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141-532: RAF Bomber Command was formed in 1936 to be responsible for all bombing activities of the RAF. It found especial fame during World War II , when its aircraft were used for devastating night-time air raids on Germany and occupied Europe, principally the former, their bombing raids causing tremendous destruction of urban areas and factories. Much of its personnel was drawn from outside the United Kingdom, many coming from

282-618: A branch of the Bourbons ascended to the throne of Sicily and Naples. During the Napoleonic Wars , north and central Italy were reorganised as Sister Republics of France and, later, as a Kingdom of Italy . The south was administered by Joachim Murat , Napoleon's brother-in-law. 1814's Congress of Vienna restored the situation of the late 18th century, but the ideals of the French Revolution could not be eradicated, and re-surfaced during

423-514: A crucially innovative role in financial development by devising banking practices, and enabling new forms of social organisation. In coastal and southern areas, maritime republics dominated the Mediterranean and monopolised trade to the Orient. They were independent thalassocratic city-states, in which merchants had considerable power. Although oligarchical, the relative political freedom they afforded

564-543: A doctrine of "precision" bombing in daylight. When the German defences inflicted costly defeats on British raids in late 1939, a switch to night bombing was forced upon the Command. The problems of enemy defences were then replaced with the problems of night navigation and target-finding. In the early years of the war bombers had to rely on dead reckoning navigation supported by radio fixes and astro-navigation. Bomber Command comprised

705-523: A famous meeting between Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II , the last king of Sardinia, during which Garibaldi shook Victor Emanuel's hand and hailed him as King of Italy . Cavour agreed to include Garibaldi's southern Italy in a union with the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860. This allowed the Sardinian government to declare a united Italian kingdom on 17 March 1861, with Victor Emmanuel II as its first king. In 1865,

846-653: A group of elite, specially trained and experienced crews who flew ahead of the main bombing forces and marked the targets with flares and special marker-bombs. No. 8 Group controlled the Pathfinder squadrons. A number of other groups were part of the command, including, in June 1944, No. 26 Group RAF , three operational training groups – No. 91 Group RAF at Morton Hall, Swinderby, which was merged into No. 21 Group RAF , part of RAF Flying Training Command , on 1 May 1947; Nos 92 and 93 Groups ; and No. 100 Group RAF (of which last

987-586: A high casualty rate: 55,573 were killed out of a total of 125,000 aircrew, a 44.4% death rate. A further 8,403 men were wounded in action, and 9,838 became prisoners of war. Bomber Command stood at the peak of its post-war military power in the 1960s, the V bombers holding the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent and a supplemental force of Canberra light bombers. In 1968 it was merged with Fighter Command to form Strike Command . A memorial in Green Park in London

1128-462: A lack of discernible results, and replaced General Haywood S. Hansell with General Curtis LeMay as commander of XXI Bomber Command on January 21, 1945. After six weeks of further attempts at precision bombing, LeMay acceded to command pressures for area bombing and switched in March to mass firebombing attacks by night from low level. The Japanese economy was uniquely vulnerable to this sort of attack,

1269-728: A member of NATO . The Marshall Plan revived the economy, which, until the late 1960s, enjoyed a period called the Economic Miracle . In the 1950s, Italy became a founding country of the European Communities , a forerunner of the European Union. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, the country experienced the Years of Lead , characterised by economic difficulties, especially after the 1973 oil crisis ; social conflicts; and terrorist massacres. The economy recovered and Italy became

1410-411: A number of Groups . It began the war with Nos. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 Groups. No. 1 Group was soon sent to France and then returned to Bomber Command control after the evacuation of France. No. 2 Group consisted of light and medium bombers who, although operating both by day and night, remained part of Bomber Command until 1943, when it was removed to the control of Second Tactical Air Force , to form

1551-624: A permanent seat in the League of Nations 's executive council. The socialist agitations that followed the devastation of the Great War, inspired by the Russian Revolution , led to counter-revolution and repression throughout Italy. The liberal establishment, fearing a Soviet-style revolution, started to endorse the small National Fascist Party , led by Mussolini. In October 1922, the Blackshirts of

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1692-592: A raid got lost due to poor navigation and bombed London. Prime Minister Winston Churchill consequently ordered a retaliatory raid on the German capital of Berlin. The damage caused was minor but the raid sent Hitler into a rage. He ordered the Luftwaffe to level British cities, thus precipitating the Blitz . Like the United States Army Air Forces later in the war, Bomber Command had first concentrated on

1833-532: A revival of Italian republicanism. Italy became a republic after the 1946 Italian institutional referendum held on 2 June, a day celebrated since as Festa della Repubblica . This was the first time women voted nationally. Victor Emmanuel III's son, Umberto II , was forced to abdicate. The Republican Constitution was approved in 1948. Under the Treaty of Paris between Italy and the Allied Powers , areas next to

1974-702: A series of wars in the peninsula. During the High Renaissance , popes such as Julius II (1503–1513) fought for control of Italy against foreign monarchs; Paul III (1534–1549) preferred to mediate between the European powers to secure peace. In the middle of such conflicts, the Medici popes Leo X (1513–1521) and Clement VII (1523–1534) faced the Protestant Reformation in Germany, England and elsewhere. In 1559, at

2115-511: A total of 125,000 aircrew (a 44.4 per cent death rate), a further 8,403 were wounded in action and 9,838 became prisoners of war. This covered all Bomber Command operations. A Bomber Command crew member had a worse chance of survival than an infantry officer in World War I; more people were killed serving in Bomber Command than in the Blitz, or the bombings of Hamburg or Dresden. By comparison,

2256-478: Is influenced by the seas that surround Italy on every side except the north, which constitute a reservoir of heat and humidity. Within the southern temperate zone, they determine a Mediterranean climate with local differences. Because of the length of the peninsula and the mostly mountainous hinterland, the climate is highly diverse. In most inland northern and central regions, the climate ranges from humid subtropical to humid continental and oceanic . The Po Valley

2397-595: Is mostly humid subtropical, with cool winters and hot summers. The coastal areas of Liguria , Tuscany, and most of the south generally fit the Mediterranean climate stereotype, as in the Köppen climate classification . Conditions on the coast are different from those in the interior, particularly during winter when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters, and hot and generally dry summers; lowland valleys are hot in summer. Winter temperatures vary from 0 °C (32 °F) in

2538-499: Is the tenth-largest country in Europe by area, covering 301,340 km (116,350 sq mi), and third-most populous member state of the European Union , with a population of nearly 60 million. Italy's capital and largest city is Rome ; other major urban areas include Milan , Naples , Turin , Palermo , Bologna , Florence , Genoa , and Venice . The history of Italy goes back to numerous Italic peoples , notably including

2679-672: Is water. Including the islands, Italy has a coastline of 7,600 kilometres (4,722 miles) on the Mediterranean Sea , the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas, the Ionian Sea , and the Adriatic Sea . Its border with France runs for 488 km (303 mi); Switzerland, 740 km (460 mi); Austria, 430 km (267 mi); and Slovenia, 232 km (144 mi). The sovereign states of San Marino and Vatican City (the smallest country in

2820-645: The Oration on the Dignity of Man , considered the manifesto of the Renaissance. In the arts, the Italian Renaissance exercised a dominant influence on European art for centuries, with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci , Botticelli , Michelangelo , Raphael , Giotto , Donatello , and Titian , and architects such as Filippo Brunelleschi , Andrea Palladio , and Donato Bramante . Italian explorers and navigators from

2961-657: The Achaeans founded various cities. Greek colonisation placed the Italic peoples in contact with democratic forms of government and high artistic and cultural expressions. Ancient Rome, a settlement on the river Tiber in central Italy, founded in 753 BC, was ruled for 244 years by a monarchical system. In 509 BC, the Romans, favouring a government of the Senate and the People ( SPQR ), expelled

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3102-598: The Adriatic Sea were annexed by Yugoslavia , resulting in the Istrian-Dalmatian exodus , which involved the emigration of around 300,000 Istrian and Dalmatian Italians . Italy lost all colonial possessions, ending the Italian Empire . Fears of a Communist takeover proved crucial in 1948 , when the Christian Democrats , under Alcide De Gasperi , won a landslide victory. Consequently, in 1949 Italy became

3243-618: The Advanced Air Striking Force . This action had two aims: to give the British Expeditionary Force some air-striking power and to allow the Battles to operate against German targets, since they lacked the range to do so from British airfields. In May 1940, some of the Advanced Air Striking Force was caught on the ground by German air attacks on their airfields at the opening of the invasion of France. The remainder of

3384-518: The Battle of the Ruhr on Essen. The bombers destroyed 160 acres (65 ha) of the city and hit 53 Krupps buildings. The Battle of Hamburg in mid-1943 was one of the most successful Bomber Command operations, although Harris' extension of the offensive into the Battle of Berlin failed to destroy the capital and cost his force more than 1,000 crews in the winter of 1943–44. In August 1943, Operation Hydra ,

3525-516: The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator (although less than 2% of Bomber Command's wartime sorties were flown by US-built aircraft); in the case of the former they were the first to be put into battle and gave useful information on improvements before the US entered the war. RAF Bomber Command was merged into RAF Strike Command in 1968. Whereas the Bomber Command in

3666-626: The British Empire . Under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan , many Commonwealth countries contributed squadrons or individuals to British air and ground staff. For example, No. 6 Group , which represented about one-sixth of Bomber Command's strength, was a Royal Canadian Air Force unit. Some non-British personnel came from occupied European countries. At its height, Bomber Command under Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris could put over 1,000 aircraft into

3807-483: The Clean Hands investigation—demanded radical reform. The Christian Democrats, who had ruled for almost 50 years, underwent a crisis and disbanded, splitting into factions. The Communists reorganised as a social-democratic force. During the 1990s and 2000s, centre-right (dominated by media magnate Silvio Berlusconi ) and centre-left coalitions (led by professor Romano Prodi ) alternately governed. In 2011, amidst

3948-788: The Crimean War . Sardinia fought the Austrian Empire in the Second Italian War of Independence of 1859, with the aid of France, resulting in liberating Lombardy . On the basis of the Plombières Agreement , the Sardinia ceded Savoy and Nice to France, an event that caused the Niçard exodus . In 1860–1861, Garibaldi led the drive for unification in Naples and Sicily. Teano was the site of

4089-645: The Crusades , providing support, transport, but mostly taking political and trading opportunities. Italy first felt the economic changes which led to the commercial revolution : Venice was able to sack Byzantine's capital and finance Marco Polo 's voyages to Asia; the first universities were formed in Italian cities, and scholars such as Aquinas obtained international fame; capitalism and banking families emerged in Florence, where Dante and Giotto were active around 1300. In

4230-809: The Empire of Japan , and strongly supported Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War . In 1939, Italy annexed Albania . Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940. At different times, Italians advanced in British Somaliland , Egypt , the Balkans , and eastern fronts. They were, however, defeated on the Eastern Front as well as in the East African and North African campaigns, losing their territories in Africa and

4371-686: The European Union  (light green)  –  [ Legend ] Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country in Southern and Western Europe . It consists of a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea , with the Alps on its northern land border, as well as nearly 800 islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia . Italy shares its borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and two enclaves: Vatican City and San Marino . It

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4512-776: The Expedition of the Thousand , establishing the Kingdom of Italy . From the late 19th to the early 20th century, Italy rapidly industrialised, mainly in the north, and acquired a colonial empire , while the south remained largely impoverished, fueling a large immigrant diaspora to the Americas. From 1915 to 1918, Italy took part in World War I with the Entente against the Central Powers . In 1922,

4653-536: The Great Recession , Berlusconi resigned and was replaced by the technocratic cabinet of Mario Monti . In 2014, Matteo Renzi became prime minister and the government started constitutional reform. This was rejected in a 2016 referendum and Paolo Gentiloni became prime minister. During the European migrant crisis of the 2010s, Italy was the entry point and leading destination for most asylum seekers entering

4794-857: The Gregorian calendar ; the Jesuit China mission ; the French Wars of Religion ; end of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648); and the Great Turkish War . The Italian economy declined in the 1600s and 1700s. During the war of the Spanish succession (1700–1714), Austria acquired most of the Spanish domains in Italy, namely Milan, Naples and Sardinia; the latter was given to the House of Savoy in exchange for Sicily in 1720. Later,

4935-401: The House of Savoy to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire Italian Peninsula . By the mid-19th century, rising Italian nationalism led to revolution. Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the political and social Italian unification movement, or Risorgimento , emerged to unite Italy by consolidating the states and liberating them from foreign control. A radical figure was

5076-428: The Italian Peninsula , Sicily and Sardinia (the biggest islands of the Mediterranean), and many smaller islands . Some of Italy's territory extends beyond the Alpine basin, and some islands are located outside the Eurasian continental shelf. The country's area is 301,230 square kilometres (116,306 sq mi), of which 294,020 km (113,522 sq mi) is land and 7,210 km (2,784 sq mi)

5217-416: The Italian fascist dictatorship was established. During World War II , Italy was first part of the Axis until its surrender to the Allied powers (1940–1943), then a co-belligerent of the Allies during the Italian resistance and the liberation of Italy (1943–1945). Following the war, the monarchy was replaced by a republic and the country enjoyed a strong recovery . A developed country , Italy has

5358-418: The Italic peoples . The main historic peoples of possible non-Indo-European or pre-Indo-European heritage include the Etruscans , the Elymians and Sicani of Sicily, and the prehistoric Sardinians , who gave birth to the Nuragic civilisation . Other ancient populations include the Rhaetian people and Camunni , known for their rock drawings in Valcamonica . A natural mummy, Ötzi , dated 3400–3100 BC,

5499-461: The Kvarner Gulf , and the Dalmatian city of Zara . The subsequent Treaty of Rome (1924) led to annexation of Fiume by Italy. Italy did not receive other territories promised by the Treaty of London, so this outcome was denounced as a " mutilated victory ", by Benito Mussolini , which helped lead to the rise of Italian fascism . Historians regard "mutilated victory" as a "political myth", used by fascists to fuel Italian imperialism . Italy gained

5640-413: The Low Countries , and to shallow penetrations of Germany. Attempts to attack the German aircraft industry during the summer and fall of 1943, beyond the range of escort fighters, resulted in critical losses of aircrew. Not until long range escort fighters such as the North American P-51 Mustang became available in sizeable numbers did daylight bombing become effective. In January 1944, VIII Bomber Command

5781-408: The Middle East . In the wake of Julius Caesar 's assassination in 44 BC, Rome grew into a massive empire stretching from Britain to the borders of Persia , engulfing the whole Mediterranean basin, in which Greek, Roman, and other cultures merged into a powerful civilisation. The long reign of the first emperor, Augustus , began an age of peace and prosperity. Roman Italy remained the metropole of

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5922-479: The National Republican Army . German troops, with RSI collaboration, committed massacres and deported thousands of Jews to death camps. The post-armistice period saw the emergence of the Italian Resistance , who fought a guerrilla war against the Nazi German occupiers and collaborators. This has been described as an Italian civil war due to fighting between partisans and fascist RSI forces. In April 1945, with defeat looming, Mussolini attempted to escape north, but

6063-403: The Ninth Air Force moved from the Mediterranean Theater of Operations to the United Kingdom to become a tactical air force in the European Theater of Operations , the B-24s transferred to Twelfth Air Force, then to the newly created Fifteenth. IX Bomber Command equipped with Martin B-26 medium bombers and Douglas A-20 light bombers in preparation for the Normandy Invasion. XX Bomber Command

6204-445: The Norse ; and Amerigo Vespucci , for whom the continent of America is named. A defensive alliance known as the Italic League was formed between Venice, Naples, Florence, Milan, and the Papacy. Lorenzo the Magnificent de Medici was the Renaissance's greatest patron, his support allowed the League to abort invasion by the Turks. The alliance, however, collapsed in the 1490s; the invasion of Charles VIII of France initiated

6345-426: The Ruhr , including oil plants and other civilian industrial targets which aided the German war effort, such as blast furnaces (which were visible at night). The first attack took place on the night of 15/16 May, with 96 bombers setting off to attack targets east of the Rhine, 78 of which were against oil targets. Of these, only 24 claimed to have found their targets. Bomber Command itself soon fully joined in

6486-400: The Short Sperrin fall-back design. Multiple designs were tried out because no one could predict which designs would be successful at the time. The V bombers became the backbone of the British nuclear forces and comprised the Valiant, Handley Page Victor (in service in 1958) and Avro Vulcan (1956). Italy – in Europe  (light green & dark grey) – in

6627-517: The United States Army Air Forces , it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II . From 1942 onward, the British bombing campaign against Germany became less restrictive and increasingly targeted industrial sites and the civilian manpower base essential for German war production. In total 501,536 operational sorties were flown, 2.25  billion pounds (1.02 million tonnes ) of bombs were dropped and 8,325 aircraft lost in action. Bomber Command crews also suffered

6768-520: The ancient Romans , who conquered the Mediterranean world during the Roman Republic and ruled it for centuries during the Roman Empire . With the spread of Christianity, Rome became the seat of the Catholic Church and the Papacy . Between late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages , Italy experienced the arrival of Germanic tribes and the fall of the Western Roman Empire . By the 11th century, Italian city-states and maritime republics expanded, bringing renewed prosperity through commerce and laying

6909-405: The collapse of the Fascist regime on 25 July. Mussolini was deposed and arrested by order of King Victor Emmanuel III. On 8 September, Italy signed the Armistice of Cassibile , ending its war with the Allies. The Germans, with the assistance of Italian fascists, succeeded in taking control of north and central Italy. The country remained a battlefield, with the Allies moving up from the south. In

7050-412: The eponymous geographical region , is located in Southern Europe (and is also considered part of Western Europe ) between latitudes 35° and 47° N , and longitudes 6° and 19° E . To the north, from west to east, Italy borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia, and is roughly delimited by the Alpine watershed , enclosing the Po Valley and the Venetian Plain . It consists of the entirety of

7191-408: The larger British bombs were highly destructive. 15 years after the war's end, Speer was unequivocal about the effect, The real importance of the air war consisted in the fact that it opened a second front long before the invasion in Europe ... Defence against air attacks required the production of thousands of anti-aircraft guns, the stockpiling of tremendous quantities of ammunition all over

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7332-426: The light bomber component of that command. Bomber Command also gained two new groups during the war: the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) squadrons were organised into No. 6 Group and the Pathfinder Force was expanded to form No. 8 (Pathfinder) Group from existing squadrons on 8 January 1943. Many squadrons and personnel from Commonwealth and other European countries flew in Bomber Command. No. 6 Group, which

7473-406: The ninth-largest nominal GDP in the world, the second-largest manufacturing industry in Europe, and plays a significant role in regional and global economic, military, cultural, and diplomatic affairs. Italy is a founding and leading member of the European Union, and is part of numerous international institutions, including NATO , the G7 and G20 , the Latin Union and the Union for

7614-437: The political upheavals that characterised the early 19th century. The first adoption of the Italian tricolour by an Italian state, the Cispadane Republic , occurred during Napoleonic Italy , following the French Revolution, which advocated national self-determination . This event is celebrated by Tricolour Day . The birth of the Kingdom of Italy was the result of efforts of Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to

7755-401: The 1400s and 1500s, Italy was the birthplace and heart of the Renaissance . This era marked the transition from the medieval period to the modern age and was fostered by the wealth accumulated by merchant cities and the patronage of dominant families. Italian polities were now regional states effectively ruled by princes, in control of trade and administration, and their courts became centres of

7896-411: The 88 mm gun was an effective AA weapon, it was also a deadly destroyer of tanks, and lethal against advancing infantry. These weapons would have done much to augment German anti-tank defences on the Russian front. Mine laying operations were a major contribution to the disruption of German naval activities. Aerial minelaying was used on the iron ore routes from Scandinavia and U-boat training areas in

8037-500: The Adriatic or Tyrrhenian Sea. The longest is the Po , which flows from the Alps on the western border, and crosses the Padan plain to the Adriatic. The Po Valley is the largest plain, with 46,000 km (18,000 sq mi), and contains over 70% of the country's lowlands . The largest lakes are, in descending size: Garda (367.94 km or 142 sq mi), Maggiore (212.51 km or 82 sq mi), and Como (145.9 km or 56 sq mi). The climate

8178-567: The Alps form most of its northern boundary, where Italy's highest point is located on the summit of Mont Blanc ( Monte Bianco ) at 4,810 m (15,780 ft). Other well-known mountains include the Matterhorn ( Monte Cervino ) in the western Alps, and the Dolomites in the eastern Alps. Many parts of Italy are of volcanic origin . Most small islands and archipelagos in the south are volcanic islands . There are active volcanoes: Mount Etna in Sicily (the largest in Europe), Vulcano , Stromboli , and Vesuvius . Most rivers of Italy drain into

8319-403: The Balkans. Italian war crimes included extrajudicial killings and ethnic cleansing by deportation of about 25,000 people—mainly Yugoslavs—to Italian concentration camps and elsewhere. Yugoslav Partisans perpetrated their own crimes against the ethnic Italian population during and after the war, including the foibe massacres . An Allied invasion of Sicily began in July 1943, leading to

8460-399: The Baltic; in North-West Europe aerial mines sank seven times more ships than naval mines laid from ships. In operations Bomber Command laid 47,278 mines while losing 468 aircraft; Coastal Command contribution was 936 mines. Bomber Command and Coastal Command minelaying is credited with the loss of 759 vessels totalling 1.62 billion pounds (0.73 million tonnes). German production

8601-496: The Battle of the Ruhr marked a turning point in the history of the German war economy .... and that in the first quarter of 1943 steel production fell by 448 million pounds (203,209 tonnes), leading to cuts in the German ammunition production programme and a sub-components crisis ( Zulieferungskrise ). German aircraft output did not increase between July 1943 and March 1944: Bomber command had stopped Speer's armaments miracle in its tracks. The greatest contribution to winning

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8742-440: The Battles proved to be horrendously vulnerable to enemy fire. Many times, Battles would set out to attack and be almost wiped out in the process. e.g. 10 May 1940 when a significant number of Battles were shot down or damaged. Following the Rotterdam Blitz of 14 May, RAF Bomber Command was authorized to attack German targets east of the Rhine on 15 May; the Air Ministry authorized Air Marshal Charles Portal to attack targets in

8883-495: The British bombing component was intended to be based on Okinawa . Bomber Command groups were re-organised for Operation Downfall but the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki occurred before the force had been transferred to the Pacific. In Europe Bomber Command's final operation was to fly released Allied prisoners of war home to Britain in Operation Exodus . Bomber Command crews suffered an extremely high casualty rate: 55,573 killed out of

9024-522: The British survey found that actual arms production decreases were a mere 3 per cent for 1943, and 1 per cent for 1944. However they did find decreases of 46.5 per cent and 39 per cent in the second half of 1943 and 1944 respectively in the metal processing industries. These losses resulted from the devastating series of raids the Command launched on the Ruhr Valley . A contrasting view was offered by Adam Tooze that by referring to contemporary sources rather than post-war accounts: there can be no doubt that

9165-449: The Church and new political dynasties. In 1453, despite activity by Pope Nicholas V to support the Byzantines, the city of Constantinople fell to the Ottomans . This led to the migration of Greek scholars and texts to Italy, fuelling the rediscovery of Greek humanism . Humanist rulers such as Federico da Montefeltro and Pope Pius II worked to establish ideal cities , founding Urbino and Pienza . Pico della Mirandola wrote

9306-434: The EU. Between 2013 and 2018, it took in over 700,000 migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, which put a strain on the public purse and led to a surge in support for far-right or euro-sceptic parties. After the 2018 general election , Giuseppe Conte became prime minister of a populist coalition . With more than 155,000 victims, Italy was one of the countries with the most deaths in the COVID-19 pandemic and one of

9447-461: The First World War in 1915 with the aim of completing national unity, so it is also considered the Fourth Italian War of Independence, from a historiographical perspective, as the conclusion of the unification of Italy . Italy, nominally allied with German and the Austro-Hungarian empires in the Triple Alliance , in 1915 joined the Allies , entering World War I with a promise of substantial territorial gains that included west Inner Carniola ,

9588-411: The French were even more concerned lest Bomber Command operations provoke a German bombing attack on France. Since the Armée de l'Air had few modern fighters and no defence network comparable to the British Chain Home radar stations, this left France powerless before the threat of a German bombing attack. The final problem was lack of adequate aircraft. The Bomber Command workhorses at the start of

9729-423: The Italian Front, secured dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was instrumental in ending the war less than two weeks later. During the war, more than 650,000 Italian soldiers and as many civilians died, and the kingdom was on the brink of bankruptcy. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) and Treaty of Rapallo (1920) allowed for annexation of Trentino Alto-Adige , the Julian March , Istria ,

9870-543: The Liberator had a greater range and a larger bomb load. VIII Bomber Command, known as " Pinetree ", began strategic operations in Europe on 17 August 1942, with daylight missions on the precept that daylight attacks were more accurate than night attacks. However the RAF and the Luftwaffe had both tried daylight bombing early in the war and abandoned it in the face of serious losses. Until June, 1943, VIII Bomber Command could not mount missions of more than 100 aircraft and consequently limited targets to those in Occupied France and

10011-474: The Mediterranean . As a cultural superpower , Italy has long been a renowned global centre of art , music , literature , cuisine , fashion , science and technology , and the source of multiple inventions and discoveries . It has the highest number of World Heritage Sites ( 60 ) and is the fifth-most visited country in the world. Hypotheses for the etymology of Italia are numerous. One theory suggests it originated from an Ancient Greek term for

10152-571: The National Fascist Party organised a mass demonstration and the " March on Rome " coup . King Victor Emmanuel III appointed Mussolini as prime minister, transferring power to the fascists without armed conflict. Mussolini banned political parties and curtailed personal liberties, establishing a dictatorship. These actions attracted international attention and inspired similar dictatorships in Nazi Germany and Francoist Spain . Fascism

10293-735: The Papacy, with city-states siding with the former ( Ghibellines ) or with the latter ( Guelphs ) for momentary advantage. The Germanic emperor and Roman pontiff became the universal powers of medieval Europe. However, conflict over the Investiture Controversy and between Guelphs and Ghibellines ended the imperial-feudal system in the north, where cities gained independence. In 1176, the Lombard League of city-states, defeated Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa , ensuring their independence. City-states—e.g. Milan , Florence, Venice —played

10434-566: The Pathfinders, the de Havilland Mosquito , also made its appearance. By 25 July 1943, the Bomber Command headquarters had come to occupy "a substantial set of red brick buildings, hidden in the middle of a forest on top of a hill in the English county of Buckinghamshire". An offensive against the Rhine-Ruhr area ("Happy Valley" to aircrew) began on the night of 5/6 March 1943, with the first raid of

10575-640: The RAF as Boeing Washingtons, to supplement the Avro Lincoln , a development of the Lancaster. The first jet bomber, the English Electric Canberra light bomber, became operational in 1951. Some Canberras remained in RAF service up to 2006 as photo-reconnaissance aircraft. The model proved an extremely successful aircraft; Britain exported it to many countries and licensed it for construction in Australia and

10716-533: The RAF was a single organisation, reporting directly to the Chief of the Air Staff , there were many American Bomber Commands. They were subordinate formations, reporting in general to various numbered Air Forces around the world. Out of those organisations, four were tasked with strategic bombing of Germany and Japan. VIII Bomber Command , IX Bomber Command , XX Bomber Command and XXI Bomber Command . VIII Bomber Command

10857-451: The Rhineland, bombed on 16, 17, 18 and 19 February, was bombed again on 23 March, leaving the city "97 percent destroyed". The last raid on Berlin took place on the night of 21/22 April, when 76 Mosquitos made six attacks just before Soviet forces entered the city centre. By this point, most RAF bombing operations were for the purpose of providing tactical support. The last major strategic raid

10998-649: The US Eighth Air Force , which flew daylight raids over Europe, had 350,000 aircrew during the war and suffered 26,000 killed and 23,000 POWs. Of the RAF Bomber Command personnel killed during the war, 72 per cent were British, 18 per cent were Canadian, 7 per cent were Australian and 3 per cent were New Zealanders. Taking an example of 100 airmen: In total 501,536 operational sorties were flown, 2.25 billion pounds (1.02 million tonnes) of bombs were dropped and 8,325 aircraft lost in action. Harris

11139-616: The United States. The joint US-UK Project E was intended to make nuclear weapons available to Bomber Command in an emergency, with the Canberras the first aircraft to benefit. The next jet bomber to enter service was the Vickers Valiant in 1955, the first of the V bombers . The Air Ministry conceived of the V bombers as the replacement for the wartime Lancasters and Halifaxes. Three advanced aircraft were developed from 1946, along with

11280-595: The action; in the Battle of Britain , Bomber Command was assigned to bomb invasion barges and fleets assembling in the Channel ports. This was much less public than the battles of the Spitfires and Hurricanes of RAF Fighter Command but still vital and dangerous work, carried out night after night. Bomber Command was also indirectly responsible, in part at least, for the switch of Luftwaffe attention away from Fighter Command to bombing civilian targets. A German bomber on

11421-496: The air over Germany. Over 12,000 Bomber Command aircraft were shot down during World War II, and 55,500 aircrew were killed, the highest attrition rate of any British unit. Various aircraft were used, from the obsolete and horrendously vulnerable Fairey Battle in 1939 to the command's most numerous and successful aircraft, the Avro Lancaster . Bomber Command used not only British aircraft but also American-built machines such as

11562-560: The arts and sciences. These princedoms were led by political dynasties and merchant families, such as the Medici of Florence. After the end of the Western Schism , newly elected Pope Martin V returned to the Papal States and restored Italy as the sole centre of Western Christianity. The Medici Bank was made the credit institution of the Papacy, and significant ties were established between

11703-569: The bombing of the Peenemünde V-2 rocket facility opened the secondary Operation Crossbow campaign against long-range weapons. By April 1944, Harris was forced to reduce his strategic offensive as the bomber force was directed (much to his annoyance) to tactical and transport targets in France in support of the invasion of Normandy . The transport offensive proved highly effective. By late 1944, bombing such as Operation Hurricane (to demonstrate

11844-536: The capabilities of the combined British and US bomber forces), competed against the German defences . Bomber Command was now capable of putting 1,000 aircraft over a target without extraordinary efforts. Within 24 hours of Operation Hurricane, the RAF dropped about 22 million pounds (10,000 tonnes) of bombs on Duisburg and Brunswick , the greatest bomb load dropped in a day during the Second World War. Wesel in

11985-457: The cities being closely packed and largely built of wood, and manufacturing being 90% cottage industry . The air attacks on Japan included the most devastating single air raid in history. It was not, as some might think, the result of dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki . It was a firebombing of Tokyo on the night of 9–10 March 1945, which created a conflagration and killed 100,000 people and destroyed 16 square miles of

12126-472: The city, far more damage and deaths than either the atomic bombing of Hiroshima or of Nagasaki . RAF Bomber Command 1942: Manchester , Stirling , Halifax , Lancaster , Mosquito . 1945: Lincoln 1950: Washington B.1 1951: Canberra . 1955: Vickers Valiant 1956: Avro Vulcan RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force 's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with

12267-482: The country, and holding in readiness hundreds of thousands of soldiers, who in addition had to stay in position by their guns, often totally inactive, for months at a time ... No one has yet seen that this was the greatest lost battle on the German side. In terms of production decrease resulting from the RAF area attacks, the US survey, based upon limited research, found that in 1943 it amounted to 9 per cent and in 1944 to 17 per cent. Relying on US gathered statistics,

12408-659: The emergence of Christianity as a world religion, are among the many legacies of Roman dominance. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , Italy fell under the Odoacer's kingdom , and was seized by the Ostrogoths . Invasions resulted in a chaotic succession of kingdoms and the supposed " Dark Ages ". The invasion of another Germanic tribe in the 6th century, the Lombards, reduced Byzantine presence and ended political unity of

12549-446: The empire, homeland of the Romans and territory of the capital. As Roman provinces were being established throughout the Mediterranean, Italy maintained a special status which made it domina provinciarum ('ruler of the provinces'), and—especially in relation to the first centuries of imperial stability — rectrix mundi ('governor of the world') and omnium terrarum parens ('parent of all lands'). The Roman Empire

12690-742: The end of the Italian wars between France and the Habsburgs, about half of Italy (the southern Kingdoms of Naples , Sicily , Sardinia , and the Duchy of Milan ) was under Spanish rule, while the other half remained independent (many states continued to be formally part of the Holy Roman Empire). The Papacy launched the Counter-Reformation , whose key events include: the Council of Trent (1545–1563); adoption of

12831-602: The entire peninsula south of the Alps. In 264 BC, Roman Italy extended from the Arno and Rubicon rivers of the centre-north to the entire south. The northern area, Cisalpine Gaul , considered geographically part of Italy, was occupied by Rome in the 220s BC, but remained politically separated. It was legally merged into the administrative unit of Italy in 42 BC. Sardinia, Corsica , Sicily, and Malta were added to Italy by Diocletian in 292 AD, which made late-ancient Italy coterminous with

12972-567: The former Austrian Littoral , and Dalmatia , as well as parts of the Ottoman Empire . The country's contribution to the Allied victory earned it a place as one of the " Big Four " powers. Reorganisation of the army and conscription led to Italian victories. In October 1918, the Italians launched a massive offensive, culminating in victory at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto . This marked the end of war on

13113-578: The groundwork for modern capitalism. The Italian Renaissance flourished during the 15th and 16th centuries and spread to the rest of Europe. Italian explorers discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World , contributing significantly to the European Age of Discovery . After centuries of political and territorial divisions, Italy was almost entirely unified in 1861, following wars of independence and

13254-671: The kingdom's capital was moved from Turin to Florence. In 1866, Victor Emmanuel II, allied with Prussia during the Austro-Prussian War , waged the Third Italian War of Independence , which resulted in Italy annexing Venetia . Finally, in 1870, as France abandoned Rome during the Franco-Prussian War , the Italians captured the Papal States , unification was completed, and the capital moved to Rome. Sardinia's constitution

13395-634: The land of the Italói , a tribe that resided in the region now known as Calabria . Originally thought to be named Vituli , some scholars suggest their totemic animal to be the calf ( Latin : vitulus ; Umbrian : vitlo ; Oscan : Víteliú ). Several ancient authors said it was named after a local ruler Italus . The ancient Greek term for Italy initially referred only to the south of the Bruttium peninsula and parts of Catanzaro and Vibo Valentia . The larger concept of Oenotria and "Italy" became synonymous, and

13536-402: The late 1930s, this statement was effectively true. Attacking bombers could not be detected early enough to assemble fighters fast enough to prevent them reaching their targets. Some damage might be done to the bombers by anti-aircraft (AA) guns, and by fighters as the bombers returned to base, but that was not as effective as a proper defence. Consequently, the early conception of Bomber Command

13677-552: The maritime republics, eager to find an alternative route to the Indies to bypass the Ottomans, offered their services to monarchs of Atlantic countries and played a key role in ushering the Age of Discovery and colonization of the Americas. The most notable were: Christopher Columbus , who opened the Americas for conquest by Europeans; John Cabot , the first European to explore North America since

13818-571: The modern Italian geographical region . The Latin Italicus was used to describe "a man of Italy" as opposed to a provincial , or one from the Roman province . The adjective italianus , from which Italian was derived, is from medieval Latin and was used alternatively with Italicus during the early modern period . After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy

13959-420: The monarchy and established an oligarchic republic. The Italian Peninsula, named Italia , was consolidated into a unified entity during Roman expansion, the conquest of new territories often at the expense of the other Italic tribes , Etruscans , Celts , and Greeks . A permanent association, with most of the local tribes and cities, was formed, and Rome began the conquest of Western Europe, North Africa, and

14100-510: The most affected economically . In February 2021, after a government crisis , Conte resigned. Mario Draghi , former president of the European Central Bank , formed a national unity government supported by most main parties, pledging to implement an economic stimulus to face the crisis caused by the pandemic. In 2022, Giorgia Meloni was sworn in as Italy's first female prime minister. Italy, whose territory largely coincides with

14241-621: The name applied to most of Lucania as well. Before the Roman Republic's expansion, the name was used by Greeks for the land between the strait of Messina and the line connecting the gulfs of Salerno and Taranto , corresponding to Calabria. The Greeks came to apply "Italia" to a larger region. In addition to the " Greek Italy " in the south, historians have suggested the existence of an "Etruscan Italy", which consisted of areas of central Italy. The borders of Roman Italy , Italia , are better established. Cato's Origines describes Italy as

14382-646: The north, the Germans set up the Italian Social Republic (RSI), a Nazi puppet state and collaborationist regime with Mussolini installed as leader after he was rescued by German paratroopers. What remained of the Italian troops was organised into the Italian Co-belligerent Army , which fought alongside the Allies, while other Italian forces, loyal to Mussolini, opted to fight alongside the Germans in

14523-495: The order of the previous year instructing Bomber Command to conserve its forces; this resulted in a large campaign of area bombardment against the Ruhr area. Professor Frederick Lindemann 's "de-housing" paper of March identified the expected effectiveness of attacks on residential and general industrial areas of cities. The aerial bombing of cities such as the Operation Millennium raid on Cologne continued throughout

14664-399: The patriotic journalist Giuseppe Mazzini , founder of the political movement Young Italy in the 1830s, who favoured a unitary republic and advocated a broad nationalist movement. 1847 saw the first public performance of " Il Canto degli Italiani ", which became the national anthem in 1946. The most famous member of Young Italy was the revolutionary and general Giuseppe Garibaldi who led

14805-517: The peninsula. The north formed the Lombard kingdom, central-south was also controlled by the Lombards, and other parts remained Byzantine. The Lombard kingdom was absorbed into Francia by Charlemagne in the late 8th century and became the Kingdom of Italy. The Franks helped form the Papal States . Until the 13th century, politics was dominated by relations between the Holy Roman Emperors and

14946-648: The range of B-29s, XXI Bomber Command commanded Twentieth Air Force units flying from the islands in a much more effective bombing campaign of the Japanese home islands. In the Pacific, XXI Bomber Command was also part of the Twentieth Air Force . It was the main instrument of destruction used against Japan . Its B-29 Superfortresses , operating from the Marianas , were the longest range and most modern bomber in service in

15087-469: The republican drive for unification in southern Italy. However, the Italian monarchy of the House of Savoy, in the Kingdom of Sardinia , whose government was led by Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour , also had ambitions of establishing a united Italian state. In the context of the 1848 liberal revolutions that swept Europe, an unsuccessful First Italian War of Independence was declared against Austria . In 1855, Sardinia became an ally of Britain and France in

15228-548: The rest of the war, culminating in the controversial bombing of Dresden in 1945. In 1942, the main workhorse-aircraft of the later part of the war came into service: the four-engined heavies. The Halifax and Lancaster made up the backbone of the Command; they had a longer range, higher speed and much greater bomb load than earlier aircraft. The older four-engined Short Stirling and twin-engined Vickers Wellington bombers were not taken out of service, but moved to less demanding tasks such as mine-laying. The classic aircraft of

15369-489: The sextant was sufficient. ) The fourth problem was the limited accuracy of bombing, especially from high level. When the war began on 1 September 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the neutral United States, issued an appeal to the major belligerents to confine their air raids to military targets. The French and British agreed to abide by the request, provided "that these same rules of warfare will be scrupulously observed by all of their opponents". British policy

15510-463: The south, Sicily had become an Arab Islamic emirate in the 9th century, thriving until the Italo-Normans conquered it in the late 11th century, together with most of the Lombard and Byzantine principalities of southern Italy. The region was subsequently divided between the Kingdom of Sicily and Kingdom of Naples . The Black Death of 1348 killed perhaps a third of Italy's population. During

15651-405: The traditional liberal and conservative establishment. In the last two decades of the 19th century, Italy developed into a colonial power by subjugating Eritrea , Somalia , Tripolitania , and Cyrenaica in Africa. In 1913, male universal suffrage was adopted. The pre- World War I period was dominated by Giovanni Giolitti , prime minister five times between 1892 and 1921. Italy entered into

15792-495: The war made by Bomber Command was in the huge diversion of German resources into defending the homeland. By January 1943 some 1,000 Luftwaffe night fighters were committed to the defence of the Reich; mostly twin engined Messerschmitt Bf 110 and Junkers Ju 88 . Most critically, by September 1943, 8,876 of the deadly, dual purpose 88 mm guns were also defending the homeland with a further 25,000 light flak guns, 20/37 mm. Though

15933-601: The war, the Vickers Wellington , Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Handley Page Hampden/Hereford , had been designed as tactical-support medium bombers and none of them had enough range or ordnance capacity for anything more than a limited strategic offensive. Of these the Wellington had the longest range at 2,550 miles (4,100 km). Bomber Command became even smaller after the declaration of war. No. 1 Group , with its squadrons of Fairey Battles , left for France to form

16074-523: The world and headquarters of the worldwide Catholic Church under the governance of the Holy See ) are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The border with San Marino is 39 km (24 mi) long, that with Vatican City, 3.2 km (2.0 mi). Over 35% of Italian territory is mountainous. The Apennine Mountains form the peninsula's backbone, and

16215-461: The world at the time, although not developed until almost the end of the war. Again, as in Europe, the USAAF tried daylight precision bombing. However, it proved inconclusive because of poor weather conditions, jet stream over Japan that severely affected both aircraft and bomb drops, and inadequately trained crews. Twentieth Air Force commander and AAF Commanding General Henry H. Arnold grew impatient with

16356-500: The world's fifth-largest industrial nation after it gained entry into the G7 in the 1970s. However, national debt skyrocketed past 100% of GDP. Between 1992 and 1993, Italy faced terror attacks perpetrated by the Sicilian Mafia as a consequence of new anti-mafia measures by the government. Voters—disenchanted with political paralysis, massive public debt and extensive corruption uncovered by

16497-573: Was activated on 1 January 1943, was unique among Bomber Command groups, in that it was not an RAF unit; it was a Canadian unit attached to Bomber Command. At its peak strength, 6 Group consisted of 14 operational RCAF bomber squadrons and 15 squadrons served with the group. No. 8 Group, also known as the Pathfinder Force, was activated on 15 August 1942. It was a critical part of solving the navigational and aiming problems experienced. Bomber Command solved its navigational problems using two methods. One

16638-439: Was advised by an Operational Research Section (ORS-BC) under a civilian, Basil Dickins, supported by a small team of mathematicians and scientists. ORS-BC (under Reuben Smeed ) was concerned with analysing bomber losses. They were able to influence operations by identifying successful defensive tactics and equipment, though some of their more controversial advice (such as removing ineffectual turrets from bombers to increase speed)

16779-422: Was among the largest in history, wielding great economical, cultural, political, and military power. At its greatest extent, it had an area of 5 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles). The Roman legacy has deeply influenced Western civilisation shaping the modern world. The widespread use of Romance languages derived from Latin, numerical system , modern Western alphabet and calendar, and

16920-464: Was as an entity that threatened the enemy with utter destruction. The Italian general Giulio Douhet , author of The Command of the Air , was of that view. In 1936, Germany's increasing air power was feared by British government planners who commonly overestimated its size, reach and hitting power. Planners used estimates of up to 72 British deaths per tonne (2,200 lb) of bombs dropped, though this figure

17061-506: Was based upon Italian nationalism and imperialism, seeking to expand Italian possessions via irredentist claims based on the legacy of the Roman and Venetian empires. For this reason the fascists engaged in interventionist foreign policy . In 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia and founded Italian East Africa , resulting in international isolation and leading to Italy's withdrawal from the League of Nations . Italy then allied with Nazi Germany and

17202-467: Was captured and summarily executed by partisans. Hostilities ended on 29 April 1945, when the German forces in Italy surrendered . Nearly half a million Italians died in the conflict, society was divided, and the economy all but destroyed—per capita income in 1944 was at its lowest point since 1900. The aftermath left Italy angry with the monarchy for its endorsement of the Fascist regime, contributing to

17343-710: Was conducive to academic and artistic advancement. The best-known maritime republics were Venice, Genoa , Pisa , and Amalfi . Each had dominion over overseas lands, islands, lands on the Adriatic, Aegean, and Black seas, and commercial colonies in the Near East and North Africa. Venice and Genoa were Europe's gateways to the East, and producers of fine glass, while Florence was a centre of silk, wool, banking, and jewellery. The wealth generated meant large public and private artistic projects could be commissioned. The republics participated in

17484-700: Was created. After the Lombard invasions, Italia was retained as the name for their kingdom, and its successor kingdom within the Holy Roman Empire . Lower Paleolithic artefacts, dating back 850,000 years, have been recovered from Monte Poggiolo . Excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence in the Middle Palaeolithic period 200,000 years ago, while modern humans appeared about 40,000 years ago at Riparo Mochi . The ancient peoples of pre-Roman Italy were Indo-European , specifically

17625-662: Was discovered in the Similaun glacier in 1991. The first colonisers were the Phoenicians , who established emporiums on the coasts of Sicily and Sardinia. Some became small urban centers and developed parallel to Greek colonies . During the 8th and 7th centuries, Greek colonies were established at Pithecusae , eventually extending along the south of the Italian Peninsula and the coast of Sicily, an area later known as Magna Graecia . Ionians , Doric colonists, Syracusans , and

17766-422: Was diverted into construction and manning of minesweepers and the deployment of flak batteries to protect ports and estuaries. Around 100 vessels, mostly cargo types and around 11 million pounds (5,080 tonnes), were converted to Sperrbrecher mine barrage breakers to sail ahead of ships leaving harbour and of these about half of were lost to mines. Bomber Command acquired B-29 Superfortresses , known to

17907-496: Was extended to all of Italy in 1861, and provided basic freedoms for the new state; but electoral laws excluded the non-propertied classes. The new kingdom was governed by a parliamentary constitutional monarchy dominated by liberals. As northern Italy quickly industrialised, southern and northern rural areas remained underdeveloped and overpopulated, forcing millions to migrate and fuelling a large and influential diaspora . The Italian Socialist Party increased in strength, challenging

18048-506: Was grossly exaggerated. As well, the planners did not know that German bombing aircraft of the day (not quite 300 Junkers Ju 52 medium bombers) did not have the range to reach the UK with a load of bombs and return to the mainland. British air officers did nothing to correct these perceptions because they could see the usefulness of having a strong bombing arm. At the start of the Second World War in 1939, Bomber Command faced four problems. The first

18189-510: Was ignored. The very high casualties suffered give testimony to the dedication and courage of Bomber Command aircrew in carrying out their orders. The overall loss rate for Bomber Command operations was 2.2 per cent, but loss rates over Germany were significantly higher; from November 1943 – March 1944, losses averaged 5.1 per cent. The highest loss rate (11.8 per cent) was incurred on the Nuremberg raid (30 March 1944). The disparity in loss rates

18330-546: Was lack of size; Bomber Command was not large enough effectively to operate as an independent strategic force. The second was rules of engagement; at the start of the war, the targets allocated to Bomber Command were not wide enough in scope. The third problem was the Command's lack of technology; specifically radio or radar derived navigational aids to allow accurate target location at night or through cloud. (In 1938, E. G. "Taffy" Bowen proposed using ASV radar for navigation, only to have Bomber Command disclaim need for it, saying

18471-563: Was never a satisfactory arrangement because not only were the Chinese forward airbases difficult to supply via "The Hump" (as the Himalayas' foothills were called), but the B-29s operating from them could only reach Japan if they substituted some of the bomb load for extra fuel tanks in the bomb-bays. When Admiral Chester Nimitz 's island-hopping campaign captured islands close enough to Japan to be within

18612-440: Was on June 15, 1944, from Chengdu , over 1500 miles away. This first attack was not particularly damaging to Japan. Only forty-seven of the sixty-eight B–29s airborne hit the target area in Tokyo; four aborted with mechanical problems, four crashed, six jettisoned their bombs because of mechanical difficulties, and others bombed secondary targets or targets of opportunity. Only one B–29 was lost to enemy aircraft. Bombing from China

18753-474: Was part of the Twentieth Air Force and flew missions from China against mainland Japan in Operation Matterhorn . The forward airbases in China were supplied out of India by the flying supplies over the Hump from India . The key development for bombing Japan was the Boeing B-29 , with an operational range of 1500 miles (2,400 km); almost 90% of the bombs dropped on Japan's Home Islands (147,000 tons) were delivered by B-29s. The first mission from China

18894-414: Was re-designated the 8th Air Force when the United States Strategic Air Forces came into being to coordinate the combined efforts of the 8th and the 15th Air Force in Italy . IX Bomber Command was part of the Ninth Air Force and had started life as the heavy bomber unit contingent of the U.S. Army Forces in the Middle East (USAFIME) fighting in the Egypt-Libya Campaign during 1942. When in 1943,

19035-716: Was reflected in that, at times, Bomber Command considered making sorties over France only count as a third of an op towards the "tour" total and crews derisively referred to officers who only chose to fly on the less dangerous ops to France as "François". The loss rates excluded aircraft crashing in the UK on return, even if the machine was a write-off and there were crew casualties, which amounted to at least another 15 percent. Losses in training were significant and some courses lost 25 per cent of their intake before graduation; 5,327 men were killed in training from 1939 to 1945. RAF Bomber Command had 19 Victoria Cross recipients . Albert Speer , Hitler's Minister of Armaments, noted that

19176-457: Was responsible for development, operational trial and use of electronic warfare and countermeasures equipment). In 1941, the Butt Report revealed the extent of bombing inaccuracy: Churchill noted that "this is a very serious paper and seems to require urgent attention". The Area Bombing Directive of 14 February 1942 ordered Bomber Command to target German industrial areas and the "morale of...the industrial workers". The directive also reversed

19317-412: Was the UK-based strategic bomber arm of the Eighth Air Force and contributed a substantial part of Operation Pointblank , the day-night bombing campaign by the RAF and USAAF to eliminate the Luftwaffe in preparation for the invasion of Europe. Two aircraft, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress , and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator , were the mainstays of this command. The B-17 was more highly regarded, but

19458-434: Was the destruction of the oil refinery at Vallø (Tønsberg) in southern Norway by 107 Lancasters, on the night of 25/26 April 1945. Once the surrender of Germany had occurred, plans were made to send a "Very Long Range Bomber Force" known as Tiger Force to participate in the Pacific war against Japan. Made up of about 30 British Commonwealth heavy bomber squadrons, a reduction of the original plan of about 1,000 aircraft,

19599-406: Was the use of a range of increasingly sophisticated electronic aids to navigation and the other was the use of specialist Pathfinders . The technical aids to navigation took two forms. One was external radio navigation aids, as exemplified by Gee and the later highly accurate Oboe systems. The other was the centimetric navigation equipment H2S radar carried in the bombers. The Pathfinders were

19740-438: Was to restrict bombing to military targets and infrastructure , such as ports and railways which were of military importance. While acknowledging that bombing Germany would cause civilian casualties, the British government renounced deliberate bombing of civilian property (outside combat zones) as a military tactic. The British government did not want to violate its agreement by attacking civilian targets outside combat zones and

19881-409: Was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 June 2012 to commemorate the high casualty rate among the aircrews. In April 2018 The International Bomber Command Centre was opened in Lincoln. At the time of the formation of Bomber Command in 1936, Giulio Douhet 's slogan " the bomber will always get through " was popular, and figures like Stanley Baldwin cited it. Until advances in radar technology in

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