and that aerial bombardment in WWII by and large
failed to live up to the hopes and fears of the generals

The "Strategic Bombing Survey" conducted after the war came to the
same conclusion. German production actually increased during the war.

And note that the purpose of "USBUS" was to prove that strategic
bombing worked, and that therefore the U.S. Air Force should be
created as a third branch of the military forces.

It appears the most valuable service provided by the 8th Air Force was
not in damaging German war production, but by shooting down LW
fighters in preparation for the invasion. Without air superiority, the
Allied ground forces would have had a much tougher time, if indeed the
invasion could have succeeded at all.

"A War To Be Won" notes that the Germans had more 88 mm flak guns at
home, aimed at the USAAF and the RAF, than it had on the eastern front
defending from Russian tanks.

Along the same line (and same source): the life of a German fighter
pilot over the homeland was as endangered as that of a footsoldier on
the eastern front. And the life of an American airman over Germany was
as brief as that of a marine in the Pacific.

It was a bloody, bloody campaign. I forget how many fatalities the 8th
AF suffered over Germany, but it was whole divisions!


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

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