The Combined Bomber Offensive 1943 - 1944

The Combined Bomber Offensive 1943 - 1944
Author: L. Douglas Keeney
Publisher: Premiere
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: World War, 1939-1945
ISBN: 9781607465201

In a time when tanks and battleships were the proven tools of war, a team of gutsy planners and a bold President of the United States approved a plan to destroy Adolf Hitler's Germany using airplanes ― B-17s and B-24s. It was called strategic bombing, a gutsy leap of faith in an entirely unproven weapon called the bomber on which the fate of World War II hinged. But why were military planners certain that World War II could be won by bombers? Part of Keeney's "Lost Histories of World War II" series, The Strategic Bombing Offensive 1943–1944 is the definitive, in-depth history of the evolution of the Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany from an idea on paper into a powerful, shock-and-awe tool of war that lasts to this day. In each chapter the vicious air war against the Luftwaffe air and ground defenses unfolds, including the terrible losses to American aircrews which precipitated the massive changes in American air tactics that turned it around until victory was in sight and the final bombs were dropped on Berlin. That is this history, recovered and in print now for the first time since 1945.

Bomber Offensive

Bomber Offensive
Author: Arthur Harris
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2005-03-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1844152103

Sir Arthur Harris - Bomber Harris - remains the target of criticism and vilification by many, while others believe the contribution he and his men made to victory is grossly undervalued. He led the men of Bomber Command in the face of appalling casualties, had fierce disagreements with higher authority and enjoyed a complicated relationship with Winston Churchill. Written soon after the close of World War 2, this collection of Sir Arthur Harris's memoirs reveals the man behind the Allied bombing offensive that culminated in the destruction of the Nazi war machine but also many beautiful cities, including Dresden.

Schweinfurt–Regensburg 1943

Schweinfurt–Regensburg 1943
Author: Marshall Michel III
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 97
Release: 2020-01-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472838688

In 1943, the USAAF and RAF launched the Combined Bomber Offensive, designed to systematically destroy the industries that the German war machine relied on. At the top of the hit list were aircraft factories and plants making ball-bearings – a component thought to be a critical vulnerability. Schweinfurt in southern Germany was home to much of the ball-bearing industry and, together with the Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg, which built Bf 109 fighters, it was targeted in a huge and innovative strike. Precision required that the targets were hit in daylight, but the raid was beyond the range of any existing escort fighter, so the B-17s would go in unprotected. The solution was to hit the two targets in a coordinated 'double-strike', with the Regensburg strike hitting first, drawing off the defending Luftwaffe fighters, and leaving the way clear for the Schweinfurt bombers. The Regensburg force would carry on over the Alps to North Africa, the first example of US 'shuttle bombing'. Although the attack on Regensburg was successful, the damage to Schweinfurt only temporarily stalled production, and the Eighth Air Force had suffered heavy losses. It would take a sustained campaign, not just a single raid, to cripple the Schweinfurt works. However, when a follow-up raid was finally launched two months later, the losses sustained were even greater. This title explains how the USAAF launched its daylight bombing campaign in 1943, the technology and tactics available for the Schweinfurt-Regensburg missions, and how these costly failures forced a change of tack.

Busting the Bocage

Busting the Bocage
Author: Michael Dale Doubler
Publisher: Fort Leavenworth, Kan. : U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Total Pages: 92
Release: 1988
Genre: Bocage normand (France)
ISBN:

Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid

Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid
Author: Martin Caidin
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2018-03-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 138769524X

Martin Caidin's Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid tells of the United States Air Force's massive bombing raid into Nazi Germany's industrial heartland on Thursday, October 14, 1943. On that fateful day two hundred and ninety one hulking B-17 Flying Fortresses - escorted by squadrons of nimble P-47 Thunderbolts - miraculously fought their way through swarms of Messerschmitt Me-109's, Focke-Wulf FW-190's, Heinkel He-113's and more on their way to cripple the enemy's vital ball-bearings plant at Schweinfurt.

Bombing the European Axis Powers

Bombing the European Axis Powers
Author: U. S. Military
Publisher:
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2017-12-02
Genre:
ISBN: 9781973449492

At its core this work is a database covering Anglo-American strategic bomber operations against Germany, Italy, and Axis associated or occupied Europe. As such it allows swift and easy listing of day-by-day bombing, bombing of strategic target systems by location and tonnage, bombing of specific countries, comparisons of US and British targeting and operations, and much more. The work details strategic operations only- B-17 and B-24 bomber sorties by the four US numbered air forces in the European and Mediterranean theaters (Eighth, Ninth, Twelfth, and Fifteenth) and all bombing sorties for aircraft assigned to the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command and RAF 205 Group. This definition excludes US twin-engine medium bomb groups, which often hit the same aiming points as their four-engine compatriots, but includes twin-engine British Wellington medium bombers and twin-engine British Mosquito, Boston, and Ventura light bombers. Although the US heavy and medium bombers had instances of overlapping, targeting those instances usually fell into areas of what US doctrine defined as tactical rather than strategic bombing, such as frontline troops, transportation facilities feeding the front line, and airfields. US medium bombers did not fly deep into enemy country to attack industrial and strategic targets. The case differed for the RAF. Wellingtons and other medium bombers formed the backbone of the main bombing force from 1940 through late 1942 and throughout 1943 for 205 Group. Bomber Command's short-ranged Bostons and Venturas of No. 2 Group raided French ports, power plants, and industrial targets until transferring to Tactical Bomber Force in May 1943. Likewise, Mosquitoes conducted numerous hit-and-run daylight raids until May of 1943 and then switched to night harassing attacks on German population centers, particularly Berlin, until the war's end. Such bombing furthered Bomber Command's campaign against the morale of the German labor force. Contents * Preface * Acknowledgments * Part I * Overview * Introduction * The Royal Air Force Prewar Experience, 1919-1939 * Bomber Command: Adoption of Night Operations and Area Bombing, 1939-1941 * The Night Bombing Problem * The American Experience * Notes * Part II * 1942 * JANUARY * Note * FEBRUARY * Notes * MARCH * Notes * A Note on Electronic and Radar Bombing * Notes * APRIL * Note * MAY * Note * JUNE * JULY * AUGUST * Note * SEPTEMBER * Note * OCTOBER * Notes * NOVEMBER * Notes * DECEMBER * Notes * Part III * 1943 * JANUARY * Notes * Churchill and US Daylight Bombing * Notes * FEBRUARY * Notes * MARCH * Notes * APRIL * Note * MAY * Notes * Pointblank * Note * The Combat Tour and Aircrew Survival * Notes * JUNE * JULY * Notes * Strategic Bombing of Italy * Notes * AUGUST * Notes * The Evacuation of Sicily * Notes * SEPTEMBER * Notes * OCTOBER * Notes * Development of the Long-Range Escort Fighter * Notes * NOVEMBER * Notes * DECEMBER * Notes * Part IV * 1944 * Overlord and the Strategic Air Forces * Notes * JANUARY * Notes * FEBRUARY * Notes * MARCH * Notes * APRIL * Notes * MAY * Notes * JUNE * Notes * JULY * Notes * The Combined Bomber Offensive and the Holocaust * Notes * AUGUST * Notes * SEPTEMBER * Notes * OCTOBER * Notes * German Cities, Occupied Europe, and Allied Bombing Policy * Notes * NOVEMBER * Notes * DECEMBER * Note * Part V * 1945 * JANUARY * Notes * FEBRUARY * Notes * MARCH * Notes * APRIL * Notes * MAY * PART VI * Conclusion * NEW PERSPECTIVES AND ENDURING REALITIES * Notes * Abbreviations and Code Names * Bibliography