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In Reply to: Never satisfied posted by Bruce from DC on May 26, 2001 at 14:01:05:
This was the date when a single German bomber crew accidently dropped their bombs on a suburb of London. The RAF responded on the following night with a few modified Wellington bombers bombing Berlin- under orders from Churchill himself. This single decision to bomb Berlin was the most brilliant strategic decision ever taken in the course of the Battle of Britain, and changed the nature of warfare.Up until then, concentrating their efforts on the south of England (in preparation for Sea Lion)meant that the RAF could only provide fighter support from the safe northern airfields, with very little loiter time to engage the Luftwaffe. The RAF was losing badly.
But with the bombing of Berlin, and Hitler's mistaken belief that the Battle of Britain was going badly, he decided to concentrate on the upcoming Barbarossa and ordered a campaign of terror against London- The Blitz, with the first mass air raid on London on Sept 7.
The RAF operating from the north now had the advantage, and Luftwaffe fighter escorts had restricted loiter time, the tables were turned. On Sept 15, two raids by the Luftwaffe were met by everything the RAF could put up in the air- to convince the Germans that the RAF had plenty of reserves. The ploy worked- Sea Lion was cancelled 2 days later.
So, this "mistake" by a German crew changed the course of the war. Civilian poulations were now legitimate targets- not through a concept of "militarised populations", but like most things in history- by accident,expedience and exploitation.
Dresden.
"The destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing."- Winston Churchill to the British Chiefs of Staff.
The attack on Dresden by 9 Mosquitos and 796 Lancasters of the RAF on the night of the 13 Feb 45 was followed the next day by a raid by 311 B-17's of the USAF.
For the first time, the Allies admit the use the same terrorist tactics against the German population, as the German armies themselves used against other populations. This deliberate use of terror was leaked to the press in an off- the record comment to an Associated Press reporter during a SHAEF briefing, leading to the "moral" debate about bombing civilians in general.
I do not agree with the specious concept of militarised populations. It's often about frustration and retribution- pure and simple.
The carpet bombing of Hanoi had nothing to do with arms production by the North Vietnamese, just as the bombing of major German cities so late in WW2 had nothing to do with arms production.
"So this talk of the "immorality" of targeting "civilian" populations in WW2 strikes me a peurile."
It's not puerile. Committing an atrocity on others in response to an atrocity committed upon one's own is.
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Follow Ups
- August 15 1940- a seemingly insignificant date. - john dem 17:44:02 05/26/01 (3)
- Supposedly........ - Chris Garrett 02:21:44 05/29/01 (2)
- Re: Supposedly........ - john dem 06:03:22 05/29/01 (0)
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