Drawing on previously unexamined files that reassess the efficacy of strategic bombing from tactical and technical perspectives, wakelam reveals the important role scientific research and advice played in operational planning and how there existed a remarkable intellectual flexibility at bomber command. More than 56,000 british and commonwealth aircrew and 600,000 germans died in the course of the rafs attempt to win the war by bombing. It also quotes it as a night operation while royal air force bomber command losses 1942 give the takeoff time as 1. The most famous ones were in britain and the united states. A list of all known allied losses and aviation incidents from all nations organized within the raf structure including all commands and all theatres of war, and including lsses and incidents to. Five blenheims of 107 squadron were among the blood and bullets the day after war was declared and only one came back. Click download or read online button to rafbomberlossesv1 book pdf for free now. This is followed by an explanation of the how the latest figures have been arrived at taking into account additions and amendments to date. This book examines the contribution of raf bomber commands operational. The allied bombing of hamburg during world war ii included numerous attacks on civilians and civic infrastructure. But of late the issue of the effectiveness of strategic bombing has become a contested one in britain, and journalist hastings contribution to the debate is a crippling blow to the carefully. This undertaking is a work of unusual form and format that includes a compact disk. During the third month of the blitz a number of significant events took place. Life and death in bomber command imperial war museums.
Avro lancasters of no 57 squadron, royal air force, lined up in the dusk at scampton, lincolnshire, before an operation. Along with the united states army air forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of germany in world war ii. Commonwealth war graves commission, maple leaf legacy project, veteran affairs, and richard koval on the rcaf 6 group bomber command site may have number if another squadron. Pdf bomber command download full pdf book download. It earned great fame during the battle of britain in 1940, when the few held off the luftwaffe attack on britain. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. The serviceregiment number can be obtained via a number of web sites.
Woodbridge elg lower left was specially built as the first of three bomber command emergency runways for damaged allied aircraft returning from operations over europe. Raf fighter command was one of the commands of the royal air force. This book examines the contribution of raf bomber command s operational research section to the strategic bombing offensive. What links here related changes upload file special pages permanent link. In summary, the australians who served in bomber command were. As a result of the heavy losses the luftwaffe inflicted upon eighth bomber commands heavy bombers, the daylight strat egic. Bomber command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. Among the strongest images of world war ii is that of waves of allied bombers striking at the heart of germany, reducing german cities to rubble and destroying the german will to fight. Their contribution to raf bomber command was tiny compared to total sorties. Discussion in air war in western europe 1939 1945 started by fred wilson, feb 21. Bomber command and the usaaf suffered very high rates of loss for those. As part of a sustained campaign of strategic bombing during world war ii, the attack during the last week of july. Raf fighter command losses are beginning to appear.
The central focus of the study is the large and largely unrecognized contribution to the success of bomber command made by scientists of the ors. Bomber command headquarters concluded a combination of poor weather, german tactical advances and misfortune were the primary components that ultimately led to the disaster. Each member was mutually dependent on the others and each had a vital part to play in ensuring that the aircraft reached its target, dropped its bombs and safely returned to base. Ww2 bomber command rcaf navigator on lancasters and wellingtons. Bomber command books is the sales site for mention the war ltd.
Dear yank may i offer my congratulations to your efforts in. Now this does not include any of the other type medium aircraft and light aircraft like the b25, b26, l4, p47s, p51, a36s, p39s, p40s, etc in the the 9th and 12th tactical air force and other commands like transport commands. The command continued until 17 november 1943, when it was disbanded and the. The science of bombing operational research in raf bomber.
Read online raf bomber losses v 1 and download raf bomber losses v 1 book full in pdf formats. These figures came from the armys statistical data files on losses. Australian air power in the european theatre, 194245 from april 1940, australia was partner in a vast and. These are the key roles and responsibilities of a heavy bomber crew during the second world war. Uncle sam also recalled multitudes of mothballed 70 ton b29 heavy bombers, from arizona storage, and into service once again for. Air force arrived at waddington, a bomber command airfield near lincoln. A brilliant study of the rafs bomber command and their campaign in world war ii. The battle of berlin from november 1943 to march 1944 was a very different story. After suffering devastating losses in the early stages of the second world war, the united kingdoms royal air force established an operational research section within bomber command in order to drastically improve the efficiency of bombing missions targeting germany. The raf bomber command ww2 casualty statistics require careful consideration, hence the inclusion of bill chorleys explanatory text from appendix 1 of vol 9. Mod has, for some time, been considering the release of wwii raf casualty packs to the national archives. For bomber command, the term phoney war never really meant much. Bomber commands air offensive against the cities of nazi germany was one of the most epic campaigns of world war ii. The hard fact of the day losses compared to the seeming success at night.
Raf bomber command losses of the second world war, vol. More troubling, secondly, are the casualties that bomber command inflicted. Allied losses in and over normandy and some bombing statistics. It provides the most comprehensive record of these losses in the world. Noteworthy are the intelligence failures of both bomber command and the u. In the science of bombing, randall wakelam explores the work of civilian scientists who found. Raf bomber command controlled the rafs bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Over 50 volunteers have worked for the last 4 years to complete the work. Raf bomber command losses these volumes contain information about the aircraft and crewmembers aboard all bomber command aircraft lost during ww ii. Bomber commands losses were remarkably low, in part because of the accessibility of hamburg as a bombing target. I also have majority of service numbers for 434 squadron, courtesy of richard. The xxi bomber command became the twentieth air force, the old xx bomber command headquarters became part of the eight air force on okinawa and both came under a new command, the united states army strategic air forces. Army air force field manual 115, tactics and technique of air fight ing, 10 april. This undertaking is a work of unusual form and format that includes a.
Us for the complete ww2 period and beyond from 1939 1947. A bomber command is generally used for strategic bombing although at times, e. At the ceremony in londons green park, chief of the air staff sir stephen dalton said bomber commands service and raw courage had been recognized. Our growing list of titles focuses on the aircraft, squadrons and above all the men and women who shaped the legend that endures to this day. Since i posted a back of the envelope calculation of bomber command losses during the normandy campaign i figured i should post the official figures. The sources for this database consists of multiple sources, including but not exclusively various losses books colin cummings, j j halley, air britain raf aircraft registers, raf serials books, national archive orb data with some information taken from the rafcommands forum. The ibcc losses database records the details of every bomber command death during wwii. Rafbomberlossesv1 download rafbomberlossesv1 ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format.
Harris hoped that the attack on the capital of the reich would cost germany the war. Adoption of night operations and area bombing, 19391941. Bombing the european axis powers a historical digest of the combined bomber offensive. Reflecting this intensified combat, volume 5 which is devoted to 1944 losses is the lengtheist volume in the bomber command losses series, topping off at over 540 pages. We present a serial number look up tool that will help you identify a misrecorded serial number for an aircraft. Bombing the european axis powers a historical digest of the combined bomber offensive 19391945. The manchester has been included due to direct linkage with the. As a large city and industrial centre, hamburgs shipyards, uboat pens, and the hamburgharburg area oil refineries were attacked throughout the war. Bomber command memorial during world war ii, thousands of young australians joined the raaf and served with squadrons in the royal air force in the united kingdom. Bomber command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a. Haulman 21 october 2011 the members of the 332d fighter group and the 99th, 100th, 301st, and 302d fighter squadrons during world war ii are remembered in part because they were the only africanamerican pilots who served in combat with the army air forces during world war ii.
Royal air force combat reports 19391945 the national archives. Read download raf bomber losses v 1 pdf pdf download. It is thought that similar records were kept by overseas commands, but these appear not to. From 1942 onward, the british bombing campaign against germany became less restrictive and increasingly targeted industrial sites and the civilian manpower base essential.
Raf bomber command during the strategic bombing campaign against the axis. The importance of bringing forward these source documents is to make the. I have omitted the fairey battle for the same reason. Allied losses in and over normandy and some bombing statistics showing 15 of 5 messages. The nuremberg raid was an unequivocal disaster for british bomber command. Australian air power in the european theatre, 194245. Data from victory in the west volume 1 british official.
For example, the germans could have been dealt a crushing blow had the schwinefurt ballbearing raid with another immediate raid. The overall loss rate for bomber command operations was 2. B29 operations in the korean war, 1953 veterans for peace. Bomber command memorial royal australian air force. This searches a database of all raf aircraft serial numbers. There is no administrative reason for these records to be retained and, under the terms of the public records act 1958, the national archives has agreed to accession those records related to raf combat losses for permanent preservation. This book is a testament to all those who flew with bomber command, which lost 55,000 of its members during the war. Pdf raf bomber losses v 1 download full pdf book download. Truman, recalled me and multitudes of wwii veterans to our second war. The korean war, under the command of our littleman president harry s. The success of that first raid was convincing while the two major follow up thousand raids on essen and bremen in june were less so, but still emphatically put bomber command back on the military map. The strategic bombing offensive carried out by bomber command in europe played a significant role in the.
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