When the German invasion plan failed. They began their night-time "Blitz" on London and other British cities including Coventry, Glasgow, Plymouth, Bristol and Birmingham. The Germans also increased U-boat attacks on Britain's vital supply routes from America of food, fuel and military equipment, causing terrible losses to merchant shipping and threatening to cut off the British Isles. Churchill was so worried by these losses that in March 1941 he ordered Bomber Command to concentrate on attacking German submarine bases and factories. Together with Coastal Command the bombers also continued to attack German shipping. The battle-cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were bombed in Brest and were unable to join the Bismarck, severely hampering the German Navy's attacks on British shipping. Low-flying bombers were also used to lay mines at sea and this proved increasingly successful at sinking German ships as the war went on, though it was a hazardous operation for the bomber aircrews. Light bombers such as Blenheims regularly launched extremely dangerous low-level daylight missions against German shipping. However the British bombers were shot out of the sky by faster German fighters. Heavy losses continued when obsolete Bomber Command aircraft, such as the single engine Battles, made desperate daylight attacks against the German forces in the Low Countries to support the British army and defend the British retreat to Dunkirk. Since the British army's retreat from Dunkirk in May/June 1940, Bomber Command had become Britain's most powerful offensive weapon. From the summer of 1940, the RAF was launching raids on Germany at night, though the bomber force was still relatively small and under-equipped. The primary targets were oil facilities and communications (e.g. railways) though as a secondary target Bomber Command was also told to attack German cities "for their intrinsic industrial and psychological value" on nights when conditions prevented identification of the primary target.
Abstract The Battle of Britain was one of the most decisive battle of World War II. ... Two-thirds of those were bombers. ... Geographically, the RAF was divided into 11 groups composing "Fighter Command". ... German losses were also high and German high command grew impatient. ... Fighter bombers attacked in the daytime and heavy bombers at night with fighter protection. ...
Second would be a massive onslaught to paralyze Britain's air powers once and for all by obliterating all RAF fields, defenses and aircraft factories in a gigantic combined bomber and fighter blitz. ... An efficient radar system and the deciphering of German plans gave the British a decisive advantage in being able to allocate their outnumbered forces effectively. ... In the weeks between 10 August and 24 August, the RAF lost 193 fighters compared to 406 fighters and bombers losses inflicted to the Luftwaffe. ... Since 8 August, RAF Fighter Command had lost 94 pilots and another 60 fli...
WW2 Course Work: Was The Contribution Of The Soviet Union The Main Cause Of The Defeat Of Nazi Germany? ... However possibly one of the main factors was the Soviet Union's contribution. ... On 14th August 1940 the Luftwaffe launched an attack on British Bomber Command. ... It gave the RAF time to regroup, repair airfields and train new pilots. ... By the beginning of July 1940, the RAF had built up its strength to 640 fighters, but the Luftwaffe had 2600 bombers and fighters. ...
February 1945, over the course of three days nearing the end of the war, 800 British RAF and America USAAF bomber planes off-loaded 3,400 tons of explosives obliterating the people of Dresden. ... The Bombing of Dresden was such a proposal and the intension was to "hit the Germans where they feel it most, behind an already partially collapsed front, to prevent the use of the city in the way of further advance, and incidentally to show the Russians when they arrive what Bomber Command can do" (internal RAF memo). ... The bombing was 40% incendiaries containing high explosives and as t...
David Brin's vision of city life in the near future is almost one of complete paranoia and exaggeration. ... In the future we will have to deal with surveillance and privacy rights, there is no question, but not to the extent that Brin suggests. ... We are seeing the beginning of this already, but Brin takes the implementation of these technologies to extremes, which are incredibly unlikely scenarios for our own future. ... In Brin's vision, accountability would likely take supremacy over freedom. ... Accountability is not the solution to Brin's transparent society but rather a ...
PEOPLE: FDR - President during WWII Truman - President who decided to drop atomic bombs on Japan Churchill - British Prime Minister Eisenhower - Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied troops in D-Day MacArthur - General who returns to Philippians - Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific Rommel - General in charge of Afrika Korps Hitler - poorly educated Austrian; joined German workers party, became leader, changed name to Nazi; became Dictator of Germany Mussolini - in Fascist Party; declared himself Dictator of Italy Tojo - Dictator of Japan Stalin - Dictator of USSR F...
During the period 1939-1944 Twenty Blenheim fighter-bombers were shot down by friendly fire due to misidentification. ... Of the 81 bombers that took part, 27 failed to find the target, and 5 were shot down. ... In six months, from May to November 1940, the Royal Air Force (RAF) killed less Germans than car crashes. ... The first British air attack on a mainland population center, 36 RAF planes bombed the rail yards of Manchen Gladbach. ... AN ENGLISHWOMAN The first major warship to be sunk by a wartime air attack was sunk by Britan, it was the German light-cruiser, the Konigsberg ...
Second, more bombers were killed than civilians were. ... Second, more bombers were killed than civilians were on the bombing raids. The exchange ratio in 1941 between British bombers and German civilians were more bombers were dying than civilians were. ... During 1941 the RAF aircrews were not bombing the heart of Germany, which they were ordered to, but they were bombing the German countryside because they were afraid of being killed Third, the killing of civilians was an ineffective and reprehensible strategy. ... Firestorms were started on accident after bomber raids killing and dest...
Douhet viewed that the first priority in air operations was to gain command of the air. In fact, to Douhet, command of the air was essential to attaining victory in war. ... He did not see the need for different types of aircraft for different missions, although he did recommend a small number of fighters to protect the bombers. ... Joint Operations The decisive factor in the war with Iraq was the air campaign, but ground forces were necessary to eject the Iraqis from Kuwait. ... As predicted by Mitchell, the strategic use of airplanes would significantly augment the ground forces and dem...