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You make no mention however of the substantual forces that were diverted to the protection of those same cites, ranging from the direct protection such as Flak guns, Fighter aircraft, searchlights etc......through to the research commitment into passive defences such as Radar and Air Raid Precautions.
Lastly but by no means least is the manning levels that were needed to operate these same defences, from the Air Controllers down to the flak gunners themselves. (Please no 'schoolgirl' gunners,.... who flew and maintained the night fighters? and manufactured the AAA? operated the huge radar chain? .....thanks:) ) Don't forget also the scope that these defences had to cover, every German city had to be defended, in addition to the more obvious strategic targets of U-boat yards, oil plants, aircraft factories etc. |
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I believe the intention was....To destroy/disrupt German industry with area bombing....the by-product of this was to destroy the housing of the German workforce and to kill those of the workforce remaining in the cities. This was fully realised by the powers that be, and to a certain extent by the British population. |
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They then switched to night time area bombing with the intent to kill civilians and raise cities. |
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They then switched to night time area bombing with the intent to kill civilians and raise cities. |
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They actually switched to night time operations to increase accuracy through pinpoint (for that time) bombing by using illumination incendaries. |
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I'm glad we used such tactics as i would much rather have made a bad moral decision but speak English than a good moral decision and be speaking german now! |
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the only reason why they did that was due to the fact that one night in 1940 2 german HE-111 got lost and ran into to british AA guns over london. In an act of desperation they release their bombs and turned back, but Hitler and Churchill agreed to not bombing each others capitals. so the next day Churchill order lancasters to bomb berlin and to continue to do that. which started the Battle of Britain. So it seems cruel, but fair. |
ronson wrote: |
Yes it was cruel and inhumane, but its also a misconception to imagine the British as a race that fights all the time with a rule book in one hand. Go back to anytime in our history and you will find equally controversial acts be it from the privateers of Elizabeth the 1st, through the Indian mutiny, the Zulu war, right up to the Boer war |
ronson wrote: |
I believe the intention was....To destroy/disrupt German industry with area bombing.... |
ronson wrote: |
Finally in answer to your original question,....... was it justified? as a Londoner I can answer you that quite easily, my family comes originally from the Square Mile and I can assure you that not one of the older generations who lived through the blitz of 1940/41 would have had any hesitation in agreeing with it. Many of the common people viewed the 'Bomber boys' be they British, Commonwealth or from one of the Free Air forces in the same light that is now bestowed upon the fighter pilots of the battle of Britain. This you must remember was the only arm of the services that was able to hit back at the Germans for much of the war. |
ronson wrote: |
The fact that a campaign medal was never issued and Harris never accorded the honours given to other commanders is to the eternal shame of that and subsequent British governments. |
king_tiger_tank wrote: |
Churchill order lancasters to bomb berlin and to continue to do that. which started the Battle of Britain. |
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