WW2- Air

What was the Nature of the war in the air → general [non categorized] notes

• Both war at land and sea were transformed by aircraft, and used aircraft as tactical support for armies on the ground. 

• Aircraft was used:

  • at sea to attack surface vessels as well as submarines, and also to protect convoys [→ define convoys]. 

  • Was also applied to great effect in supply & reconnaissance. This means that supplies were dropped by aircraft, as well as soldiers in several campaigns, and were essential in supplying partisan movements behind the enemy. 

Strategic bombing

• Aircraft played a supportive role, and WW2 saw an even more radical and independent use for aircraft in strategic bombing. 

  • The bombing focused on destroying the military and industrial infrastructure of a country. 

    • Its use in WWII remains highly controversial, as by focusing on the home front, strategic bombing blurred further the distinction between combatant, and non-combatant.

Strategic bombing in Europe 

• While at the beginning of the war, the RAF [  → define RAF] was forbidden from indiscriminate bombing, and both sides held back from being the first to attack cities directly in western Europe, the bombing of east London by Luftwaffe crew, in error, followed by a retaliatory raid by Churchill against Berlin, lead to a change of the policy.

  • The fact is, Hitler used the Berlin attack as an excuse to launch a full-scale air assault against London, and other British cities (the Blitz). [what exactly was the Blitz?] 

  • Apart from the retaliation for the Blitz, the switch to area bombing by the British and Americans was also caused by the high casualties caused by daylight precision attacks on German Industrial targets, while night-time attacks were too inaccurate. 

  • Additionally, strategic bombing allowed the allies to show Stalin that they were playing their part in the War. [Who was Stalin, again?!?]

German response: the V2 

• Despite lacking a proper strategic bomber force, Germany responded to the attacks of 1944 with V1, a pilot flying bomb, and a V2 ballistic missile.

  • These targeted London, and caused significant casualties. 

  • They could not be massively produced, however, were unreliable and inaccurate. 

  • Additionally, they came too late in the war to have any effect on the outcome, 

    • The rocket project did not help the German war efforts, since it used resources that would have been better spent on building more fighter planes. 

Strategic bombing in the Pacific 

• Japan was subjected to intense bombing. 

• From Nov 1944, the USAAF, flying from the captured island bases of Spain and Guam, began relentlessly hitting the Japanese mainland.  They initially carried out precision attacks on aircraft factories, but these gave way from March 1945 to Area bombing using mainly incendiary munitions. 

  • Horrific results for Japanese Civilians living in houses made mainly of wood, bamboo and paper. [they would catch and spread far too quickly and would be almost impossible to save them]

  • In an attack on Tokyo on 9 March 1945, B-29s flying from Iwo Jima destroyed a quarter of the city – 1 million homes – and killed approximately 80 000 people. 

    • Between April and August 1945, 21st Bomber Command under the direction of General Curtis LeMay devoted most of Japan’s major cities. 

      • Absenteeism in the factories rose to 50% as reified Japanese fled to the villages. 

• A combination of sea blockade and bombing devastated the economy and left Japan on the verge of defeat. 

However, the ultimate expression of tragic bombing came with the use of two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after which Japan surrendered. Thus, air power alone caused Japan's final collapse; no land invasion was n