Why was Coventry 'coventriert'?

[tcolvin]

Originally Posted by Jan Gazda

Tony,

what is your basis for the assertion about the half of Britain´s GDP being consumed by Bomber Command? Johnson and Floud in The Cambridge economic history of modern Britain, Volume III say that at its peak (in 1944) all Britain´s war related expenditures amounted to 53 % of its GDP. Given the manpower of the ground forces and navy and the physical quantities of armanents and equipment manufactured in 1944 it is highly unlikely that BC share could be anywhere above 20% of GDP.

Jan

You are right.
The figure, I believe, is a third, certainly not a half of GDP, but I will accept 20%.
Thank you for the correction.

My point was made by Sir James Grigg, Secretary of State for War, who said in 1944; "We have reached the extraordinary situation in which the labour devoted to the production of heavy bombers is believed to be equal to that allotted to the production of the whole equipment for the army".

And of course the contention is that 'dehousing' factory workers was counter-productive.

Tony