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Theroleofthebomber Worldhistory.Biz.Pdf 914.95 THE ROLE OF THE RONALD W. CLARK Lavishly illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs, The Role of the Bomber describes the changing strategic and tactical operations of the bomber from the days of ballooning to the present Within half a century of the Wright brothers' pioneering flight at Kittyhawk in 1903, the manned bomber grew from a military curiosity to become an apocalyptic threat looming over whole nations. In the following quarter of a century, as missiles began to dominate the battlefield, the bomber began a return flight from strategic to tactical duties and a future in which its role, its very definition, would be qualified. The role of the bomber, always significant in twentieth-century warfare, has often been different from that predicted—surprisingly effective at sea, but unexpectedly limited in the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts. From large masses of data, Ronald Clark has distilled an account of the still-evolving function of the bomber. He examines the growth of bombing techniques during the First World War and the controversy that arose even then over strategic versus tactical policies, and he describes the first strategic bomber offensives. Billy Mitchell's devastating demonstration of air power off the Virginia Capes in the early 1920s portended a dramatic alteration of the aircraft-battleship relationship that went unheeded, as Mr. Clark explains, until it was underscored in blood at Pearl Harbor two decades later. Between the wars, Britain employed "police force" bombers in the Middle East, and varying concepts of the bomber's utilization grew up to be tested in the conflicts of the Second World War. The author analyzes the abortive early attacks of the British bomber forces, and the failure of the German bombers to prevent the evacuation of Dunkirk or to win either the Battle of Britain or the Battle of the Blitz which followed it. Also discussed are the British night bomber offensives of 1942 onward and the daylight bombing raids by U.S. aircraft, as well as the involvement of the bomber and its crew in the technologies of offense and defense. Taking its cue from the lessons of the Virginia Capes and Pearl Harbor, the bomber emerged as a vital weapon of the war at sea, and The Role of the Bomber describes the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, the use of the bomber in the American island-stepping approach to Japan—and the fire raids on Japan itself. The dropping of the first nuclear bombs gave rise to the conception of the bomber as the ultimate weapon, {continued on back flap) RONALD W.CLARK Thomas Y. CFowell Company Established 1834 New York ; ;; ; ,; ;;; ; ; ; ; ;; THE ROLE OF THE BOMBER. Copyright © 1977 by Ronald W. Clark and Sidgwick & Jackson Limited. All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain. No part of this book may be used or repro- duced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Thomas Y. Crowell, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10022. FIRST U.S. EDITION ISBN 0-690-01720-0 LIBRARY OFCONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 77-1 1 570 77 78 79 80 81 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I Page 1 : Martin B-26 Marauders of the First U.S. Tactical Air Force attacking railway yards at Haslach, Germany, in February 1945 during the campaign to disrupt the country's transport system Previous pages: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses dropping their bomb-loads on the heart of Germany Photo Acknowledgements Suddeutscher Verlag; 69, (U.S. Navy Department); 108-9 We are grateful to the following Popperfoto ; 70- 1 , Robert bottom, Associated Press ; 109 for supplying and for permission Hunt Library (U.S. top, Popperfoto; no, Robert Hunt to use the photographs on : page i Army); 73, Mary Evans Picture Library (U.S. Navy Depart- Robert Hunt Library (U.S.A.F.); Library; 74, Mary Evans Picture ment) ; 1 1 1 top, J. MacClancy 2-3, Robert Hunt Library ; 8, Library ; 75 top, J . MacClancy (U.S. Navy) ; 1 1 1 bottom, Popperfoto ; 9, Mary Evans 75 bottom, Mary Evans Picture J. MacClancy (U.S. Navy De- Picture Library; 10, Mary Evans Library ; 76 inset, Fox Photos partment); 112-113, Imperial Picture Library; 12, Ullstein 76-7, Conway Picture Library War Museum ; 1 1 4, Kevstone Bilderdienst; i5,Novosti; 16-17 (Imperial War Museum); 78 1 15, J. MacClancy (U.S.A.F.); Popperfoto; 18-19 top. Camera inset, Conway Picture Library 1 16, Robert Hunt Library Press; 18-19 bottom, Radio (Imperial War Museum); 78 (U.S.A.F.); 1 18, Keystone; 121, Times Hulton Picture Library J. MacClancy; 79, J. MacClancy Keystone; 123, Robert Hunt 20-2 1 , Camera Press ; 22 top, 80-1, J. MacClancy; 82 inset, Library; 124, Robert Hunt Popperfoto; 22 bottom, Camera Popperfoto; 82, J. G. Moore; 83 Library (U.S.A.F.); 124-5, Press; 23, Popperfoto; 25, top, J. MacClancy; 83 bottom, Popperfoto; 126, Camera Press; J. MacClancy ; 26 top, Radio J. G. Moore; 84-5 top, Ministry 129 top, Novosti; 129 bottom, Times Hulton Picture Library of Defence, photo John Green ; Camera Press; 130-1 top, 26 bottom, Camera Press ; 28, 84 bottom, Spectrum Colour Syndication International; 130 J. MacClancy; 31, Robert Hunt Library; 85 bottom left, Camera bottom, Syndication Interna- Museum) Syndication Library (Imperial War Press, photo Marvin Newman ; tional; 131 bottom, 32-3, J. MacClancy (Rolls- 85 bottom right, Camera Press, International; 132, Keystone; Royce) ; 34, National Archives photo John Rosen; 86, 133, Keystone; 134, Popperfoto; 37, Popperfoto ; 38-9, Popper- J. MacClancy (U.S.A.F.) ; 87 top, 135, Keystone; 136-7, U.S. foto ; 40, Popperfoto ; 4 1 , Popper- Camera Press, photo J. H. Navy; 138, Camera Press; 140 foto ; 42, Popperfoto ; 43, Popper- Pickerell; 87 bottom, U.S.A.F.; top, Robert Hunt Library foto ; 44 inset, Popperfoto ; 44-5, 88 top, U.S.A.F. ; 88 bottom, (U.S.A.F.); 140-1 bottom centre, Keystone ; 46, Camera Press Camera Press, photo Bo Dahlin Robert Hunt Library (U.S.A.F.); 46-7, Associated Press ; 49, 89, Camera Press ; 90, 141 top, Robert Hunt Library Robert Hunt Library; 50, J. MacClancy (U.S.A.F.) ; 91, (U.S. Navy Department) ; 142 Camera Press ; 52-3 top, J . MacClancy (U.S.A.F.) ; 92, top, Camera Press ; 142-3, Keystone; 52-3 bottom, Popper- Robert Hunt Library; 94 inset, Keystone; 145, Camera Press bottom. foto ; 55, Imperial War Museum Robert Hunt Library (Sado, 146, J. MacClancy; 146-7 bottom, 56 top, Popperfoto; 56 Brussels) ; 94-5, Camera Press J. MacClancy (U.S. Navy); 14^- Robert Hunt Library (Imperial 96 top and bottom left, Robert Camera Press ; 150, Keystone War Museum); 57 top, Imperial Hunt Library; 96 bottom right, 151 top, J. MacClancy (Israeli War Museum ; 57 bottom, Robert Hunt Library (Imperial Press Office); 151 bottom. J. MacClancy; 58 top, Imperial War Museum) ; 97, Popperfoto Keystone; 152-3 bottom, War Museum ; 58 bottom, 98-9, J. MacClancy; 100-1, Keystone; 153 right, Camera Keystone ; 60 inset, Camera J. MacClancy (U.S.A.F.); 102, Press; 155 top, Ray Hamilton; Press ; 60-1, Robert Hunt Library Robert Hunt Library (Imperial 155 bottom. Keystone; 156, (U.P.I.) ; 63, Keystone; 64-5, War Museum) ; 105, J. MacClancy Kevstone. Robert Hunt Library (U.S.A.F.); (U.S. Navy) ; 107, Popperfoto 66, Ullstein Bilderdienst ; 67, 108 top, Robert Hunt Library 4 CONTENTS Photo Acknowledgements/ A Portent/6 1 Balloons with Bombs /8 2 The Birth of the Bomber! 16 3 The Great Debate /34 4 First Failures 1 50 5 Bomber Offensive 64 6 The Bomber at Sea 102 7 The Penultimate Deterrent/116 8 The Bomber Battles On/ 124 9 The Electronic Challenge /l 38 10 A Last Look Forward/ 154 Notes/ 157 Bibliography / 1 58 Index /l 59 A PORTENT On the morning of 21 July 1921, a flotilla of U.S. Navy vessels lay anchored in calm seas seventy miles off the Virginia Capes. Within the wide semi-circle which they formed rode the grey bulk of the Ostfriesland, the German dreadnought which five years earlier had survived almost lethal damage at the battle of Jutland. More than 500 feet from bow to stern, with foot-thick belt armour and three-inch thick deck armour, this pride of the German navy had been surren- dered under the Armistice terms of 1918. Now, floating unmanned off the American east coast, she was considered to be the unsinkable target which would refute claims by the U.S. Army Air Service that the days of the battlefleet were numbered. Indeed, during the previous few days, naval fliers had bombed the Ostfriesland with comparatively little effect. A few weeks earlier aircraft had, it is true, sunk smaller vessels in the trials being held to resolve the aircraft-versus-battleship controversy. But the naval experts were certain that major capital ships were immune from air attack; and they had raised no objection when General ' Billy ' Mitchell, America's colourful and controversial exponent of air power, had wagered his reputation on being able to sink the Ostfriesland. At 10.52 Captain A. W. Johnson, stationed on the observation ship Shawmut, sixty-two miles east of Cape Charles, radioed to Langley Field, 97-5 miles away. Mitchell and his bombers could take off. Exactly an hour later the drone of the approaching planes could be faintly heard and the observers could soon distinguish, high in the noon-day sky, the outlines of six Army Martins and an Army Handley-Page.
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