RE:Bombers/Raiders

Doug Evans wrote:

>In the final analysis, your comment about the 'more production by the
end'
>begs a comparison to 'what they'd have produced without raiding' and to
>what the Allies were producing.

Fair point, though giving that the allies had a population base three
times
that of the axis powers Germany was never going to win a long term
industrialisd war anyway. She wasn't even geared up for war in 1939 and
relied on Blitzkreig to knock an opponent out quickly. It wasn't until
1942
when the war in Russia bogged down that Hitler heeded Speers request to
put
the Reichs economy and industry on a war footing (not a mistake being
repeated in the USA, USSR or UK).

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Kevin Walker wrote:

>Interesting!  I had heard some large missions weren't nearly as
>effective as first thought, but I hadn't realized the effectiveness was
>so much less (so much for the documentaries I've seen).  :)  I'll have
>to dig up some time and investigate.

German bombing raids against British infrastructure during the battle of
Britain did little to impede the production of fighters, which like
Germany
later in the war, increased over time. As I said previously the bombers,
weapons systems etc were only good for killing people but of little use
against infrastructure...unlike a laser guided bomb or cruise missile,
just
one of which is a lot more effective at killing hard targets than 100
B-17s
or Avro Lancasters! It is just that 1920's and 30's offensive air
doctrine
called for massed bombing raids against enemy population and industrial
targets, and the Condor Legions actions in the Spanish civil war
comfirmed
this belief. It was assumed massed bombers over target equals dead
target...but in reality it did not work out like that hence modern
airforces
rely on small groups of fast fighter bombers with precision weapons to
get
the job done (OK B-52 carpet bombing strikes aside of course, but then
again
they and their weapons are a thousand times more effective than the
systems
of 1944). The pictures (air recon)from the time show enemy cities as
blasted
to ruins but what they didn't show was	that a factory with only two
walls
is still a factory and did still operate. Unfortunatley as hundreds of
thousands died on all sides from area bombing it had to be declared
being
effective in hitting industry, lest the allies feel that they had
committed
genocide on the continent. Bear in mind British propoganda from the
Blitz
showing how that despite the devastation cities, factories and people
continued to operate at peak capacity, this wasn't bull shit unlike most
propoganda, and the same went for the germans, they continued to operate
too.

Regards,

Matt Tope