The Germans made efforts to avoid bombing Warsaw and Rotterdam from
the historical documents I have read. Rotterdam for example, was being
used as a defensive position by the allies and there was actual house
to house combat taking place in the city. The germans used the threat
of aerial bombardment much like nuclear weapons are used today, as a
bargaining tool. In the case of Rotterdam, the Germans were demanding
the surrender of the defending forces. The allied forces, after
waiting much too long, did not sue for surrender terms until the
German bombers were well on their way to target. In any case, the
German bombers could not be called back in time by radio, and the use
of red flares by the ground forces to signal the bombers not to drop
were only partially successful as they were hard to see in the already
smokey and burning city. (due to the fact that the city was a combat
zone) In fact, a large number of the bombers were able to avoid
dropping their bombs when their bombardiers saw that red flares were
being shot into the air. So in fact, the Germans had made many efforts
to avoid attacking Rotterdam. Warsaw and Rotterdam were both cities
that were bombed because of the fact that the defending troops had
bunkered themselves down in the city itself. How can anyone do that
and not expect to be attacked as strictly a military target. In fact,
Germany made every effort not to attack any civilian targets over
Britain until one of their Heinkel He-111 accidentally dropped its
bombs over parts of London i believe and the British in turn decided
to bomb Berlin in a reprisal raid. This is what sparked the beginning
of the "Blitz" and the subsequent bombing of major cities by both
sides.

To Art's original question, I would have to assume that all
diplomatic avenues take place to stop production, and then covert
operations to sabotage the plant be taken. If those were all
unsuccessfull, and assuming the threat of bombardement was stated in
the diplomatic exchanges, I would opt for a highly accurate
dive-bombing strike by a select group of experienced dive-bomber
pilots, and under heavy fighter escort. The use of level bombers
during World War II such as the B-17, B-24, etc. on urban centers, has
always been a very controversial topic due to their inherent lack of
accuracy during WWII and the subsequent collatoral damages caused by
area bombardment. The question is, when is it OK to knowingly and
willingly bomb unarmed and defencless civilians? That kind of question
you could discuss for ever as well.

P.S. Art, I know your probably going to attack me as some kind of Nazi
apologetic *******, but I understand why you feel the way you do and I
will respect you all the same for the service you provided for your
country and mine by fighting against the Axis forces.

Sincerely,
Ryan Muntener


"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message ...
"tadaa" wrote in message ...


So were London, Coventry and Liverpool neutral countries?



No but Holland was and that didnt prevent Rotterdam being bombed
by the Luftwaffe

Keith