Long-range Spitfires and daylight Bomber Command raids (was: #1

Guy Alcala wrote in message .. .

This will undoubtedly appear in the wrong place thanks to the
malfunctioning news server.

If you're going to bomb by radar the accuracy isn't all that much better by day
than by night, but it's still better (about 2 vs. 3 mile CEPs at that time). and
Oboe, Gee-H and Micro-H were all limited in range and required forward deployed
transmitters on the continent to reach the deeper German targets. That's the
main reason RAF Bomber Command accuracy was so much better on deep
penetration targets after the invasion. Here's the 8th AF blind bombing accuracy
figures:

H2X only: 10/10 clouds; % within 1,000 feet, 0.2%; % over 5 miles, 41%.

H2X plus visual: 8-9/10 clouds; 1.0%; 18%.

H2X plus visual: 6-7/10 clouds; 2.0%; 9%.

H2X plus visual: 4-5/10 clouds; 4.4%; 4%.

Gee-H: various weather; 5.0%; 6%.

Micro-H: various Wx; 5.0%; 11%.

Visual: good Wx; 30.0%; 8%.

Visual: poor Wx; 9.4%; 9%.

(Source: "Eighth Air Force -- Tactical Development, August 1942 - May 1945,"
Aug. 1942 - June 1945, file 520.057-1, HRA, quoted in "America's Pursuit of
Precision Bombing, 1910-1945" by Stephen L. McFarland)

These are identical figures to Exhibit R, "Percent of bombs within
certain distance of the aiming point, Eighth Air Force Bombing
1 September 1944 to 31 December 1944", in the USSBS "Bombing
Accuracy" report.

The table columns are Good to fair visibility (no cloud cover, no haze,
no smoke) / Poor Visibility (clouds, haze and/or smoke) / Gee H /
Micro H / H2X 4-5/10 clouds / H2X 6-7/10 clouds / H2x 8-9/10
clouds / H2X 10/10 clouds. Percentage of bombs within specified
distance of aiming point.

Note the table ignores 3 ground support missions in the given date range

% of total effort / 14 / 10 / 15 / 3 / 3 / 5 / 15 / 35
% with 1,000 feet / 30 / 9.4 / 5 / 5 / 4.4 / 2 / 1 / 0.2
% within 0.5 miles / 64.3 / 34.4 / 26 / 25.7 / 22.8 / 12.5 / 7.3 / 1.2
% within 1 mile / 82.4 / 58 / 56 / 52.4 / 48.5 / 36.5 / 22.5 / 5.6
% within 3 miles / 91.5 / 85 / 90 / 78.2 / 89.1 / 84 / 67.4 / 39.8
% over 5 miles / 7.8 / 8.6 / 6 / 11.5 / 4 / 9.5 / 18 / 41.5

The table includes the bomb tonnages, and the percentages are
of the bombs actually aimed at the target, as opposed to the
bomb tonnage dropped including on secondary targets. Total
effort is the percentage of bombs aimed at the target using the
particular aiming method.

I think you will find McFarland is referencing the above table, not
the 8th's accuracy record for the whole war. Which is what his
reference implies.

Geoffrey Sinclair
Remove the nb for email.