAF bombing of Germany after 1943
    ... bombs than the Luftwaffe. ... much greater - at least ten times the effort Germany put into bombing ... About 70,000 tons of conventional bombing killed 51,509 civilians ... deaths per long ton of bombs, way above the long term average. ...
    (soc.history.war.world-war-ii)
  • Re: RAF bombing of Germany after 1943
    ... and 623,418 tons by 8th AF: ... Please note I said bombs on UK by the Luftwaffe and bombs on ... Germany by the RAF. ... Humble figures being total bomb tonnages, ...
    (soc.history.war.world-war-ii)
  • Re: Who has the most A/A kills ?
    ... Britain was bombed worse than Germany!!! ... Robert is proving he cannot read. ... 31,714 long tons of bombs on Germany, by the end of June it was up to ... 45,920 tons and by the end of the year it was 67,221 tons. ...
    (rec.aviation.military)