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dinsdale -> RE: Ike: Countdown to D-Day (6/3/2004 6:18:28 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mavraam
According to a Wings Discovery documentary I was watching, we ran a long campaign of tactical bombing with the idea of destroying all of the German planes in the air or ground before the invasion so that they would have as little air resistance as possible. That would obviously helped a strategic bombing campaign as well.
Well the first Strategic Bombing campaign began in 1940 and was a British initiative which was later adopted by the USAF. The Brits bombed by night, the Americans by day. Until his death-bed Air Marshal Harris resented Eisenhower for calling a halt to the campaign to use the SBs for pre-D-Day missions. He believed that the war could have been won by air power alone.
I don't agree with him, but it's plausible given what happened in Japan. Dresden killed more and created more damage than either Nagasaki or Hiroshima, perhaps 3-4 of those in 1944 might have forced Germany to surrender.
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Major Destruction Nice informative post, I haven't seen the movie yet but you certainly do a good job summarizing the real and tv characters.
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