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42-433: Carpet bombing , also known as saturation bombing , is a large area bombardment done in a progressive manner to inflict damage in every part of a selected area of land. The phrase evokes the image of explosions completely covering an area, in the same way that a carpet covers a floor . Carpet bombing is usually achieved by dropping many unguided bombs . Carpet bombing of cities, towns, villages, or other areas containing

84-525: A concentration of protected civilians has been considered a war crime since 1977, through Article 51 of Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions . The term obliteration bombing is sometimes used to describe especially intensified bombing with the intention of destroying a city or a large part of the city. The term area bombing refers to indiscriminate bombing of an area and also encompasses cases of carpet bombing, including obliteration bombing. It

126-471: A government to surrender. The combatant powers could, according to Baldwin, be in a competition to break the morale of the other side's civilian population first. There were two results from this. Firstly, civil defence programs were set up, with gas masks being issued, plans for air raid shelters were set up and organisations to manage civilians before a raid and deal with damage and casualties after one were put in place. Secondly, agreements were sought to make

168-472: A hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind. Cologne, Lubeck, Rostock—Those are only just the beginning. We cannot send a thousand bombers a time over Germany every time, as yet. But the time will come when we can do so. Let the Nazis take good note of the western horizon. There they will see a cloud as yet no bigger than

210-505: A man’s hand. But behind that cloud lies the whole massive power of the United States of America At the beginning of war, RAF Bomber Command lacked both the navigation systems for finding a target and the numbers of bombers that were needed to make attacks of any scale in Germany. As heavy bombers were brought into service and technology and tactics were improved, the selection of targets

252-478: A tactical nuclear weapon. A formation of six B-52s, dropping their bombs from 30,000 feet (9,100 m), could "take out"... almost everything within a "box" approximately five-eighths mile (1.0 km) wide by two miles (3.2 km) long. Whenever Arc Light struck ... in the vicinity of Saigon, the city woke from the tremor.. Beginning in late 1965, a number of B-52Ds underwent Big Belly modifications to increase bomb capacity for carpet bombings. While

294-515: A tactical target, as it could be an airfield or a factory – and it does not intend to inflict a widespread damage. This military -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Oberkommando der Luftwaffe The Oberkommando der Luftwaffe ( lit.   ' Upper Command of the Air Force ' ; abbreviated OKL) was the high command of the air force ( Luftwaffe ) of Nazi Germany . The Luftwaffe

336-477: Is considered the first carpet bombing of a city, and set a precedent for several such bombings in World War II. The Japanese bombing of China's wartime capital Chongqing from 18 February 1938 to 23 August 1943 caused 23,600 deaths and over 30,000 wounded. In the inter-war years, a growing expectation developed that, on the outbreak of war, cities would be rapidly destroyed by bombing raids. The use of poison gas

378-682: The Combined Bomber Offensive - following the Casablanca directive to the Allied air forces was all they could offer to support the Soviet Union . Operation Gomorrah, carried out by Bomber Command against Hamburg , targeted a city with both high susceptibility to fire and a large number of factories making products for the German war effort. The raid caused substantial damage to the city, especially

420-613: The European theatre , the first city to suffer heavily from aerial bombardment was Warsaw , on 25 September 1939 following the start of the German invasion of Poland . Continuing this trend in warfare, the Rotterdam Blitz was an aerial bombardment of Rotterdam by 90 bombers of the German air force on 14 May 1940, during the German invasion of the Netherlands . The objective was to support

462-595: The Spanish Civil War . In early 1937, Göring announced the reorganization of the Reich Air Ministry into military and civilian branches. The military branch was to be led by the Air Force High Command ( Oberkommando der Luftwaffe ) with its chief and general staff. However, the separation of military from civil aviation was incomplete and fragmented. Some parts of the military branch were left under

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504-666: The USAAF arrived in Britain over the summer of 1942. Despite Roosevelt's pleas to Hitler to avoid bombing civilians prior to the US joining the war, he was a supporter of bombing Germany. Both Churchill and Roosevelt were in the position that Stalin was pressing for the Western Allies to open a new front in Europe ;– something which they were not ready to do. Therefore a bombing campaign -

546-560: The Dutch Government did not surrender. The Dutch capitulated early the next morning. As the war progressed, the Battle of Britain developed from a fight for air supremacy into the strategic and aerial bombing of London, Liverpool, Coventry and other British cities. The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half

588-559: The German assault on the city, break Dutch resistance, and force the Dutch to surrender. Despite a ceasefire, the bombing destroyed almost the entire historic city centre, killing nearly nine hundred civilians and leaving 30,000 people homeless. The destructive success of the bombing led the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL, the Luftwaffe high command) to threaten to destroy the city of Utrecht if

630-562: The High Command of the Armed Forces ( Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ; OKW), which in turn was answerable to Hitler for the operation command of the three branches of the armed forces. OKL was divided into Forward echelon ( 1. Staffel ) and Rear echelon ( 2. Staffel ). The Forward echelon moved with the theater of operations while Rear echelon remained almost exclusively in Berlin . OKL

672-724: The Japanese forces in Manila and Baguio , reducing much of the cities to rubble. Manila became the second-most-destroyed city of World War II. During the Vietnam War , with the escalating situation in Southeast Asia, twenty-eight B-52Fs were fitted with external racks for twenty-four 750-pound (340 kg) bombs under project South Bay in June 1964; an additional forty-six aircraft received similar modifications under project Sun Bath . In March 1965,

714-511: The OKL was created, and in 1939 the structure of the German Air force was newly organized. The credit for the formation of a true high command goes to Air force general ( General der Flieger ) Günther Korten commander of Air Fleet 1 ( Luftflotte 1 ) and his Chief of Operations, Karl Koller . They both campaigned to carve a command out of Goring's all-encompassing Ministry of Aviation. The intent

756-675: The Royal Air Force had an initial instruction to abide by the Hague Rules for as long as the enemy did. This restraint was followed by both Britain and Germany until 11 May 1940, when, with Winston Churchill now in the role of Prime Minister and the war in France going badly, the RAF attacked industrial and transport infrastructure targets in Mönchengladbach . This raid caused civilian casualties. In

798-550: The United States commenced Operation Rolling Thunder . The first combat mission, Operation Arc Light , was flown by B-52Fs on 18 June 1965, when 30 bombers of the 9th and 441st Bombardment Squadrons struck a communist stronghold near the Bến Cát District in South Vietnam. The first wave of bombers arrived too early at a designated rendezvous point, and while maneuvering to maintain station, two B-52s collided, which resulted in

840-694: The aircraft began flying from U Tapao Airfield in Thailand giving the aircraft the advantage of not requiring in-flight refueling. The zenith of B-52 attacks in Vietnam was Operation Linebacker II (sometimes referred to as the Christmas Bombing) which consisted of waves of B-52s (mostly D models, but some Gs without jamming equipment and with a smaller bomb load). Over 12 days, B-52s flew 729 sorties and dropped 15,237 tons of bombs on Hanoi , Haiphong , and other targets. Originally 42 B-52s were committed to

882-646: The change these offices became additional power centers in RLM, further fragmenting the top Air force organization. It also crippled important functional areas. To gear-up for the European war as the air arm of the combined armed forces of Nazi Germany ( Wehrmacht ), the German Air force needed a high command equivalent to that of the Army ( Oberkommando des Heeres ) and the Navy ( Oberkommando der Marine ). Thus on 5 February 1935,

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924-640: The control of the General Inspector of the Air force, Field marshal general ( Generalfeldmarschall ) Erhard Milch . These were: The reasons for this formation was primarily to undermine Milch, who was getting favorable attention from the Party. However, later during the year and early 1938, Göring again changed the organization structure by removing three offices from Milch's and General Staff's control, bringing them under his own direct control. These were: After

966-413: The enemy's population (See terror bombing ). " Carpet bombing ", also known as "saturation bombing", and "obliteration bombing", refers to a type of area bombing that aims to effect complete destruction of the target area by exploding bombs in every part of it. Area bombing is contrasted with precision bombing . The latter is directed at a selected target – not necessarily a small, and not necessarily

1008-726: The external payload remained at twenty-four 500-pound (227 kg) or 750-pound (340 kg) bombs, the internal capacity increased from twenty-seven to eighty-four 500-pound bombs or from twenty-seven to forty-two 750-pound bombs. The modification created enough capacity for a total of 60,000 pounds (27,215 kg) in one hundred and eight bombs. Thus modified, B-52Ds could carry 22,000 pounds (9,980 kg) more than B-52Fs. Designed to replace B-52Fs, modified B-52Ds entered combat in April 1966 flying from Andersen Air Force Base , Guam . Each bombing mission lasted 10 to 12 hours with an aerial refueling by KC-135 Stratotankers . In spring 1967,

1050-441: The homes of their workers. Absenteeism of the workforce rose significantly if their housing was uninhabitable, so affecting industrial production. Whilst morale was still discussed, the meaning of the word changed from its pre-war usage. Now a reduction in morale was intended to reduce industrial production that supported the war effort. The area bombing directive was issued to RAF Bomber Command in 1942 The Eighth Air Force of

1092-407: The housing of industrial workers. A carefully developed mix of high explosive bombs and incendiaries was used. High explosives broke windows and made fire-fighting dangerous, whilst the incendiaries set the buildings on fire. This methodology was used for further attacks on urban areas (though not with such major effect) throughout the war, with Dresden being one of the final targets. Carpet bombing

1134-472: The loss of both bombers and eight crewmen. The remaining bombers, minus one more that turned back for mechanical problems, continued toward the target. Twenty-seven Stratofortresses dropped on a one-mile by two-mile target box from between 19,000 and 22,000 feet (5,800 and 6,700 m), a little more than 50% of the bombs falling within the target zone. The force returned to Andersen AFB except for one bomber with electrical problems that recovered to Clark AFB ,

1176-576: The mission having lasted 13 hours. Post-strike assessment by teams of South Vietnamese troops with American advisors found evidence that the VC had departed the area before the raid, and it was suspected that infiltration of the south's forces may have tipped off the north because of the ARVN troops involved in the post-strike inspection. The B-52s were restricted to bombing suspected Communist bases in relatively uninhabited sections, because their potency approached that of

1218-508: The most heavily populated civilian sectors of Tokyo . In just one night, over 100,000 people burned to death from a heavy bombardment of incendiary bombs, comparable to the wartime number of U.S. casualties in the entire Pacific theater. Another 100,000 to one million Japanese were left homeless. These attacks were followed by similar ones against Kobe , Osaka , and Nagoya , as well as other sectors of Tokyo, where over 9,373 tons of incendiary bombs were dropped on civilian and military targets. By

1260-431: The other hand were in charge of the operation matters related to flying such as unit deployment, air traffic control, ordnance and maintenance. Since this organization was making the ground support structure available to flying units, the flying units were freed from moving the support staff from one location to another as the unit relocated. Once the unit arrived at its new location, all the airfield staff would come under

1302-409: The targeting of civilians illegal under international law. At the time that Douhet and others were publishing their ideas, no air force had planned their capabilities with the intent of making a "knockout blow" against civilian targets. The Hague Rules of Air Warfare were developed in 1922/23 to prevent deliberately attacking civilians, yet it was not ratified by any country. At the start of World War II,

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1344-465: The time of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki , light and medium bombers were being directed to bomb targets of convenience, as most urban areas had already been destroyed. In the 9-month long bombing campaign, over 300,000 Japanese civilians died and 400,000 were wounded. During the final months of the war in the Philippines, the United States military used carpet bombing against

1386-416: The war; however, numbers were frequently twice this figure. Area bombardment Area bombing is a form of strategic bombing . It can serve several intertwined purposes: to disrupt the production of military materiel , to disrupt lines of communications , to divert the enemy's industrial and military resources from the primary battlefield to air defence and infrastructure repair, and to demoralise

1428-401: Was also the operational branch of the German Air force. It was divided operationally into Air fleets at a high level. Initially it was divided into four Air fleets ( Luftflotten ) that were formed geographically and were numbered consecutively. Three more Air fleets were added later on as Germany controlled territory grew further. Each Air fleet was a self-contained entity. The leader of each

1470-468: Was also used as close air support (as "flying artillery") for ground operations. The massive bombing was concentrated in a narrow and shallow area of the front (a few kilometers by a few hundred meters deep), closely coordinated with the advance of friendly troops. The first successful use of the technique was on 6 May 1943, at the end of the Tunisia Campaign . Carried out under Sir Arthur Tedder , it

1512-530: Was changed. The intention of avoiding civilian casualties as collateral damage disappeared. Instead, the civilian population which worked in war-related industries – and their housing – became the target. Some of this change came from a wish to retaliate for the German attack on Coventry. It was also based on what was learnt from being the target in the Blitz. It had been found that factory buildings were more resistant to critical damage than

1554-460: Was expected and a high level of devastation was anticipated from high explosive bombs. This originated, in part, from the views of military experts such as Douhet , and was taken up by politicians and journalists, with, for example, Stanley Baldwin coining the phrase "The bomber will always get through". The targeting of the civilian population would, some theories suggested, cause a breakdown in morale that would lead to civil unrest that would compel

1596-644: Was hailed by the press as Tedder's bomb-carpet (or Tedder's carpet ). The bombing was concentrated in a four by three-mile area, preparing the way for the First Army . This tactic was later used in many cases in the Normandy Campaign ; for example, in the Battle for Caen . In the Pacific War , carpet bombing was used extensively against Japanese cities such as Tokyo. On the night of 9–10 March 1945 , 334 B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers were directed to attack

1638-509: Was in charge of overall air operations and support activities. However a Fighter leader ( Jagdfliegerführer ) was in charge of all the fighter operations and reported to the chief of the Air fleet. Each Air fleet was further divided into Air districts ( Luftgaue ) and Flying Corps ( Fliegerkorps ). Each Air district had 50 to 150 officers led by a major general. It was responsible for providing administrative and logistical structure as well as resources to each airfield. The Flying Corps on

1680-468: Was organized in a large and diverse structure led by Reich minister and supreme commander of the Air force ( German : Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe ) Hermann Göring . Through the Ministry of Aviation ( Reichsluftfahrtministerium ) Göring controlled all aspects of aviation in Germany, civilian and military alike. This organization was established in the peacetime period predating the German involvement in

1722-433: Was to put the German Air force on a true wartime footing, by grouping all the essential military parts of the RLM into a single command. It included the following branches: Other areas such as training, administration, civil defense and technical design remained under RLM's control. The new organization proved to be more efficient and lasted until the end of the war. OKL, like its army and navy counterparts, reported to

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1764-580: Was used in that sense especially during World War II and the Korean War . One of the first attempts at carpet bombing was at the Battle of El Mazuco during the Spanish Civil War in 1937, against widely-dispersed infantry on rocky slopes, and the attacking Condor Legion learned that carpet bombing was not very effective in such terrain. In March 1938, the Bombing of Barcelona saw Italian and German airstrikes killing up to 1,300 people and wounding 2,000. It

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