INTA 4803 TP      WAR IN THE 20th CENTURY

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WW II: Combined Bomber Offensive

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"The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them.   At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a dozen other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation.   They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind." * Air Marshall Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, RAF * Last sentence from Hosea 8:7

 

Lesson Objectives •  Describe and analyze the strategic bombing campaign against Germany and its impact on the war. •  Explain why strategic air warfare can be considered the ultimate expression of total war.

 

Study Guides •  What were the objectives of the Combined Bomber Offensive? •  Describe the differences in the British and American approach to strategic bombing. •  What was the impact of the Combined Bomber Offensive on the Germany war effort? on German society?

 

Assignment Readings: "The Role of Bombing in World War II" Pamela Feltu U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission "The Prescient Planners of AWPD-1" Phillip S. Meilinger Air Force Magazine, August 2011, pp 72-75 "The United States Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report: Introduction" United States Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report (European War) The United States Strategic Bombing Survey Washington: Government Printing Office, 1945   READ pp 1-11 down to "The Secondary Campaigns" "The Long Arm of the Strategic Bombing Survey" Rebecca Grant Air Force Magazine, February 2008, pp. 64-67 Supplemental Resources: United States Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report (European War) (1945) United States Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report (Pacific War) (1946) The United States Strategic Bombing Survey Washington: Government Printing Office   These are full copies of the survey reports. Written immediately after the war, this exhaustive summary is considered the definitive account of the results of the strategic bombing campaigns during the Second World War. "British Bombing Strategy in World War Two" Detlef Siebert World War Two BBC 617 Squadron and the Dams Raid Royal Air Force Museum, London   This is a detailed account of Operation Chastise, the Dam Buster raid (17 May 1943).   The site contains excellent detail on the tactics and technology used to attack a series of very difficult targets. The Dam Busters (1956 movie, 1:59:48)   • Alternate Memphis Belle (1944 movie, 41:31)   • Alternate

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