Creation of the
Bomber Force
1936 - 1940
Creation
of the
Bomber Force 1936-1940
The beginnings of aerial bombing
By the end of the First World War, bombing on or just beyond the front battle lines was commonplace. The Germans had already launched Zeppelin airship bombing raids on London in 1915, then in the summer of 1917 they sent heavy bomber aircraft over the British capital. After this any moral scruples were laid aside and a British policy was conceived to bomb German industrial cities. But the war ended before the newly-formed RAF commenced any substantial bombing attacks on Germany itself.
In 1936 as part of expansion plans for the feared new war ahead, the RAF was split into four commands: Fighter, Bomber, Coastal and Training Command. As the likelihood of war increased, new aircraft were developed and trainee aircrews were recruited. There was no shortage of volunteers from within Britain, all corners of the Commonwealth and even the USA. Flying was seen as exciting and glamorous.
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Wonderful
dogfights and a lot of casualties |
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"The RFC boys in their famous little aircraft, the Sopwith Camel, going up and having those wonderful dogfights" |
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Luftwaffe launches first heavy air raid
In 1938 during the Spanish Civil War the re-armed German Luftwaffe demonstrated its striking capacity by staging the first heavy raid on an open city when it bombed the Spanish city of Guernica in support of General Franco. So as Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939 the British feared immediate heavy German bombing raids.
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The
coming of war |
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"We rushed out of the hangars on to the tarmac… expecting to see German bombers coming over immediately" |
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Early
RAF bombing missions
When WW2 began in September 1939, Bomber Command’s capability was
still restricted to small numbers of slow aircraft carrying primitive
navigation equipment including sextants. The British did not want to provoke
the Germans by actually bombing Germany itself. So the first flights by
RAF bombers over the German homeland were only to drop propaganda leaflets
at night.
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Fighting
the cold |
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"'If I could get a pair of silk stockings I'd wear those, then woollen socks and then flying boots" |
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Early daylight raids a disaster
But the RAF did attempt daylight raids on enemy shipping and occupied airfields. However the British bombers were shot out of the sky by faster German fighters. Heavy losses continued when obsolete Bomber Command aircraft, such as the single engined Battles, made desperate daylight attacks against the German forces in the Low Countries to support the British army and defend the British retreat to Dunkirk.
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An
early raid - 1939 |
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"I’ve been hit and it bloody well hurts!" |
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Sitting
ducks |
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"They just sat blasting away at us and blowing us out of the sky" |
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The RAF bomb Germany itself
On 14th May 1940 the German Luftwaffe bombed the Dutch city of Rotterdam. Bomber Command, though still a relatively small and under-equipped force, was immediately ordered to bomb Germany itself. Specific targets were the German airforce (through attacks on airfields), oil refineries and communications (railways, bridges and roads) and factories involved in war production (of aircraft, ships, tanks, weapons, ammunition etc.)
Britain's hope and faith in bombing
In June 1940 Britain stood isolated. The British Army had been defeated in Europe and was evacuated back to Britain from Dunkirk, leaving most of it's equipment in France. The Germans, with the world’s most powerful army and air force, controlled Europe from Northern Norway to France’s border with Spain. The Royal Navy was occupied protecting vital supply convoys from Canada and the USA. The only way of attacking Germany now was with Bomber Command. But at that time the RAF still had only twin-engined light and medium-size bombers. Nevertheless, much hope and faith rested on their striking ability. In July Churchill wrote privately: ‘When I look round to see how we can win this war there is only one sure path…..and that is an absolutely devastating, exterminating attack by very heavy bombers from this country upon the Nazi homeland’.
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Flying over Rotterdam |
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"I realised only too well the phoney war was over and this was for real." |
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The
first raid on Germany |
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"We were going to drop bombs instead of those bloody leaflets." |
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