Strategic Bombing: Was The Controversial Tactic Actually Effective? | WWII in Colour | War Stories

War Stories
War Stories
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Published 2024-05-15
After the fall of France in 1940 the only thing standing between Hitler and Britain was the English channel. This led to a huge strategic bombing campaign that would only be disrupted by the invasion of The USSR the following year. By then The Allies began hitting Germany hard with strategic bombing campaigns of their own. This was a controversial tactic with no regard for civilian life, but did it actually work?

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All Comments (21)
  • @Dmc214ever
    World War II in color is one of the greatest series of all time.
  • @mavisformula
    What is it with the scenes where they blur it out? I have noticed this recently and totally understand why people get frustrated by it, you do not watch these documentaries only to feel too sensitive to stomach seeing imagery of death in war!
  • @WAYNE-hx7ul
    Stop sugar coating history it may be disturbing but humanity needs to see that war is ugly
  • @Slaktrax
    If the bombing of cities in the UK hardened peoples' resolve, why did the RAF think it would be different in Germany?
  • @tvgerbil1984
    Bombing raids against Berlin in October 1943 severely damaged the Alkett plant which produced the highly successful StuG III assault guns. German High Command was so worried about the loss of production of the most effective armored fighting vehicles in its inventory that it had to divert production of tanks in an effort to make up some of the lost production of StuG III.
  • @craigbeatty8565
    Yes it was effective on so many levels. It kept 1m troops and 1700 aircraft tied down, that could have been better used elsewhere.
  • @philiphumphrey1548
    Some details wrong. The Rolls Royce Merlin engine gave the P51 Mustang altitude, not range (the previous Allison engine was great at low altitude but performance fell off over 15,000 feet). It was the use of drop tanks that gave the P51 (and the P47) range.
  • @alanstevens1296
    Questions about whether it reduced net German war materiel production? Without the bombing it may have doubled or tripled. Yes -- very successful.
  • @petepal55
    I've always figured the bombing was more retaliatory than strategic.
  • @nickdanger3802
    Pointblank Directive issued June 1943 "Redrafted by the Air Ministry, the directive tasked the 8th US Army Air Force with attacking the aviation industry; RAF Bomber Command would work towards 'the general disorganisation of German industry', as before." BBC Berlin Air Offensive page
  • @JACB006
    “Strategic Bombing was a controversial tactic” - From a German prospective or ours?
  • @johnblasik9647
    In total war strategic bombing targets all resources the enemy has, and one of the biggest is manpower, the civilian population. That’s the difference from limited to total war, nothing is out of bounds
  • @cooa9951
    Dresden did have a huge military significance. (19:42). The Soviet army was approaching Berlin and Dresden was the last major city between Berlin and the Soviets. This is where Germans would make a stand and try to stop the Soviets so Stalin asked the allies to demolish Dresden, which they did. That was huge help for the Soviet army.
  • @RossOneEyed
    yes, it was worth it. The Germans utilized over 1 million men in anti-aircraft gunnery. That is a LOT of men that would/could have been on the front lines. Add to that the amount of war material involved in the production of AA guns and ammo.
  • @noboliNo
    loved ww2 in colour documentary on Netflix
  • @JohnDoe-tx8lq
    In the middle of a War nobody really knows what's going on with the enemy, nobody can predict what any course of action will achieve and at what cost, right & right becomes very blurred. But doing NOTHING is always the worst option. The fact that this is still being debated & disputed 80 years later, with all our knowledge after the event, shows it was as legitimate & effective as any other action available at the time to win a World War.