The bombing of Germany

The bombing of Germany's cities has caused a great deal of controversy among historians - and there were even protests in Britain during the war. Some objected to the bombing on moral grounds. Some 600,000 German civilians perished - most of them from 1942 onwards when Air Marshall Arthur Harris took over 'Bomber Command'.

The bombing method adopted by the British and American bombers was 'area bombing'. In 1942 US Air Force and RAF bombers dropped about 72,000 tonnes of bombs on Germany. In 1944 this reached 1.6 million tonnes. Area bombing meant whole sections of cities were identified and bombed to destruction and no effort was made to avoid residential or civilian areas. It was thought that this would break the morale of the civilian population, though German bombing of British cities in 1940 had clearly not achieved this.

The heavy bombing of German cities was also expected to destroy her industries, especially those crucial to her war effort, such as the aircraft and oil refining industries. In this way, the war could be brought to the heart of Germany at a time when she could not be reached on land.

Neil Demarco: The era of the Second World War; Oxford University Press, 1993/2000, page 46