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Bomber Command: 1936-1968 An Operational & Historical Record PDF

415 Pages·2005·15.92 MB·English
by  Delve
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RAF Bomber Command 1936–1968 RAF Bomber Command 1936–1968 AN OPERATIONAL AND HISTORICAL RECORD KEN DELVE First published in Great Britain in 2005 by PEN & SWORD AVIATION an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd 47 Church Street Barnsley South Yorkshire S70 2AS Copyright © Ken Delve, 2005 ISBN 1 84415 183 2 The right of Ken Delve to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. Typeset by Concept, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI UK Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the Imprints of Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword Military, Wharncliffe Local History, Pen & Sword Select, Pen & Sword Military Classics and Leo Cooper. For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk Contents CHAPTER ONE Introduction and Overview CHAPTER TWO Operations CHAPTER THREE Operational Groups CHAPTER FOUR Aircrew Training CHAPTER FIVE Aircraft of Bomber Command ANNEXES A: AOC-in-C Bomber Command B: Operational Squadrons, Second World War C: Accuracy of Bomber Command night attacks on German cities D: Order of Battle, 1 August 1939 E: Order of Battle, 16 June 1940 F: Order of Battle, 23 February 1941 G: Order of Battle, 13 February 1942 H: Order of Battle, 18 February 1943 I: Order of Battle, 24 February 1944 J: Order of Battle, January 1945 K: Bomber Command organisation, October 1944–April 1945 L: Bomber Command airfield maps 1939 and 1945 M: Aircraft in Squadrons, daily availability with crews N: Available Bomb lift in tons, by aircraft type O: Cumulative monthly totals of tonnage of bombs, sorties despatched, and aircraft missing, February 1942–May 1945 P: Distribution of effort and casualties Q: Progress of the Bomber Offensive against German industrial towns schedule, by towns, of attacks and devastation resulting R: Bomber Command nuclear weapons INDEX C O HAPTER NE Introduction and Overview During the Second World War Bomber Command flew around 390,000 sorties for the loss of 8,953 aircraft on operational missions; that number does not include another almost 1,400 that crashed in the UK whilst airborne on an operational mission. The cost in aircrew lives was over 47,000, to which must be added those killed in accidents or training – a further 8,000 plus; it is generally accepted that the total of lives lost is around 55,000. What did the six years of the bombing offensive achieve? Supporters and critics were active at the time and in the 60 years since the end of the war the argument has raged even more fiercely. As with all history the benefits of hindsight and access to previously classified documentary sources has to be balanced by the researcher’s removal in time and context from the period under study. To understand truly decisions, policies, actions and attitudes is all but impossible. This book covers the entire period of Bomber Command from its origin in 1936 to its demise – into Strike Command – in 1968. Whilst all periods of the Command are covered it is inevitable that the major focus is on the period of the Second World War. The book has been divided into five main sections: an Introduction and Overview, which sets the framework for the development of Bomber Command and includes both policy and politics; an Operations chapter, which focuses on the combat operations of the Command; a brief look at each of the operational Groups; an overview of aircrew training; and, finally, an Aircraft chapter, looking in chronological sequence at all operational aircraft types – and one ballistic missile used by Bomber Command. The annexes provide a variety of historical data. It seems appropriate to open this overview with a few words from the most famous of Bomber Command’s leaders, Sir Arthur Harris: ‘There are no words with which I can do justice to the aircrew under my command. There is no parallel in warfare to such courage and determination in the face of danger over so prolonged a period.’ These words from Bomber Command’s wartime leader, Air Marshal Arthur T. Harris are a fitting tribute to the sacrifice made by the Command in six years of war. Only one force on the Allied side was continuously involved with active operations against the German homeland – RAF Bomber Command. The day the war started a Blenheim of 139 Squadron flew a reconnaissance sortie to locate German shipping and for the next six years the Command took the war to the enemy, at first with limited effect but from 1942 with increasing resources and greater accuracy, and with an ever greater impact. Origins and doctrine Strategic bombing theory was developed in the latter years of the First World War and was a combination of the German raids on England and the Allied, especially Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force, bombing campaign, although this was only just starting to get into its stride when the Armistice was signed in November 1918. Despite the fact that strategic bombing had not really been evaluated in the First World War it became a central tenet of air power theory in the post-war period. In part this was because it was the one independent decisive (potentially) role that the air forces could perform. For the RAF this was enshrined as the Trenchard Doctrine: ‘the nation that would stand being bombed longest would win in the end … to win it will be necessary to pursue a relentless offensive by bombing the enemy’s country, destroying his sources of supply of aircraft and engines, and breaking the morale of his people.’ This doctrine of a war winning bomber force remained the focus of doctrine with the major air forces throughout the 1920s. In May 1928 Trenchard, whose views still carried great weight, circulated a forceful memo to counter: ‘an unwillingness on the part of the other Services to accept the contention of the Air Staff that in future wars air attacks would most certainly be carried out against the vital centres of commerce and of the manufacture of munitions of war of every sort no matter where these centres were located.’ He stated that the RAF doctrine was to ‘break down the enemy means of resistance by attacks on objectives selected as most likely to achieve this end’ it being better to attack munitions at source (the factory) than on the battlefield – this would become a well-rehearsed argument by Bomber Command throughout the Second World War. It would, he believed, have greater effect for less effort, and would include dissuading workers from working in the factories. ‘The Hague Convention allows for military targets, including production centres. What is illegitimate, as being contrary to the dictates of humanity, is the indiscriminate bombing of a city for the sole purpose of terrorising the civilian population.’ Bomber Command would later take great care to stress the military significance of its city targets, whilst the German propaganda machine would refer to the Terrorflieger. The other Chiefs of Staff in their respective memos were not convinced, and also expressed concern over being bombed in return; it must be remembered that this was a period when the independence of the RAF, in part budget-driven, was under threat and the arguments, as such tri-Service ‘debates’ usually are, was writ large with vested interest. Bomber Command suffered 55,000 aircrew casualties in the Second World War; a number of squadrons lost 1,000 aircrew during the war. Bomber Command Badge: In front of a thunderbolt gules winged grey, an Astral Crown Or (elements of this badge were subsequently used in the Strike Command badge). The thunderbolt represents Bomber Command’s striking power and the Astral Crown is indicative of the success of its operations. Motto: ‘strike Hard Strike Sure’. The badge was approved in March 1947 by King George VI. The debates were largely hypothetical at the time as the RAF’s bomber strength in the early 1930s was pitiful with five night-and six day-bomber squadrons, all with slow biplanes with very limited bomb loads, hardly the material with which to deliver an aerial bombardment of any significance. Although the stagnation of the 1920s, which in military terms had been a dismal decade for all of Britain’s armed forces, had started to change in the early 1930s both doctrine and equipment were outdated and with little immediate prospect of improvement. In terms of aircraft there was a glimmer of hope with the issue of Specification B.9/32 for a ‘twin-engined medium bomber of good performance and long range’, although the requirement for a 720 mile range and 1,000 lb bomb load was not particularly inspiring! Two of Bomber Command’s early stalwarts – the Wellington and the Hampden – were a result of this Specification. The following year saw Britain wake up to the realities of a changing Europe. A Foreign Office appraisal of 1933 stated that Germany ‘… controlled by a frenzied nationalism and resolved to assert her rights to full equality, will proceed to the building of formidable armaments on land and especially in the air.’ The Government suggested that the Services draw up expansion plans; the Defence Requirements Committee sat from November 1933 to February 1934 and in its report gave priority to the establishment by the RAF of a Home Defence force (including bombers) strong enough to counter any attack. Expansion Scheme A was announced in July 1934 to provide the basis for a deterrent force and a training establishment on which future expansion could be based; under this scheme the RAF would be ready for war in eight years (1942). The old One-Power standard, which had seen planning based

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Overview: This is a comprehensive reference to the structure, operation, aircraft and men of Bomber Command from its formation on 1936 to 1968 when it became part of Strike Command. It includes descriptions of many notable bombing raids, the many types of aircraft used, weapons and airfields. The fi
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