 | Strange Planes: Strategic Bombing in World War II Strategic Bombing in World War II |
 | Devastation of cities in world war II In World War II, strategic bombing destroyed a lot of cities, cultures, killed about 60 000 British, 450 000 German , and 400 000 Japan civilians. |
 | General Patton & LtGen Doolittle Welcomed; Japs Bombed 1945/6/11 1) "Los Angeles: An estimated 2,000,000 Southern Californians wildly cheer General George S. Patton, Jr., and Lt. General Jimmy Doolittle as they pass in triumphant parade. General Doolittle makes an impassioned speech in which he asks the 'home team to continue supplying the goods to the field team' to assure an early victory over Japan." scenes of Patton, Doolittle greeted by 2 million in parade 2) Air Blows Hit Japs On All Fronts - "Strategic bombing comes to the Orient. Huge Yankee bombers dump 300 lb. bombs on Malaybalay on Mindanao, creating huge fires in a concentration of Jap barracks...Medium bombers of the U.S. 10th Air Force drop 500 lb. RDX bombs on Toungoo, ruining this rail junction on the Mandalay-Rangoon line...And Yuncheng, Jap supply base in China, is plastered with 500 lb. incendiary clusters, destroying warehouses and rolling stock." scenes of Rangoon bridge, central Burma, in China 3) RFC Chief Outlines Its Aims - "Washington, DC: Federal Loan Administrator, John W. Snyder, proposes RFC absorption of various subsidiaries, and adds that the disposal of war surpluses is being approached very realistically." scenes of head of Reconstruction Finance Corp. speaks on disposal of government surplus and credit to shift to peacetime production 4) '46 Cars on Way, from Detroit - "Detroit, Mich., Two hand-made '46 model Ford cars roll on their test, exhibition runs. John Q. Citizen will not be able to purchase one for many months due to production clamps and priorities." 5) Reds Mark May Day - "Joseph Stalin reviews gigantic May Day military parade in Red Square, with American and Japanese military observers giving added interest to the proceedings." scenes of parade includes American jeeps, huge new artillery 6) "The Kentucky Derby - Louisville, KY: Excited thousands watch Hoop Junior splash through the mud to cop record purse and give Eddie Arcaro his 3rd Derby win." scenes of Derby Day at Churchill Downs in Kentucky for horse race. (complete newsreel) |
 | B-17 Daylight Bombing Raid The B-17 was primarily employed in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and military targets. The U.S. 8th Air Force based in England complemented the RAF Bomber Command's nighttime area bombing in Operation Pointblank, to help secure air superiority over Western Europe in preparation for Operation Overlord. Despite their legendary ability to absorb damage, especially in belly-landings and ditchings, aircrews faced a 1 in 3 chance of not returning from their missions. Music: Max Richter - 'On The Nature Of Daylight'. |
 | Saakashvili: Russian Attacks Likely Premeditated In this video from AP, Mikhail Saakashvili comments on the Russian strategic bombing campaign, saying the attacks mainly hit economic targets in civilian areas of Georgia. Human Rights Watch has confirmed extensive Russian attacks on the Georgian city of Gori, including strikes with cluster munitions. The rights monitoring group also commented on the Georgian attack on the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. Claims have been repeated, based on Russian news sources such as Russia Today, of 2,000 civilians killed in the Georgian attack on Tskhinvali. However, very few reliable sources have had access to the South Ossetian capital since fighting broke out there late on 07 August and early on 08 August. Since 08 August, the Russians have controlled access to Tskhinvali. Human Rights Watch quotes a doctor in Tskhinvali who testifies to the total of civilian AND MILITARY casualties in the South Ossetian city: http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/13/russia19620.htm "The doctor also said that 44 bodies had been brought to the hospital since the fighting began, of both military and civilians. The figure reflects only those killed in the city of Tskhinvali. But the doctor was adamant that the majority of people killed in the city had been brought to the hospital before being buried, because the city morgue was not functioning due to the lack of electricity in the city." |
 | Russian Tanks Keep on Rolling After claiming a defense of South Ossetia, Putin ignores world outrage and commands his military to continue widening the attack on the sovereign nation of Georgia, even after that nation appears to have completely removed its troops from South Ossetia. Putin has not responded to Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's call for a cease-fire and negotiations. This Reuters video report calls the situation an "echo of the cold war." Russian strategic bombing campaign sounds pretty loud for an echo. Targets have included T'bilisi International Airport just hours after the landing of high-level diplomats. According to the BBC, the Russian military has 6,717 "main battle tanks," the Georgian military 82. That's Putin's kind of fight. |
 | Firestorm- Bombing of Germany 1/ 5 Bombing of Germany! From the beginning of the war the Luftwaffe engaged in massive air raids against Polish cities, bombing civilians, hospitals, and refugees. Cities like Warsaw, Wieluń, Frampol and many others were devastated by indiscriminate German air bombardments, often targeting civilians. In the case of Frampol, the city was destroyed as a test case to determine the effects and accuracy of bombardment. The first bombs released on Germany during World War II were dropped by a single Polish PZL.23 Karaś of the 21st squadron on a factory in the Silesian town of Ohlau, today Olawa. Even though the Polish Air Force had a small fleet of modern medium-range bombers such as the PZL.37 Łoś, before the full scale of German war atrocities became known, Polish officers were reluctant to order strategic bombardment of targets in Germany for humanitarian reasons. Shortly after, in a period of a few days, Luftwaffe numerical and technological superiority took its toll on the Polish Air Force and such operations were impossible The bombing of Dresden by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Force (USAAF) between February 13 and February 15, 1945, 12 weeks before the surrender of the Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) of Nazi Germany, remains one of the most controversial Allied actions of the Second World War. The raids saw 1,300 heavy bombers drop over 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices in four raids, destroying 13 square miles (34 km²) of the city, the baroque capital of the German state of Saxony, and causing a firestorm that consumed the city centre. Estimates of civilian casualties vary greatly, but recent publications place the figure between 24,000 and 40,000. The Allies described the operation as the justified bombing of a military and industrial target, which was a major rail transportation and communication centre, housing 110 factories and 50,000 workers in support of the German war effort.[4] Against this, several researchers have argued that Dresden was a cultural landmark of little or no military significance, a "Florence on the Elbe," as it was known, and the attacks were indiscriminate area bombing and not proportional for the commensurate military gains. In the first few decades after the war, some death toll estimates were as high as 250,000. However, figures in the regions of hundreds of thousands are considered disproportionate Today's historians estimate a death toll of between 25,000 and 40,000, with an independent investigation commissioned by the city itself to be released some time in 2008. Post-war discussion of the bombing includes debate by commentators and historians as to whether or not the bombing was justified, and whether or not its outcome constituted a war crime. Nonetheless, the raids continue to be included among the worst examples of civilian suffering caused by strategic bombing, and have become one of the moral causes célèbres of the Second World War. |
 | Battle of Britain Newsreels Selected newsreels from 1940 and 1941 related to the air defense of Britain. Battle of Britain is the name commonly given to the effort by the German Luftwaffe to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF), before a planned sea and airborne invasion of Britain (Operation Sealion) during the Second World War. The Battle of Britain was the first major battle to be fought entirely by air forces. It was the largest and most sustained bombing campaign yet attempted, and the first real test of the strategic bombing theories developed since the previous World War. The failure of Nazi Germany to destroy Britain's air force, or to break the spirit of the British government or people, is considered the Third Reich's first major defeat. Neither Hitler nor the Wehrmacht believed it possible to carry out a successful amphibious assault on the British Isles until the RAF had been neutralized. Secondary objectives were to destroy aircraft production and ground infrastructure, to attack areas of political significance, and to terrorize the British people with the intent of intimidating them into seeking an armistice or surrender. Some historians have argued no invasion could have succeeded; given the massive superiority of the Royal Navy over the Kriegsmarine, Sealion would have been a disaster. They argue the Luftwaffe would have been unable to prevent decisive intervention by RN cruisers and destroyers, even with air superiority. British historians date the battle from 10 July to 31 October 1940, which represented the most intense period of daylight bombing. German historians usually place the beginning of the battle in mid-August 1940 and end it in May 1941, on the withdrawal of the bomber units in preparation for the attack on the USSR. The Battle of Britain marked the first defeat of Hitler's military forces, with air superiority seen as the key to victory. Pre-war theories led to exaggerated fears of strategic bombing, and British public opinion was invigorated by having come through the ordeal. To Hitler it did not seem a serious setback as Britain was still not in a position to cause real damage to his plans, and the last minute invasion plan had been an unimportant addition to German strategy. However, for the British the fighter pilots had achieved a great victory in successfully carrying out Sir Thomas Inskip's 1937 air policy of preventing the Germans from knocking Britain out of the war. It also signalled a significant shift in U.S. opinion. During the battle many people from the U.S. accepted the view promoted by Joseph Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador in London, and believed that the UK could not survive. However, Roosevelt wanted a second opinion, and sent 'Wild Bill' Donovan on a brief visit to Britain which convinced Donovan that Britain would survive and should be supported in every possible way. Both sides in the battle made exaggerated claims of numbers of enemy aircraft shot down. In general, claims were two to three times the actual numbers, because of the confusion of fighting in dynamic three-dimensional air battles. Postwar analysis of records has shown that between July and September, the RAF claimed over 2,698 kills for 1,023 fighter aircraft lost to all causes, where 147 Polish pilots claimed 201 out of that number, while the Luftwaffe fighters claimed 3,198 RAF aircraft downed for losses of 1,887, of which 873 were fighters. To the RAF figure should be added an additional 376 Bomber Command and 148 Coastal Command aircraft conducting bombing, mining, and reconnaissance operations in defence of the country. The British triumph in the Battle of Britain was not without heavy cost. Total British civilian losses from July to December 1940 were 23,002 dead and 32,138 wounded, with one of the largest single raids occurring on 19 December 1940, in which almost 3,000 civilians died. Winston Churchill summed up the effect of the battle and the contribution of Fighter Command with the words, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few". However, the brilliant leadership of Dowding and Keith Park in successfully proving their theories of air defence had created enemies amongst the RAF air marshals, and in a shabby episode both were sacked from their posts in the immediate aftermath of the battle. Pilots who fought in the Battle have been known as The Few ever since. September is celebrated in the United Kingdom as "Battle of Britain Day", marking the battle. The end of the battle allowed the UK to rebuild its military forces and establish itself as an Allied stronghold. Britain later served as a base from which the Liberation of Europe was launched. |
 | Pink Floyd - Goodbye Blue Sky (London Blitz) The Blitz was the sustained bombing of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, in World War II. While the "Blitz" hit many towns and cities across the UK, it began with the bombing of London for 57 nights in a row. By the end of May 1941, over 43,000 civilians had been killed and more than a million houses destroyed or damaged. London was not the only city to suffer extensive bombing during the Blitz. Birmingham, Coventry, Sheffield, Liverpool, Hull, Manchester, Portsmouth, Plymouth and Southampton were all among the cities to suffer similarly heavy air raids and high numbers of casualties. The German military doctrine of speed and surprise was described as Blitzkrieg, literally lightning war, from which the British use of Blitz was derived. While German air-supported attacks on Poland, France, the Netherlands and other countries may be described as Blitzkrieg, the prolonged strategic bombing of London did not fit the term. While the Germans never again managed to bomb Britain on such a large scale, they carried out smaller attacks throughout the war, taking the civilian death toll to 51,509 from bombing. In 1944, the development of pilotless V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets briefly enabled Germany to again attack London with weapons launched from the European continent. In total the V weapons killed 8,938 civilians in Britain. |
 | The Mighty Eighth part 3 of 3 From May 1942 to July 1945, the Eighth planned and precisely executed America's daylight strategic bombing campaign against Nazi-occupied Europe, and in doing so the organization compiled an impressive war record. That record, however, carried a high price. For instance, the Eighth suffered about half of the U.S. Army Air Force's casualties (47,483 out of 115,332), including more than 26,000 dead. The Eighth's brave men earned 17 Medals of Honor, 220 Distinguished Service Crosses, and 442,000 Air Medals. The Eighth's combat record also shows 566 aces (261 fighter pilots with 31 having 15 or more victories and 305 enlisted gunners), over 440,000 bomber sorties to drop 697,000 tons of bombs, and over 5,100 aircraft losses and 11,200 aerial victories. All ETO Losses Type.......... Number Lost B-17.......... 4,754 B-24.......... 2,112 P-47.......... 1,043 P-38.......... 451 P-51.......... 2,201 Total.......... 10,561 |
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![Daily flights from NYC to Mont Tremblant\](images/articles/thumbs/nytremblantthumb.jpg "Daily flights from NYC to Mont Tremblant\")
