In WW2 my mom lived in a German-occupied town where there was both a small airfield and a train station. They were both popular targets for allied bombing.
When British bombers approached, people knew to stay away from them, when American bombers approached people knew to stay away from the residential area half a mile around them.
I seriously hope that this has improved, but Americans still seem to believe in quantity over accuracy.
That story sounds a bit suspect just based on the different bombing strategies the two countries typically used. American bombers during ww2 on the whole were much more accurate than British bombers owing to their choice to do their bombing during the day rather than at night.
British strategic bombing runs were generally performed at night which meant fewer casualties taken from the smaller number of defending fighters that could be effective at night and the reduced effectiveness of anti-aircraft fire which made them safer but obviously less accurate since they usually couldn’t accurately make out targets in the dark.
American strategic bombing was generally performed during the day with advanced bomb sights that were basically little computers that took into account the bomber’s speed, altitude, and wind to get at least for the times, as accurate a bombing as you could achieve dropping unguided bombs from high altitude. Bombing during the day put them at greater danger from defending fighters and more accurate anti-aircraft but it was deemed worthwhile for the greater accuracy and damage done to targets.
Oh, I have only my mother’s account, who knew nothing of bombing sights etc, and only noticed where the bombs ended up after they were dropped. It’s very anecdotal and I can’t verify especially since she passed away a few years ago. She’d get to the shelter as soon as the first sign of an attack was there and get out when things calmed down and look what houses were still there and which might need fires be pur out. She and her family were very happy when the Canadians liberated the area and everyone stopped blowing stuff up…
In WW2 my mom lived in a German-occupied town where there was both a small airfield and a train station. They were both popular targets for allied bombing.
When British bombers approached, people knew to stay away from them, when American bombers approached people knew to stay away from the residential area half a mile around them.
I seriously hope that this has improved, but Americans still seem to believe in quantity over accuracy.
That story sounds a bit suspect just based on the different bombing strategies the two countries typically used. American bombers during ww2 on the whole were much more accurate than British bombers owing to their choice to do their bombing during the day rather than at night.
British strategic bombing runs were generally performed at night which meant fewer casualties taken from the smaller number of defending fighters that could be effective at night and the reduced effectiveness of anti-aircraft fire which made them safer but obviously less accurate since they usually couldn’t accurately make out targets in the dark.
American strategic bombing was generally performed during the day with advanced bomb sights that were basically little computers that took into account the bomber’s speed, altitude, and wind to get at least for the times, as accurate a bombing as you could achieve dropping unguided bombs from high altitude. Bombing during the day put them at greater danger from defending fighters and more accurate anti-aircraft but it was deemed worthwhile for the greater accuracy and damage done to targets.
Oh, I have only my mother’s account, who knew nothing of bombing sights etc, and only noticed where the bombs ended up after they were dropped. It’s very anecdotal and I can’t verify especially since she passed away a few years ago. She’d get to the shelter as soon as the first sign of an attack was there and get out when things calmed down and look what houses were still there and which might need fires be pur out. She and her family were very happy when the Canadians liberated the area and everyone stopped blowing stuff up…
I already had that individual tagged as a liar, so you’re most likely correct.