Non Area Bombing decision 1936

WI A British (and perhaps French) Government had decided (Between 1935 and 1937) - possibly as part of the deal which allowed rearmament in the first place, that they would only use aeriel bombardment against relatively defined targets.

Could aircraft have been available by 1940 with relatively modest bomb loads, relatively high speeds and a capacity at low level to hit something rather smaller than a great urban conurbation.

Is this a technical possibility?

If it had happened and Bomber Command had concentrated on key factories and, especially, transport links could it have been as effective or more so than in OTL in disrupting production and diverting Nazi rescources?

Might such an airforce have changed events in France and the Lowe Countries in May - June 1940
 
WI A British (and perhaps French) Government had decided (Between 1935 and 1937) - possibly as part of the deal which allowed rearmament in the first place, that they would only use aeriel bombardment against relatively defined targets.

Well, that was more or less the declared policy. It was assumed that the bombers would strike in daylight, that they would find their targets, hit them and destroy them. That every single part of the presumption was wrong wasn't obvious pre-war. After all, "the bomber will always get through."

Could aircraft have been available by 1940 with relatively modest bomb loads, relatively high speeds and a capacity at low level to hit something rather smaller than a great urban conurbation.

They were available, (Blenheim for example or the Ju-88) but they just couldn't survive in contested air space. And when they tried to hit point targets, they couldn't.

Is this a technical possibility?
It's more that technically possible, it was done. The catch was, they didn't work in the sense that they didn't produce the results expected and their losses were nightmarish

If it had happened and Bomber Command had concentrated on key factories and, especially, transport links could it have been as effective or more so than in OTL in disrupting production and diverting Nazi rescources?

That's what they planned; they couldn't do it.

Might such an airforce have changed events in France and the Lowe Countries in May - June 1940

It existed; it didn't.

The sequence of events went more or less like this

A - Initial theory was to bomb specific factories and destroy them thus collapsing industry.

B - Early war experience showed bombers couldn't survive in contested air space so would have to bomb at night.

C - More experience showed that bombers flying at night couldn't find a specific factory, in fact they had a hard job finding the right country.

D - Eventually, the problem of finding the right city was cracked but hitting a point target at night was still virtually impossible (and was right up to the 1980s)

E - Therefore, the only option was to burn the whole city down and thus take down the factory in the general conflagration.

F - Night time area bombing becomes the policy.
 

CalBear

Moderator
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Monthly Donor
Short answer: No.

The U.S. had, without question, the best bombsight in the world in the Norden, which in tests was able to perform with great accuracy. Unfortunately, the real world, with flak, large formations, crosswinds, etc. proved to be a very different place than the test range.

Even today, with computer generated launch instructions that take advantage of 60 years of technological advances, iron bombs are an "area" weapon.

Beyond the technical limitations, there was also the underlying strategic thought that bombing civilian populations would shorten the war, reducing casualties on BOTH sides. It was an incorrect belief, at least with the tools available before mid-1944, but it was so prevalent that an area bombing campaign was inevitable.
 
Actually, if Bomber Command had realized the difficulties a tick sooner, navaids like Gee & Oboe, which made factory-accurate bombing possible, might have been available in '40, & requested, & had, a long-range fighter to fly escort in time. As it was, both RAF & USAAF relied on faulty testing & faith.
 
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