(3/11) Battlefield II Air War Over Germany Episode 1 (GDH)

SUBSRIBE TO EXCELLENT WORLD WAR II VIDEOS
The United States and Great Britain joined forces to create the Combined Bomber Offensive. The two nations had different bombing approaches. The British preferred to fly under the protection of night. Darkness made exact targeting impossible, so "area bombing"--dropping a large number of bombs within a designated area around a target--was used. The Americans, however, were extremely hesitant to participate in an action that might result in civilian casualties. Also, they possessed the Norden bombsight, which was quicker and more accurate than its predecessors, increasing safety for the bomber crew and improving the effectiveness of the bombs. With the heavy armament of the B-17 Flying Fortresses, the USAAF chose to fly during the day for "precision bombing," hitting specific targets, such as factories or transportation hubs, precisely and with minimal damage to the surrounding area.

On August 17, 1942, the Eighth Air Force undertook its first mission against the marshaling yards at Rouen-Sotteville in occupied France. A relatively easy first mission, the only casualties were two airmen who were injured when a pigeon flew into their plane. But for the first several months of the campaign, losses were heavy. Until the debut of the North American P-51 Mustang with its auxiliary gas tanks in March 1944, there were no Allied fighter planes with the range to escort bombers all the way to Germany. Meanwhile, to compensate for the lack of fighter escorts, American bomber forces under the leadership of Curtis E. LeMay implemented tight-formation combat flying. By early 1944, American industry was finally operating at peak capacity, producing enough bombers to replace lost ones, and add more for massive formations. The results were seen in the decrease in German aircraft and fuel production. After the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944, the ground troops advanced quickly toward Germany, providing bases for escorts and destroying the German early air warning system in France. For much of the final year of the war, Allied bombers held air superiority over Germany, leaving bombed-out cities for the ground troops to occupy. (Excerpt from U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission)

Category:

Education

Tags:

• World
• War
• II
• Great
• Britain
• United
• States
• Bomber
• Offensive
• Eight
• Air
• Force
• 1944
• Germany
• German
• Luftwaffe
• USAAF
• Flying
• Fortress
• B-17
• Lancaster
• P-51
• Mustang
• British
• American
• Curtis
• LeMay

[grumpypant]

What else is still being made in America?...the TVs are gone, so are the dishwashers, dryers, Levi jeans, and more!!!...

I sure hope my next car isn't Obama Motors Corp.!!!

[HoustonGD]

@grumpypant Stick to the subject please

[32silvercoins]

I read an inteview of a British Pilot who fought in WW1 in an old book and the Pilot said "Things were so lovely at the start of the war, we would wave at the Germans and they would wave back. Then some fool was stupid enough to pull a pistol out and ruin it all."

[madhammudeux]

@Heer88

Obviously I'm not from USA then am I.

[Heer88]

@madhammudeux Really ? you are from USA at least your profile say so , and you say USA wasn't involved in Vietnam ? Jeez learn your own history .

[madhammudeux]

@Heer88

I was making an ironic reference to the idiomatic idea of 'history will be written by the victors'.

I guess my subtle use of the satirical 'shaddap', went way over your head. Oh well.

And um... Vietnam? My country wasn't even marginally involved.

[Heer88]

@madhammudeux you shut up ( learn to write in your own language ) , you have no right cause no one given you the right , so get lost , history is about truth no matter how much you hide it we will always discover it , plus that's the only war you won the next ones were disasters from Vietnam to now .

[madhammudeux]

@Heer88

Shaddap. We won the war, we get right history however we like.

[Heer88]

@popper504  US invented the plane , bulgarians made the first bombing with airplane in the Balkan war a little known fact .

[popper504]

@Heer88 Yea America started in 1910 and dont forget America Invented the "AIRPlane"

[redletter2008]

@Heer88 OK - I get that.

[Heer88]

@redletter2008 i was talking about this particular case not in general . I have no problem with US or whatever else country being great just as long as they say things as they are and in this particular case the clip not US is not true , cause bombing raids inventors are bulgarians not americans .

[redletter2008]

@Heer88 Well, the US and UK were, and still are great nations. Despite both countries experiencing economic difficulties, both are wealthier, more developed and advanced than most nations. That was even the case during the time period discussed in these clips (1930s-40s). Would you contend that it would be more "truthful" to say the US and UK were not "great" nations and their air forces were "inferior" to those of other nations? That would be a lie. I have no problem with the US being great.