“I have ordered my air force to restrict itself to attacks on military objectives. If, however, the enemy thinks he can form that draw carte blanche on his side to fight by the other methods he will receive an answer that will deprive him of hearing and sight.” — Adolf Hitler to the Reichstag, 1 September 1939 OTL
On the morning of Friday, 1 September 1939, the Polish town of Wieluń was the site of one of the first acts of World War II (some say the first, but sources differ) and the target of the war’s first bombing raid against civilians. Wieluń, a town of 15-20,000 people situated halfway between Breslau and Łódź, had no military significance aside from, arguably, a crossroads between routes to those cities and other nearby towns. Most of the town and 90% of the center were destroyed by dozens of Ju 87 dive bombers; at least 127 civilians were killed.
What if the Luftwaffe didn’t bomb Wieluń? Of course, bombing of civilians is going to happen eventually. But I’m interested in what-ifs of the first day(s) of the war, eighty years ago. It’s plausible that Germany could complete the Polish campaign without bombing purely civilian targets, but they opted not to from the very beginning.
One can imagine the RAF being less willing to conduct even token raids on German ports if the enemy was “not targeting civilians”. Warsaw would certainly be bombed, but it was not an open city, and Danzig and several Polish cities had military units present. The Wallies would have an excuse to do even less to help Poland, and there would be follow-on effects in May 1940 and beyond if they were hesitant to consider area bombing before Rotterdam.
On the morning of Friday, 1 September 1939, the Polish town of Wieluń was the site of one of the first acts of World War II (some say the first, but sources differ) and the target of the war’s first bombing raid against civilians. Wieluń, a town of 15-20,000 people situated halfway between Breslau and Łódź, had no military significance aside from, arguably, a crossroads between routes to those cities and other nearby towns. Most of the town and 90% of the center were destroyed by dozens of Ju 87 dive bombers; at least 127 civilians were killed.
What if the Luftwaffe didn’t bomb Wieluń? Of course, bombing of civilians is going to happen eventually. But I’m interested in what-ifs of the first day(s) of the war, eighty years ago. It’s plausible that Germany could complete the Polish campaign without bombing purely civilian targets, but they opted not to from the very beginning.
One can imagine the RAF being less willing to conduct even token raids on German ports if the enemy was “not targeting civilians”. Warsaw would certainly be bombed, but it was not an open city, and Danzig and several Polish cities had military units present. The Wallies would have an excuse to do even less to help Poland, and there would be follow-on effects in May 1940 and beyond if they were hesitant to consider area bombing before Rotterdam.