The Air War During The World War II Essay

First of all, it was a common sight to see hefty bombers from both sides being flanked by their swift fighters for protection. However, at the beginning of the war, surprisingly, Great Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command believed that bombers would be well-armed enough to protect themselves without an escort through enemy skies. As the war dragged on, it eventually became clear that fighters were needed to assist the bombing runs. Secondly, unlike popular belief, aviation was most often used as aerial reconnaissance during the onset of the war. It was evident that the Germans saw aerial reconnaissance as an essential tactic for winning the war. By 1939, Germany’s Luftwaffe had created 23 reconnaissance squadrons, each with a photograph developing laboratory. (32) In addition, Germans “carried out at least 500 reconnaissance overflights in the 8 months before Hitler’s armies finally struck in the West in May 1940.” (Harwood, 38) Lastly, the German air force was backed with 860 Me 109's and 350 Me 110's for combat, whereas France’s I'Armée de I'Air had only 552 relatively modern fighters, and Great Britain’s Royal Air Force originally had roughly 48 outdated Gladiator biplanes and 168 Hurricane fighters. Despite having such a large number of aircraft, the Luftwaffe's planes were limited. The Me 109 had little endurance and would have to be fitted with an

Bombers have been around since the start of the 20th century during World War I. However, strategic bombings became more popular and used form World War II on. The bomber plane had evolved since

Allied strategic bombing during the Second World War did not achieve its intended objective, which was to break German morale and bring about the swift defeat of Germany. However it did have a very significant impact and assisted the allied victory. There are diplomatic and economic reasons why the bombing campaign was significant. It also had a large impact on morale both in Germany and in Britain and effected outcomes on the fighting fronts in Second World War by impairing the German forces. The significance of the strategic bombing campaign has to be measured in terms of its effect as compared with the effect of other actions taken by the allies. This essay will argue that the real significance of allied strategic bombing was in capping

Incendiary bombs should not have been used in warfare. They created large firestorms that destroyed huge areas. Fire is also the most painful way to die. Bombs were very expensive in World War II. Factories had to mass produce the bombs. Large European Cities were conquered without great losses, such as Paris and Amsterdam. The attacks could be carried out at night. New technologies improved precision of the bombs. One of the examples of this would be the German Blitzkrieg. Another example would be later in the war, with the American Firebombing of Japan and mass destruction caused.

The impact that aviation had on the bombing campaigns of the Great War was rather miniscule. For example, C. G. Grey, an aviation historian, wrote: “During 1914-18 the damage done in England by [aerial] bombing was practically negligible. A few houses were damaged in a few English towns. About 1,500 people altogether were killed. No armament factory of any importance was destroyed.” Germany –considering her geographic location was closer to the war epicenter- was slightly more prone to bombings than Great Britain was but it was still a minute threat when factored into the whole grand scheme of war-induced devastation. Nevertheless, aerial forces did play an ample role as support units during land and sea battles. For example, during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the RFC played a substantial part in providing support for the British and French troops on the ground. The Luftstreitkräfte was also present at the battle, but the British, with the assistance of the French Armée de l'Air (Army of the air), had the strength in numbers. Tactics would comprise of bombing and gunning the enemy trenches as a means of cover for advancing infantry and patrolling the skies for enemy aircraft. However, reconnaissance and observation was undoubtedly the most useful role conducted by the aerial forces of WWI and probably the way in which it made the greatest strategic impact. Artillery was arguably the

At a time where traveling long distances were extremely tough, using planes were a solid way of transporting necessities such as, food, medical supplies and weaponry. Not as common in WWI, but was still used occasionally to assist troops in fighting and if there were things needed. At that time planes were one of the best ways since there was no direct option in sending items from other places. The last way to illustrate purposes of planes during WWI is air support. As planes advanced in technology it became a weapon used often. From the role of observer to the duty of military aggression, the plane had gained mounted guns and other attacking forces like bombs. Flying across the battlefield would be the perfect position on releasing bombs. Mounted guns would serve as destroying other enemy observers and planes. Having air support would greatly aid ground units. At the peak of top airplanes in WWI the British had constructed a plane that could carry a bomb load of up to 900 kg with top speed at 97 mph. Assistance from above was superior and caused the turn of some battles. Development was increasing and made countries expand production of

Flying was a new technology that fascinated many people but still created a lot of scepticism when it came to practical applications. Most of the first aircrafts (Source E) were very slow, fragile and barley enough power to lift a single pilot. By the end of the war aircrafts had become classier and had differentiated into fighters, bombers and long-range bombers. At first the aircrafts were used to observe the enemy’s troops. As the aircrafts efficiency became known to the enemy’s they realised that the aircrafts were capable of being shot down with weaponry from land.

What if World War I never happened? Economics today could be more efficient. Technology and new designs in today’s culture could be different. Global awareness for war efforts could change the outlook of warfare. If World War I never happened, it could create such an impact it could change most of U.S. history. World War I has cost the U.S. millions of dollars due to war efforts.

Bombs- Bombs played a very large role in WWII. They were used largly in battle. A new type of bomb was developed in the Manhattan project called the atomic bomb. This was dropped on by the US on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because of what Japan had done earlier in the war, Pearl Harbor.

Even though the British were similar to Douhet in their enthusiasm for bombing in World War 2, they had been committed to the bomber as a strategic instrument since the inception of air power in World War 1. They wee just not as zealous in their belief that the strategic bomber alone could win a war without ground forces, Air Marshal Arthur "Bomber" Harris was the leading disciple of night time and high altitude area terror bombing to break the back of enemy morale. The Americans on the other hand had fired General Billy Mitchell after World War 1 for his zealous promotion of ideas that were remarkably similar to Douhet's theories. Not until 1935 did the Americans begin to visualize that air forces could operate independently of the needs and orders of ground commanders and it was not until 1941 until the Air Corps Tactical School to create an unofficial air doctrine for air operations that the War Department approved (Gabel 1993, 73).

Adolf Hitler is the main character in the book I read called Air War Against Hitler Germany. A little background about Hitler is that he is very cruel, yet smart, but is an unfair man that held little apathy towards the Jews. He was an unbalanced man that admired conflict. Wars were started due to his irregular behavior. In this paper I will be describing more about Hitler and discuss my feelings towards this nonfiction novel. Then I will compare what is happening in my life to the actions in this novel.

After the Wright brothers embarked on the first sustained, heavier-than-air, man-powered flight aboard the Wright Flyer. Airplane soon had been used for the war fighting. Some airpower pioneers started to advocate the new technology with great influence and unlimited potential to future warfare. As the new technology apply to different country with different school of thought, the way to employ airpower started to develop into several different model. Early British and Italian military theorists like Trenchard and Douhet who believed that civilian morale would collapse with the bombing of industrial center. US General Mitchell believed the airplane can easily destroy the Navy battle ship in lower cost.

Airpower had a decisive effect on the way victory in war is declared. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S. Army’s retaliation on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are testament to the effectiveness of the utilization of airpower assets. In this example, it was clear that airpower was to become the frontier of the future despite the difficulties in introducing this culture shift to the U.S. Army.2 During the run up to the Second World War and during the period of its occurrence till its end, there existed strong sentiments with regards to how effective airpower would be in the war. There were arguments regarding its effectiveness with detractors pointing out instances such as Combined Bomber Offensive in Europe and its failure to win the war. Another point of detraction was that war cannot be won without ground offensives that lead the way for the airpower assets to strike. In fact, airpower advantage was not as decisive as praised.3

From the sponsorship given the Casa de Contratación by Queen Isabella to the government funding of many ongoing scientific experiments, science has always been heavily linked with politics. Political power often collaborates with technological development in such a manner that societal ideals reflected in the political regime correlates with the objectives behind scientific development. As a result, conflict of political powers as manifested in war leads to an agitation of scientific objectives and a consequent shift in material progress as scientific exploration becomes oriented in a different direction. This leads to the creation of new materials targeted towards increasing the advantage held by the patron country in the war of political ideals. The ideas Einstein expressed in his letter to the League of American Writers pertain to the dichotomy between fascism and democracy in the context of scientific progress, collaborating with the historical context of the letter to establish the impact of the end of World War II as well as the beginning of the age known as the Cold War on scientific progress, influencing scientific relations and communication between international scientific bodies as well as the objectives of scientific concepts being applied to societal needs.

Bombers were the ultimate long range heavy weapons of World War 2, a role they still have. They provided the mean to bypass the enemy's army and Navy and natural barriers, and deliver massive firepower directly to its heart, striking its industry, vital resources, key military targets, and population centers, in order to significantly erode its strength in the battlefield and defeat it.(source) While fulfilling there main role, bombers were also used for air support from long and close range. These bombers actually were used in close air support on the battlefields themselves. The U.S. used its better manufacturing power to mass produce these bombers, specifically B-17s. Better than tanks and mortars bombers could provide an advantage on the