Strategic bombing during World War II
On the 1st of September 1939, German bombers descended upon the Polish city of Wieluń. This attack destroyed all buildings in a town that held little to no military value. The Luftwaffe targeted fleeing refugees and bombed clearly marked hospitals. Approximately 580 civilians died in this single raid. Another small town named Frampol suffered a similar fate days later. Historians describe Frampol as an experimental object chosen because its baroque street plan offered a perfect geometric grid for calculations. Test bombers flew at low speeds over the village to ensure they were not endangered by anti-aircraft fire. The centrally placed town hall served as an orientation point for crews aiming their ordnance.
The bombing of Warsaw followed shortly after. On the 13th of September, German forces began a siege of the capital. A Jewish Quarter within the city was specifically targeted on the 25th of September. One hundred eighty-three bomber sorties dropped fifty percent high explosive bombs and fifty percent incendiary bombs. These attacks set the Jewish Quarter ablaze. Estimates suggest between 20,000 and 25,000 civilians perished during the entire air campaign against Poland. The Polish Air Force bases across the country were subjected to relentless bombing from the first day of the invasion. By the 17th of September, Soviet forces attacked Poland from the east, forcing the Polish Air Force to evacuate their aircraft. A single Polish Lublin R.XIII G seaplane managed to bomb German troops celebrating the capitulation of Westerplatte in Danzig before retreating.
Hitler explicitly prohibited attacks on London and civilians until August 1940. His No. 17 Directive forbade terror raids unless ordered as reprisals. This policy changed dramatically after off-course German bombers accidentally struck central London on the 24th of August. The RAF retaliated by bombing Berlin for the first time two days later. They targeted Tempelhof airfield and Siemens factories in Siemenstadt. Hitler viewed these attacks as indiscriminate night piracy. He ordered a concentrated night offensive against the island, specifically targeting London.
On the 7th of September 1940, three hundred eighteen bombers from KG 53 began continuous sorties against London. The dock area was already burning from earlier daylight attacks. Four hundred thirty Londoners died by the morning of the 8th. The Luftwaffe dropped more than five thousand tons of bombs on the city within twenty-four hours. Other British cities including Plymouth, Swansea, Birmingham, Sheffield, Liverpool, Southampton, Manchester, Bristol, Belfast, Cardiff, Clydebank, Kingston upon Hull, and Coventry were also hit during this nine-month period known as the Blitz. Basil Collier, author of the official history, estimated that half a million Soviet citizens died from German bombing, roughly equivalent to the number of German citizens who died from Allied raids.
German bombing efforts on the Eastern Front dwarfed all other commitments. Between the 22nd of June 1941 and the 30th of April 1944, the Luftwaffe dropped 756,773 tonnes of bombs across the Soviet Union. This represented a monthly average of 22,000 tonnes. Sevastopol alone received 20,528 tons of bombs in June 1942. Minsk, Sevastopol, and Stalingrad were among numerous Soviet cities destroyed through these aerial assaults.
The scale of destruction was immense. Five hundred thousand Soviet citizens died from German bombing during the invasion and occupation of Russia. The Luftwaffe attacked rail networks, crossroads, and troop concentrations to disrupt Polish mobilization. Similar tactics were applied against Soviet infrastructure throughout the war. These attacks played havoc with command and control systems by wrecking antiquated signal networks. The numerical and technological superiority of the Luftwaffe took its toll on opposing air forces over just a few days.
Operation Pointblank began on the 4th of March 1943. Six hundred sixty-nine RAF bombers and three hundred three USAAF heavy bombers were available for this combined offensive. The Casablanca directive stated that primary objects would be the progressive destruction of the German military, industrial, and economic system. It also aimed to undermine the morale of the German people to a point where their capacity for armed resistance was fatally weakened. Air Marshal Sir Charles Portal was put in charge of strategic direction for both British and American operations.
In late 1943, unescorted bomber formations suffered deadly losses during Schweinfurt raids. The Eighth Air Force halted operations until long-range fighters could be found. The North American P-51 Mustang provided the necessary range to fly to Berlin and back. By February 1944, Big Week targeted the Luftwaffe directly between the 20th and 25th of that month. Major attacks came during Operation Steinbock while losses for day fighter forces became so heavy that twin-engined heavy fighter wings became largely ineffective. Control of all Allied air forces passed to General Dwight D. Eisenhower on the 1st of April 1944.
The Heinkel He 177A entered service in April 1942 despite ongoing engine fires. Goering called its powerplants fire-prone welded-together engines. Production of the B-series would not start until November 1944 due to Arado's focus on jet-powered reconnaissance-bombers. The July 1944 Emergency Fighter Program prevented any production of the He 177B design. German scientists invented V-1 flying bombs and V-2 ballistic missiles to launch aerial assaults on London.
British countermeasures included airborne radar and highly effective deceptive beacons. The H2X radar sets arrived with the Eighth Air Force in December 1943. Within two weeks, permission was given to area bomb cities using this technology. Only about twenty percent of bombs aimed at precision targets fell within a target area of one thousand feet radius. By fall 1944, only seven percent of all bombs dropped by the Eighth Air Force hit within that range. Firestorms created by massive raids killed tens of thousands in Hamburg, Kassel, Darmstadt, Pforzheim, Swinemuende, and Dresden.
International law did not specifically forbid aerial bombardment of cities at the outset of World War II. The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 were adopted before air power rose to prominence. No general agreement existed on how to interpret these laws regarding civilian areas. Major powers refused to ratify treaties like the 1923 Hague Rules of Air Warfare due to vague wording. Possession of newly developed advanced bombers gave nations a military advantage they would not want to limit through negotiation.
Article 25 of the 1899 and 1907 conventions did not provide clear guidelines on sparing civilians. Cyclical arguments advanced by Italian general Giulio Douhet appeared not to violate convention provisions. At the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials, the Allies never criminalized aerial bombardment of non-combatant targets. Axis leaders who ordered similar practices were not prosecuted. General Telford Taylor noted that leaving out morale bombing conferred legal legitimacy on such practices. Three lines of ethical reasoning emerged: Just War theory emphasizing noncombatant immunity, industrial web theory justifying civilian deaths to shorten the war, and Michael Walzer's supreme emergency thesis.
Estimates of death tolls from strategic bombing range from hundreds of thousands to over one million. Millions of civilians were made homeless during the conflict. Many major cities in Europe and Asia were destroyed. The United States Strategic Bombing Survey found attacks on waterways produced tremendous traffic problems on the Rhine River. Coal deliveries upon which Germany's economy depended suffered immediate effects. Rail transport shipments had been cut by more than half by February 1945. Except in limited areas, coal supply was eliminated by March.
Adam Tooze argued that a turning point in the bomber offensive was reached in March 1943 during the Battle of the Ruhr. Steel production fell by two hundred thousand tons following these raids. Speer acknowledged that RAF raids severely disrupted plans to increase aircraft output. Between July 1943 and March 1944 there were no further increases in aircraft production. Some sixty-two percent of the population in Hamburg was dehoused causing additional difficulties. Despite these results, some argue strategic bombing did not produce decisive military victories in itself but significantly reduced enemy industrial capacity.
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Common questions
What happened to the Polish city of Wieluń on the 1st of September 1939?
German bombers destroyed all buildings in Wieluń and targeted fleeing refugees and clearly marked hospitals. Approximately 580 civilians died during this single raid.
When did Hitler order a concentrated night offensive against London after German bombers struck central London?
Hitler ordered the attack following accidental strikes on central London on the 24th of August 1940. The Luftwaffe began continuous sorties against London on the 7th of September 1940 with three hundred eighteen bombers from KG 53.
How many tonnes of bombs did the Luftwaffe drop across the Soviet Union between June 1941 and April 1944?
The Luftwaffe dropped 756,773 tonnes of bombs across the Soviet Union between the 22nd of June 1941 and the 30th of April 1944. This represented a monthly average of 22,000 tonnes.
Which cities were hit by firestorms created by massive raids during World War II?
Firestorms created by massive raids killed tens of thousands in Hamburg, Kassel, Darmstadt, Pforzheim, Swinemuende, and Dresden. These attacks occurred within two weeks of permission being given to area bomb cities using H2X radar sets in December 1943.
What was the outcome of strategic bombing regarding German steel production in March 1943?
Steel production fell by two hundred thousand tons following raids during the Battle of the Ruhr which began on the 4th of March 1943. There were no further increases in aircraft production between July 1943 and March 1944 due to these disruptions.