Bomber Harris was nothing more than a War Criminal. Knowing that Stategic Bombing was having little effect on the German War industry he kept it up as a way to break the spirits of the German Civilians. He did not give a stuff on whether there was or was not war industies in the Target Area , just as long as he killed as many civilians as they could.
Bomber Harris stands shoulder to shoulder with other winners like Heydrich, Himmler and Dirlewanger.
Strategic bombing had a
colossal effect on German industry. Check out these numbers:
% of German planes used exclusively against bombers
June, 1944 39
January, 1945 50
% of German artillery built for use as AA guns by 1944: 33 1/3
% of German artillery ammo used in AA guns by 1944: 20
% of German optics made for use against bombers by 1944: 33 1/3
% of German radar and signals equipment made for use against bombers by 1944: 50 - 66 2/3
% of German fighters in WTO by spring, 1943: 70
% of German aircraft built that were bombers in 1942: >50
% of German aircraft built that were bombers in 1944: 18
German monthly oil production beginning of 1944: 316,000 tons
German oil production June, 1944: 107,000 tons
German oil production September, 1944: 17,000 tons
German aviation fuel production April, 1944: 175,000 tons
German aviation fuel production July, 1944: 30,000 tons
German aviation fuel production September, 1944: 5,000 tons
German monthly synthetic nitrogen production beginning of 1944: 75,000 tons
German monthly synthetic nitrogen production end of 1944: 20,000 tons
% of British war effort devoted to strategic bombing: 7
Furthermore, Bomber Harris cared plenty about whether or not there was industry in the target area. He knew that trying to destroy German morale was a waste of time. He wanted to destroy Germany's physical ability to manufacture weapons.