Four-engined heavy bombers became a key part of the “Total War” of 1939-1945, enabling increasingly destructive strategic bombing.
First used by the Luftwaffe during the invasion of Poland, strategic bombing was soon adopted by the Allies as it became an integral part of the long-range battle necessary before D-Day. 1.
A Heinkel He 177 was loaded with bombs in 1944.
Germany relied on medium bombers such as the Heinkel He 111, Dornier Do 17 and Junkers Ju 88 for rapid conquests early in the war and during the Blitz.
Later, the Luftwaffe acquired only one heavy bomber, the Heinkel He 177, which operated from 1942. in April, but had a very limited impact.
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A ‘cookie’ or ‘blockbuster’, the 4,000lb largest of the RAF’s conventional bombs, loaded into a Vickers Wellington, 1942.
The twin-engine Vickers Wellington was important to RAF Bomber Command from the start of the war and made up more than half of the aircraft used in the first 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne in 1942. May.
However, it was gradually replaced in the European theater by the four-engined Stirlings, Halifaxes and Lancasters.
The Short Stirling was the RAF’s first four-engine bomber to meet pre-war specifications calling for a 14,000lb bomb payload and a challenging range of 3,000 miles.
First deployed in 1941. in February, a lack of power reduced the bomb load on long-range flights, and it suffered particularly high casualties due to operational problems.
Until 1943 it was phased out of bombardment duties, dropping a total of 27,000 tons.
4. Handley Page Halifax
A Handley Halifax flies over Cologne during a daylight raid.
Handley Page Halifax was deputy to Avro Lancaster.
Halifax was first flown in 1941. March 10 during the night raid on Le Havre, but this proved to be an inauspicious start as the aircraft was mistakenly shot down by an RAF fighter.
Despite constant improvements, the Halifax lacked speed and power, which limited its carrying capacity and made it the second choice of Air Chief Marshal “Bomber” Harris for the destruction of German cities.
However, it was used to drop nearly ten times the weight achieved by the Stirling bomb and was used by the RAF until 1961.
5. Avro Lancaster
Lancaster releases chaff or ‘window’ (left) before dropping fuzes and ‘cookie’ over Duisburg, 1941. in October
The Avro Lancaster entered the war as a replacement for the Manchester, although the inadequacy of its predecessor almost led to the closure of the Avro factory at Newton Heath before development.
The decision against this action proved crucial to the British war effort, as the new aircraft was central to the success of the Allied bombing strategy from 1942 onwards. March.
Its capacious bomb bay allowed it to carry the full range of RAF explosives, meaning it could be used for both precision and, more often than not, indiscriminate area bombing.
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Ultimately, they dropped over 600,000 tons by the end of the war.
6. Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
This was published after the war in his book Not As Briefed.
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress has been in use by the RAF since 1941. unsuccessfully, but in 1942 upon arrival the USAAF became an important Allied bomber and earned an iconic reputation.
They were an integral part of America’s daylight precision bombing strategy, although this was halted due to heavy losses in 1943. at the end
The arrival of the P-51 Mustang allowed these operations to resume relatively safely.
In Europe, the B-17 equaled the British Lancasters in terms of bombs dropped.
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress replaced the B-17 and was extremely advanced compared to most of its contemporaries, but was only used in the Pacific War. 7.
Another notable US heavy bomber was the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, which was successfully used by the RAF in the Battle of the Atlantic.
The USAAF deployed the B-24 alongside the B-17 in the strategic bombing campaign of 1942-1945. over mainland Europe, where it also excelled due to its greater speed, range and bomb capacity than its more popular companion.
Although B-24s made up only a third of the USAAF’s heavy bombers in Europe, they dropped more than 400,000 tons.
Second World War
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