Small B17 bomb bay and bomb load

[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Laurent Rizzotti

In France in 1944, raids by BC against railroads were both more efficient and less bloody for French civilians than raids by 8th and 15th AF.

That may have been true about rail lines, but not in general.

For example, in July 1944 the RAF area bombed Caen in front of the British Army which was stalled outside the city. The Bomber Command raid was completely unnecessary, doing more to help the German Army than damage them. Very few German troops were inside Caen and many French civilians were killed by the bombs. Later, some of the bombing survey teams discovered that the British Army advance was actually delayed more by the huge bomb craters and piles of rubble that blocked their path through the city.