*** Welcome to piglix ***

Strategic Bombing During World War II

Strategic bombing during World War II
Part of World War II
The Sandman a B-24 Liberator, piloted by Robert Sternfels.jpg
A B-24 on a bomb run over the Astra Romana refinery in Ploiești, Romania, during Operation Tidal Wave
Location European Theatre of World War II
Pacific Theatre of World War II
Belligerents
 United States
 United Kingdom
 Canada
 Australia
 Soviet Union
 Germany
 Japan
Kingdom of Italy Italy
Commanders and leaders
United States Hap Arnold
United States Carl Spaatz
United States Curtis LeMay
United Kingdom Charles Portal
United Kingdom Richard Peirse
United Kingdom Arthur Harris
United Kingdom Arthur Tedder
Canada Clifford McEwen
Soviet Union Sergei Khudyakov
Soviet Union Alexander Novikov
Nazi Germany Hermann Göring
Nazi Germany Albert Kesselring
Nazi Germany Hugo Sperrle
Empire of Japan Naruhiko Higashikuni
Empire of Japan Masakazu Kawabe
Casualties and losses

Britain:

  • 60,595 British civilians killed
  • 160,000 airmen (Europe)

China:

  • 260,000–350,934 Chinese civilians

France:

  • 67,078 civilians killed

The Netherlands:

  • Thousands of civilians

Poland:

  • Tens of thousands of civilians

USSR:

  • More than 500,000 Soviet civilians
  • 2,691 airmen (Japan)

Germany:

  • 305,000–600,000 civilians killed, including foreign workers
  • Very heavy damage to industry

Japan:

  • 330,000-500,000 civilians killed
  • Very heavy damage to industry

Italy:

  • 60,000–100,000 civilians killed
  • 5,000 soldiers killed

Britain:

China:

France:

The Netherlands:

Poland:

USSR:

Germany:

Japan:

Italy:

Strategic bombing during World War II was the sustained aerial attack on railways, harbours, cities, workers' housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory during World War II. Strategic bombing is a military strategy which is distinct from both close air support of ground forces and tactical air power.

During World War II, it was believed by many military strategists of air power that major victories could be won by attacking industrial and political infrastructure, rather than purely military targets. Strategic bombing often involved bombing areas inhabited by civilians and some campaigns were deliberately designed to target civilian populations in order to terrorize and disrupt their usual activities. International law at the outset of World War II did not specifically forbid aerial bombardment of cities despite the prior occurrence of such bombing during World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Strategic bombing during World War II began on 1 September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) began bombing cities and the civilian population in Poland in an indiscriminate aerial bombardment campaign. As the war continued to expand, bombing by both the Axis and the Allies increased significantly. In September 1940, the Luftwaffe began targeting British cities in 'The Blitz'. From 1942 onward, the British bombing campaign against Germany became less restrictive and increasingly targeted industrial sites and eventually, civilian areas. When the United States began flying bombing missions against Germany, it reinforced these efforts and controversial firebombings were carried out against Hamburg (1943), Dresden (1945), and other German cities.


...
Wikipedia

...