The Bombing of Germany
Chapter 30
The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.
Flak tracers stream into the sky over the German city of Wessel during an RAF raid
By 1944 it was clear that the dark days of the Blitz, when the Luftwaffe reigned supreme over the skies from the Bay of Biscay to the Russian Steppes. By 1944 a campaign of round-the-clock bombing had been in effect for some time against Germany, with the RAF launching massive night raids while the USAAF launched large scale raids in the daylight. This was intended to break the morale of the German population, as well as to cripple their industrial and transportation capabilities at home. The 24 hour nature of the operations further served to keep their pilots and flak crews exhausted by the constant work.
Ground crews push a BF109G fighter on a German airbase
German Federal Archives
The campaign was designated as “Reichsverteidigung”, or “Defense of the Reich” by the Luftwaffe, whose boastful leader Reichsmarschal Hermann Goring had declared would never permit a single enemy bomb to fall on German soil. This promise had been rendered hollow early in the war, but it would not be until later in the conflict that Allied attacks would become sufficiently intense as to truly devastate the fatherland.
An RAF Lancaster bomber is loaded for a raid
Royal Air Force
The RAF had quickly switched to night attacks in the face of serious losses to Bomber Command’s forces in the daylight, and these raids had intensified over the following years as the war situation began to shift against the Germans. The arrival of the US Army Air Forces in the theater had allowed the Americans to begin taking up some of the slack as the war continued to escalate, with increasing American attacks taking place against occupied Europe and Germany itself as the war progressed.
USAAF B17G Flying Fortress bombers at a British airfield
US Army
As with the actual time of the raids, the tactics were different between the Americans and British. The RAF night raids were aimed at larger cities, with the intention of causing large scale general destruction with the hope of “dehousing” the German workforce and shattering their morale. This task was delegated to Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris, who enthusiastically set himself to the task, sending large scale raids of up to 1,000 bombers in attempts to ignite firestorms within the targeted cities.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, commander of RAF Bomber Command
Royal Air Force
As the war progressed, cities such as Cologne and Hamburg were engulfed in such conflagrations, turning them into wastelands of charred buildings interspersed with mountains of rubble, with civilian casualties in the tens of thousands across the country. German war production was also severely disrupted, greatly slowing the supply of the battlefronts in Italy and the USSR.
An RAF bomber is silhouetted in the skies over Hamburg, choked with smoke and crossed by German tracer fire
Royal Air Force
The USAAF, on the other hand, opted for daylight attacks using large formations of their more heavily armed bombers, hoping that numbers would compensate for the lack of long range escort fighters. The Americans were in general more reluctant to use saturation bombing on population centers, instead aiming for destroying industrial areas and infrastructure with the greater precision offered by daylight attacks.
American B24 Liberators during a raid on Romanian oilfields
US Army
In the late summer and early fall of 1943 the Army Air Force launched two major raids on the German industrial center of Schweinfurt, resulting in heavy casualties and crippling American operations over Germany for some time until a solution could be found to the problem of fighter escort deeper into enemy airspace.
An American P47D Thunderbolt fighter close in off of a B24 Liberator bomber
US Army
When they had entered the war the primary fighter aircraft of the US Army Air Forces was the Curtiss P40 Warhawk, but this versatile design was already being eclipsed by newer enemy designs, and as a result American squadrons in Britain were primarily equipped with the newer P47 Thunderbolts and P38 Lightings. The latter was a twin engined Lockheed design, with excellent range and firepower, but its record of attrition resulted in the Lightning being increasingly relegated to a secondary role. The P47 was a massive single seat aircraft designated “The Jug” by its pilots, and proved to be effective and highly durable, but its massive engine limited its practical range.
An FW190 closes in for the kill on a B17, the crippled bomber already trailing flames from an engine
US Army
For the first months of the bombing campaign over Europe the Allies lacked a suitable long range escort fighter that was capable of directly challenging the Luftwaffe as bombers penetrated deep into the Reich’s territory. The resulting casualties of such operations as the Schweinfurt Raids among others resulted in a number of solutions being sought, from improved fighter designs to upgunned “gunship” bombers.
North American P51D Mustang fithers in formation
US Army
The solution was found, however, in a type that had been developed by North American Aviation for export to the British in the early war, and moreover one that was considered to have middling performance. The primary handicap was found to be the American Allison engine powering the P51A and P51B models, which lacked a supercharger. Experiments by the British led to the installation of the same excellent Rolls-Royce Merlin engine as the famous Spitfire, significantly improving the performance of the P51C model, and with a series of final improvements, including a distinctive “bubble” canopy that allowed for 360 degree visibilty, the P51D finally filled the niche as an extremely effective fighter, with the capability to carry field in external “drop-tanks” that could be jettisoned when empty. These gave the P51 the range needed to follow bombers all the way to target and back.
B17s drop ordnance through the overcast over Hamburg
US Army
Despite their professed prefference for more precise operations, the Americans were not above joining the British for their saturation raids. Attacks on Hamburg in 1943 represented a good example of this. In addition, despite the claims made regarding the American Norden Bombsight, the accuracy of raids even in perfect weather was generally well below 25%.
A large formation of USAAF B17s en route to target, with the black puffs of German flak exploding amidst them
US Army
Germany was not the only target of the Allied bombers. Tactical raids were made in direct support of ground forces, such as the large scale aerial bombardment of Monte Cassino in early 1944. Other targets across Occupied Europe and Axis nations also occurred. Raids were made on numerous targets in Italy, Hungary and Romania as well as targets in occupied France, Yugoslavia and Norway, among others.
A B24 releases its payload on target
US Army
These raids served to deplete and exhaust the Luftwaffe, as well as force the diversion of heavy anti-aircraft guns and the men to operate them away from combat zones into the Reich itself, inflicting heavy casualties on the Allied air crews even as they drained desperately needed frontline units. In addition, the increasingly dire situation at home resulted in a mandate for the production of fighters, dooming the Luftwaffe’s once-potent ground attack forces to a slow death by attirition.
A B24 after being hit by flak
US Army
The air defenses of Germany were quite sophisticated by the mid-war period. Earlier deficiencies in radar and ground control had been rectified, using the effective RAF defense during the 1940 Battle of Britain as a model. A dedicated defensive air command, designated Luftflotte (Air Fleet) Reich was formed as a central control point, headquartered in Berlin to coordinate this network in early 1944. Audio detection systems and radar allowed for both early warning and vectoring interceptors, an through late 1943 the Luftwaffe still maintained dominance over its own airspace, at least during the hours of daylight.
AN FW190 as seen from a B17 during an attack
US Army
German fighter forces still made use of the Messerschmitt BF109 fighter, by now on its “G” model, along with the Focke-Wulf FW190, a potent fighter that is generally considered to be the best type in general German service during the conflict. The older Messerschmitt had been subjected to continuous updates during the war to remain competitive, and the G model boasted larger caliber machine guns and the ability to mount additional 20mm cannons in underwing pods, which substantially increased the aircraft’s firepower at a noticeable decrease in performance.
A BF109G in flight, showing the underwing cannon pods that increased firepower at a cost to performance
German Federal Archives
The FW190 was a larger machine, well armored and equipped with a potent mix of machine guns, cannons and hardpoints for air-to-air rockets. Nicknamed the “Butcher Bird”, it was a formidable foe to Allied fighters and bombers alike, as well as an effective ground attack type. Fully loaded the aircraft suffered in performance, and as a result the lighter BF109s were used to escort them, engaging the escort fighters while the FW190s pressed to extreme close range to devastate the bombers with their impressive firepower, using their heavy armor to absorb defensive gunfire.
A Luftwaffe FW190 fighter at a base in Finland
German Federal Archives
Fighter operations at night were far more dependent on the use of radar to vector interceptors, and German deficiencies in this area earlier in the war resulted in poor results. Over time, however, this began to shift, as increasingly sophisticated equipment became available. As for aircraft, the need for night fighters breathed new life into some older types. The Messerschmitt BF110, a heavy fighter that had met with limited success in daylight, proved to be extremely potent in a night role, carrying heavy weapons and able to withstand significant punishment.
A ground crew prepares a BF110 night fighter for a sortie
German Federal Archives
These larger aircraft also proved to be large enough to mount airborne radar when it became available. With distinctive aerials on the nose, these allowed the fighters to take over their own vectoring as they approached formations, increasing their response times versus a need to rely on ground control stations.
Luftwaffe officers inspect the radar equipment on a BF110
German Federal Archvies
Other types also found a second wind as radar equipped heavy night fighters, such as the JU88. This was a German medium bomber that had been arguably the best in the Luftwaffe in the early war, and remained an excellent type throughout it. Modified with a solid nosecone fitted with fixed armament as well as radar equipment, it also proved effective in night combat operations. Other designs also joined it, notably the purpose-built Heinkel HE219 later in the war, so that by the end of the conflict the technical capabilities of the Luftwaffe were significant in this field.
A JU88C; a modificaiton of the versatile medium bomber into a potent night fighter with the addition of nose mounted armanent and radar
German Federal Archives
Despite all of these improvements for both day and night combat, the Germans were by 1944 beginning to drown under the seemingly unending onslaught of Allied bombing raids. New technologies were developed at a breakneck pace to obtain an advantage, along with new tactics. German engineers devised solutions ranging from large rockets intended to be fired from aircraft into formations of attacking bombers in hopes of hitting one to mounting cannons facing upward to allow night fighters to “gut” bombers by flying directly underneath them.
Ground crews load rockets onto an FW190 before an interception mission
German Federal Archives
These drives would eventually lead to the introduction of truly innovative aircraft, such as the Messerschmitt ME262, the world’s first operational jet powered fighter aircraft. This aircraft combined its revolutionary powerplant with a heavy armament and advanced, swept wing design that would serve as the progenitor of essentially every post-war fighter aircraft design. Despite these features and a high kill tally, the aircraft was never available in significant numbers due to the strain placed on German industry, and chronic fuel shortages also kept many on the ground far more than the Luftwaffe command would have liked.
A German ME262 jet fighter captured on an American gun camera
US Army
In addition to the fighters of the Luftwaffe’s Jagdwaffe, the German anti-aircraft defenses grew ever more numerous and potent as the war continued. The 88mm Flak Gun, descended from the Flak36 model, would become arguably the most famous artillery piece of the Second World War, through its use as an anti-tank and field gun, but its original purpose had been as an anti-aircraft weapon. With advanced mechanical computers, the weapons could be directed by a small command crew with deadly effectiveness even in large batteries, with devastating results.
A German anti-aircraft battery equipped with the infamous 88mm Flak 36 88mm gun and its variants
German Federal Archives
Alongside the 88mm guns were a vast array of smaller and larger pieces, from automatic 20mm cannons that could be seen in single, double or even quadruple mounts up to massive dual mounted 128mm guns. One of the most fearsome elements of the German flak defenses of major cities was the construction of Flakturme, or Flak Towers. These were truly gargantuan structures of ferroconcrete with heavy flak guns mounted on their rooftops with the ability to fire over rooftops to the horizon.
The massive German Flak Tower constructed in the Berlin Zoo
With walls up to eleven feet thick and bristling with guns, these towers were built in pairs, with the main gun tower supported by a slightly smaller tower that swapped the heavy anti-aircraft guns for high power radar and direction finding equipment to coordinate the fire from the tower and surrounding batteries. Ammunition for these guns were stored in vast underground bunkers, shells being hoisted to the rooftops using lifts similar to those used aboard warships. The interiors of the towers were used to house the crews as well as air raid shelters able to accommodate up to 10,000 civilians, even equipped with their own hospital to care for the wounded.
Crewmen bring shells to a 128mm Flak gun atop a Berlin Flak Tower
German Federal Archives
Despite the strength of the German defense both in the air on the ground, the sheer volume of Allied air attacks ensured that devastation was wrought upon Hitler’s citizens. Many were evacuated, and plans were put into motion ro relocate critical manufacturing to safer locations, eventually going underground into mines and caverns to shield factories from the onslaught.
Civilians que for hot meals being distributed by a member of the League of German Girls in the aftermath of air raids
German Federal Archives
As the war came to its conclusion, most of Germany would be in ruins long before the arrival of Allied ground armies as a result of the bombing campaign. The results of the Allied campaign were mixed: heavy casualties were sustained, but heavy damage caused serious disruption of German logistics, as well as forcing the Luftwaffe to divert most of its forces to defend the homeland, leaving the armies fighting in the field to the mercy of Allied air power. The attrition suffered by the Luftwaffe also served to continously wear down what was once the pride of Hitler’s vaunted war machine.
The blasted ruins of Cologne, being typical of German cities by the last phase of the Second World War
Just as with Britain in 1940, the raids failed to break the will of the German civilian population. The National Socialists remained in firm power, and the nonstop raids became little more than a grim, but accepted, reality of the war as it continued to drag on. Fewer and fewer believed in the fevered promises of total victory issued by their leaders, but remained committed to see the conflict to the bitter end, one way or another.
Local Nazi party officials stage an event amongst the ruins of a German city in a show of resolve
San Diego Air and Space Museum
The Commanders
