A rebellion in Iraq in identified the benefit of aerial policing and reconnaissance, and being able to swiftly reach a location. These operational roles provided unique opportunities for the service to perfect its training and strategies, and prove it was an efficient and cost-effective force.
The period also provided for the development of bombing techniques. When only a Squadron Leader and Commander of No. In it was decided that Britain should maintain a Home Defence air force to protect it from attack. Plans were laid for 52 squadrons to be formed and, because counter-attack was recognised as an essential element of defence, the squadrons were equipped in the ratio of two bombers to one fighter. Re-armament by Germany, and the secret growth of the Luftwaffe, brought an expansion programme to be considered in for 75 squadrons, rising to over the following five years.
Further expansion took place in and with planned completion by March Despite all this, the RAF seriously lagged behind the German Luftwaffe in numbers of aircraft and trained personnel when war came in September In , new heavy bombers such as the Avro Manchester, Short Stirling and Handley Page Halifax entered service, although they represented a small proportion of the aircraft within Bomber Command by the year-end.
Search this unit only. Search Now. Small Medium Large Landscape Portrait. Free Account Registration. First Name:. Create Your Free Account Now. By this time, Bomber Command had received new technical navigation and bombing aids - Oboe, a blind bombing device, and H2S, an air radar set which gave a rough radar picture of the ground the aircraft was flying over. From March until July, 43 raids were launched against the Ruhr causing extensive damage to many of the industrial cities of that region.
In late July and early August, Hamburg was attacked in four major raids in ten days causing enormous destruction with a conflagration, leaving the city in smouldering ruins. Window aluminium strips dropped from the attacking aircraft to confuse the German air and ground radar was first used during these raids with great success. Although Bomber Command concentrated its efforts on these major battles, many other targets were attacked during the same period. During the Battle of the Ruhr, the famous dams raid took place.
The 16 Lancasters which made this attack carried 13 Australians, four of whom were captains of aircraft. Eight Lancasters were lost, involving the deaths of 55 men with only a solitary Australian rear gunner surviving to become a prisoner of war.
Of the twelve other Australians, only two were killed, with ten returning safely. The Battle of Hamburg took place mid-way through a series of twelve raids against northern Italy designed to cripple the Italian will to resist the invasion of Sicily.
In the late summer and autumn of , Bomber Command regularly attacked towns in Southern Germany. Within a month of its success at Hamburg, three heavy raids were made against Berlin. With a sufficient number of heavy bombers assured, a winter campaign against the German capital, to damage both industrial capacity and national morale, seemed desirable.
However, any raid against Berlin required a minimum of miles flying over hostile territory. In addition to heavy losses, cloud completely covered Berlin on a number of occasions. Because Berlin was such a large area, most bombs did some damage but it was too big a target for Bomber Command to completely destroy the city.
Only one Australian squadron, No , was substantially maintained by Australian ground staff. This was Bomber Command's worst loss in one raid during the entire war.
Of the aircrew of the 95 aircraft lost, were killed and became prisoners of war. Another 40 Australians, including 11 pilots flying with 16 different RAF squadrons that night were killed. Bomber Command launched 53 raids against railway workshops in this period, with RAAF aircraft involved in 25 raids for the loss of 17 aircraft. Further attacks were made against road and rail bridges over the Seine and the Loire and against German radar and wireless installations.
On the night before the landings, Bomber Command attacked 10 coastal batteries in the assault area with about aircraft against each battery. This and other support from Bomber Command helped to contribute to the success of the invasion. From November to March , Harris launched a series of huge raids on Berlin, promising to knock Germany out of the war in the process. Over aircraft and aircrew were lost during the 'Battle of Berlin', but the city struggled on.
Bomber Command switched its attentions to tactical objectives in early , helping to pave the way for D-Day , the allied invasion of occupied Europe. Bomber Command aircraft played a vital and highly effective role attacking infrastructure around the invasion beaches. Attacking railways, roads and other transport links created chaos behind German lines, preventing the defending forces from massing to repel the landings.
The closing months of the war saw arguably the most controversial operations, such as the raid on Dresden in February The planners of the raid argued the city was a vital communications hub and needed to be targeted. The truth is that it was a time of total war, and ideas about the boundaries of conflict were very different than those we have today. Flying at feet in broad daylight over hostile territory, the crews brought vital relief to the civilian population.
Bomber Command did not win the Second World War independently - but the war could not have been won without their efforts. The young men of Bomber Command faced dangers that today we can barely imagine, all in defence of our freedom. Their sacrifice and extraordinary courage should never be forgotten.
The RAF Benevolent Fund was there immediately after the war to repay the debt we owed bomber crews, and is still there today to help all those who served. It is our great honour to maintain the Bomber Command Memorial for future generations as a lasting symbol of all that they did in defence of our freedom.
It is a fitting tribute to an extraordinary generation, who set the standards of duty and sacrifice by which the RAF still serves today.
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