The Mother of All Bombers...

[Spear Dane]

The west can write history however it wants, carpet bombing civilians is sad.

Except for the fact those weren't civilians, they were German citizens, the people that put that maniac in power. They were government workers, military civilian workers, utility and transportation workers, all necessary to the conduct of the war and legitimate targets. We firebombed half of Japan too and I don't feel a shred of sympathy for them either, that entire country was maniacal.

 

[KLB]

The History Channel agreed with the OP assesment.
[video=youtube_share;xzbn5MDc3b0]https://youtu.be/xzbn5MDc3b0[/video]

 

[Alamo]

The BUFF is an incredible aircraft. On a hot day at an air show the bomb bay of a BUFF is a great place to cool off. ...

Speaking of hot days, that reminds me a story one of my friends in the USAF told me. He had been a navigator on B-52s during the Vietnam war, I believe he was in one of the units stationed in Thailand. Anyway, he said it was so miserably hot on the parking ramp that when the crew pre-flighted the aircraft they would take off their flight suits and do pre-flight in their underwear and boots. Then climb on board, take off, and fly to altitude in helmets, underwear, and boots, before putting their coveralls back on. They were of course forgoing the protection against flash fire that the nomex suits provided, but he said they were already burning up as it was.

 

[voidsherpa]

Except for the fact those weren't civilians, they were German citizens, the people that put that maniac in power. They were government workers, military civilian workers, utility and transportation workers, all necessary to the conduct of the war and legitimate targets. We firebombed half of Japan too and I don't feel a shred of sympathy for them either, that entire country was maniacal.

Now please, tell me your thoughts on The Blitz and the bombing of London.

 

[Leadeye]

I think the B-36 was larger and carried a heavier bomb load, my father was a SAC navigator and said watching bombs fall out of a B-36 was like a curtain dropping. Six turning and four burning is what he called it, if I remember correctly.

 

[2A_Tom]

Hanover, Germany after the war.

My friend was a gunner on B-17s and told me that Hanover was their secondary target on every mission. It is difficult to see the devastation in this picture. When I saw this in person it brought tears to my eyes.

We have become too weak, total warfare is the only way to beat an uncivilized enemy.

The Savage Curtain S3, E22

Star Trek is the ultimate treatise that communism and the evolution of civilization is a fantasy.

 

[Woobie]

The west can write history however it wants, carpet bombing civilians is sad.

Sad? Absolutely. Avoidable under those circumstances? Not in the least.

 

[voidsherpa]

Avoidable under those circumstances? Not in the least.

Well, you would be wrong on that point. There was a noted transition into area bombing by the Allie's during ww2, it's in interesting controversy.

 

[2A_Tom]

[h=1]William Tecumseh Sherman[/h]

Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, believed that the Civil War would come to an end only if the Confederacy's strategic, economic, and psychological capacity for warfare were decisively broken.[SUP][4][/SUP] Sherman therefore planned an operation that has been compared to the modern principles of scorched earth warfare, or total war.

 

[rob63]

I think the B-36 was larger and carried a heavier bomb load, my father was a SAC navigator and said watching bombs fall out of a B-36 was like a curtain dropping. Six turning and four burning is what he called it, if I remember correctly.

I was going to mention the B-36.

 

[LtScott14]

The use of bombing targets in China, Phillipines, Pearl Harbor, and islands in between earned the full decision o Toyko Reprisal by Doolittles Raiders. The war in Pacific was going south, and 16 B25s inflicted damage to a country which thought it was above being attacked. Sad the Raiders are down to only a couple Survivors, but they gave the Japanese a surprise that affected the morale and a win for the struggling US. Now Japan is our Allie. Funny how that works.
Keep those B52s!

 

[Woobie]

Well, you would be wrong on that point. There was a noted transition into area bombing by the Allie's during ww2, it's in interesting controversy.

You mean where we went from not hitting the factory with a few bombers to sending so many we couldn't miss? Yeah, that transition brought a lot of pressure on the Reich. War is ugly business. Best to get it over quickly.

Or you could take the touchy-feely approach and let the guys with the will to win impose that will on you.

 

[BugI02]

The west can write history however it wants, carpet bombing civilians is sad.

Dude, you do know that the reason we were daylight bombing, despite its higher casualty rate, was using the Norden we were precision bombing (at least that day's version of it). The Eighth Air Force paid in blood to do all possible to minimize unnecessary civilian casualties. What more could we have done in that revisionist version of history you're selling - not prosecute the war on Germany at all?

 

[2A_Tom]

War literally HELL. There is no nice way to protract war. The longer you let it drag out the more loss there is.

Truman made a decision that most likely haunted him to the grave.

 

[BugI02]

I was going to mention the B-36.

#1 seems to be feathered

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

I think the B-36 was larger and carried a heavier bomb load, my father was a SAC navigator and said watching bombs fall out of a B-36 was like a curtain dropping. Six turning and four burning is what he called it, if I remember correctly.

Yes, the B36D had a higher capacity. Six rear facing propellers and four jets slung under the wings, like the dual pods on a B47. Interestingly, the wingspan of the B36 was longer than the Wright brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk. It came from a design for a bomber that could fly from North America, strike in Europe, and return without refueling. It was designed to fight WWII, and it would have been murdered if we ever tried to use it.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

#1 seems to be feathered

They would usually cruise on three engines, and the jets were only for takeoff and speed over target.

 

[DRob]

The west can write history however it wants, carpet bombing civilians is sad.

No, the west cannot write history. It can only report history. We are making a large error when we try to apply today's standards to yesterday's events.

 

[2A_Tom]

No, the west cannot write history. It can only report history. We are making a large error when we try to apply today's standards to yesterday's events.

I disagree.

We can not fight a PC war. Full stop. We have tried that, Korea, Viet Nam, and the ME war under Obama. It has never worked and never will.

 

[voidsherpa]

Dude, you do know that the reason we were daylight bombing, despite its higher casualty rate, was using the Norden we were precision bombing (at least that day's version of it). The Eighth Air Force paid in blood to do all possible to minimize unnecessary civilian casualties. What more could we have done in that revisionist version of history you're selling - not prosecute the war on Germany at all?

It's not revisionist to acknowledge the Area bombing directive to the RAF and the deliberate targeting of civilians? Not selling anything.

No, the west cannot write history. It can only report history. We are making a large error when we try to apply today's standards to yesterday's events.

I understand the reasoning of why it happened, I'm just saying it's been whitewashed.