The general outline of the Allied bombing campaign over Germany in World War II is probably familiar to most of us. Alternating raids by the British and Americans pounded Germany. Of course there's more to it than that and this film provides a sort of ultrasound examination of the internal workings of both policies as well as a balanced consideration of their effects.
The British under Sir Arthur ("Bomber") Harris found early losses too high and quickly switched to the night bombing of German cities. The American Eight Air Force under General Ira Eakers was committed to precision daylight bombing against military targets. Both leaders were fully committed, almost to the point of obsession. Harris was reluctant to use strategic bombers tactically in support of the D Day landings, for instance. Harris' aim was to destroy German morale. Eakers' was to impair Germany's ability to wage war. None of the bombers, British or American, were accompanied by fighter escort.
Neither policy worked. The city of Hamburg was blasted and burned to the ground, killing some 70,000 German civilians and rendering a million or more homeless. But British and American losses to fighters and flak soon became unsustainable. You just can't go on losing 10 or 20 percent of your bombers on every mission. The film doesn't say so but a post-war study revealed that only a small percentage of American bombs fell anywhere near the target, despite the much ballyhooed Norden bombsight.
What's more, the Allied leaders made a very familiar mistake in reasoning and acted as if they themselves were the only side that had any moves in this geopolitical chess game. The bombs tore up cities and killed civilians and damaged military installations and factories. The Germans adapted by rebuilding, by dispersing their facilities, and by better means of camouflage. The authorities figured that if enough pain were inflicted, the population would rise up against Hitler, not realizing that revolt against an absolute dictator like Hitler was a little difficult.
General Eakers was replaced by the charismatic, daring, and practical Jimmy Doolittle. The introduction of long-range fighter escort and the weakening of the Luftwaffe eased the burden on Allied bombers. But Germany was proving more resilient than anyone had thought. Their army was superb and they would not sue for peace. So both Harris and Doolittle became convinced that the area bombing of cities was called for -- not military targets within cities, but rather the city center. Again, the film doesn't say so but this decision was partly political. Stalin had been demanding damage to the cities of eastern Germany that would help the USSR. The least forgettable result was the leveling of the ancient city of Dresden. Of no particular military or strategic significance, it was choked with refugees from the advancing Russians. Civilian bodies melted from the heat.
The film allows its experts and participants to express their views but doesn't itself make ethical judgments. No stirring of victor's guilt. Maybe the most pointed observation comes from a historian who remarks that President Roosevelt began the war fully intending never to bomb civilian targets. "Wars just get out of control," says the historian. Plus ça change...
One other thing I found disturbing. The expert with the most screen time is Tami Davis Biddle, who teaches at the Army War College. She's young, attractive, exquisitely groomed, bears an aristocratic Philadlphian last name, and has the seductive voice of an announcer on a late night FM station that plays nothing but classical music. I never had a teacher like that in high school. Mine all resembled their holotype, Miss Anapesta De Groot, she of the quick steel-edged ruler.
