Flying in a British bomber during World War Two was one of the most dangerous jobs imaginable. Some

1
The Bombing of Germany

• Flying in a British bomber during World War Two
  was one of the most dangerous jobs imaginable.
  Some 55,000 aircrew died in raids over Europe
  between 1939 and 1945, the highest loss rate of
  any major branch of the British armed forces.

2

• Yet the RAF bomber crews sacrifices have been
  overshadowed by the controversy over the
  saturation bombing of German cities in 1944 and
  '45, in which tens of thousands of German
  civilians were killed.

3

• In late 1939, daylight raids were abandoned.
  British bombers would fly mainly at night.
• Early in the war, up to 1941, navigation in the
  dark was intensely difficult, particularly if
  there was cloud cover over the ground. At first,
  crews had to rely on dead reckoning - estimating
  position by speed, flying time and compass.

4

• Dropping the bombs was the most dangerous part of
  the mission. Planes had to fly level and straight
  to maximise chances of hitting the target.
• Planes on the bomb run presented a perfect
  target. Occasionally, planes might even be hit by
  bombs released from a plane above. When crews
  returned home they were exhausted by the
  intensity of the dangers they had experienced and
  by many hours flying in uncomfortable conditions.
  Some of them would have seen other planes
  exploding in huge fireballs, or being shot down

5

• They returned to an ordered life on the base.
  Within hours of weaving their way through flak in
  the freezing skies above Berlin, they could be
  off duty enjoying a pint, a dance or a film.
• 'It was a Jekyll and Hyde existence really, and
  it was funny to just ride around your bike among
  the fields, and think, well, it's not many hours
  since we were in another, completely different
  world. And probably thinking maybe just once or
  twice about friends who hadn't come back. It was
  a schizophrenic life really. You had to have two
  caps, one to enjoy yourself and one to get
  serious.' (Roy MacDonald)

6

• Over Germany, only one in four planes hit their
  targets. In the crucial Ruhr Valley, centre of
  German industrial production, that proportion
  fell to as low as one in fifteen. And all this
  failure had been at the cost of some 700 British
  bombers and their crews of up to seven men.
• This changed after 1941

7

• The first 1000 bomber raid targeted Cologne in
  May 1942
• Gone was the need to hit precision targets,
  factories or military sites.
• Now German cities were the targets. The bomber
  crews had new planes. In 1942, the four-engined
  Lancaster was introduced. It could carry much
  bigger bomb loads than the older machines,
  eventually up to 10 tons. It could cope with more
  punishment in the air.

8

• Conditions on the plane were basic. It was noisy,
  cramped and cold. The temperature could drop to
  -40ºC, cold enough to freeze exposed flesh if it
  touched metal.
• Crews were acutely aware of their vulnerability
  in a plane laden with bombs and fuel. As they
  approached, the target's searchlights, would hunt
  for a plane, to offer it as a target for the
  anti-aircraft guns and flak (multiple
  anti-aircraft fire)
• Losses on each flight varied enormously during
  the war. Less than one crew in eight would
  survive fifty missions. Half of all aircrew were
  lost before they had even completed ten missions.

9

• Further mass raids occurred from 1943 onwards,
  destorying vast areas of German cities
• and 1000s of their civilians
• i.e Dresden (famous for its china ware)one mass
  raid25,000 deaths

10

• BUT
• The raids helped boost British morale
• German industry/transport and war production was
  damaged/disrupted
• Morale in Germany did drop by the start of 1945

11

• BUT the arguments still persist
• German war production was never halted
• The war was not won by aerial bombing
• Even Churchill called it mere acts of terror and
  wanton destruction
• 600,000 German civilians were killed

12

• Historians have fiercely debated whether Bomber
  Command's contribution to the war effort was
  worthwhile, and whether the loss of German
  civilian lives can ever be justified. But whether
  the strategy was militarily and morally
  acceptable or not, the men who flew the planes
  and died in their thousands did not devise it.