Why did 10./JG 2 bomb a school in Catford?

[Bombphoon]

Originally Posted by VtwinVince

Agree with Chris's synopsis on this incident, which is going on today in other parts of the world. Demonize the enemy, then it's easier to kill him.

'Demonize the enemy?' Would the Luftwaffe really have needed 'demonizing' to British civilians after this incident or what they had previously wreaked on London, Coventry, Bristol etc?

The suggestion that, at this stage of the war, or indeed any stage of the war, that British black propagandists/MI6/MI5 would have tried to 'rig' the school being bombed and set up schoolchildren to be deliberately killed for propaganda purposes is quite frankly ridiculous, baseless, and dare I say, quite offensive to those involved.

I have often wondered the reason 'why' about this incident.

Chris' book 'Fighter-Bombers Over Britain' is one of my top 5 favourite books. Although it doesn't dwell much on the Sandhurst Road incident, the research and photos are quite astounding: the cockpit view photos of straffing ground targets are breath-taking. They aren't gun-camera shots but literally one hand on the stick and the other holding the camera! Chris's book has several of these photos and they have recently appeared in Britain at War magazine.

And there, I believe, is a possible answer to why the school was bombed. Several of the photos in Chris's book show what appears to be random straffing of 'large buildings' - they appear to have no more reason for being targeted than they are 'large buildings': some are clearly civilian dwellings. By this date the German spy network in Britain was pretty much disabled and I find it hard to believe that the Germans would be able to find out/have spies report what individual civilian buildings had recently been requisitioned for. Sandhurst Road School was a large building: whether it could have been mistaken for a factory I would not like to say.

Several Daily Mail readers/apologists (?!) seemed to have pooh-poohed the idea that it would have been possible to see the pilots' faces. Having just attended a 2-day airshow at the Victory Show this weekend with Spitfires, Mustangs and Hurricanes flying low, I can quite definitely say the pilots faces CAN be seen through the perspex when they flew low, even at speed. I suppose a lot of it must also be to do with how good the individuals' eyesight is.

There is also the possibility that the pilot DID deliberately bomb the school in revenge: German schools, hospitals etc were regularly being hit in Allied daylight heavy bomber raids (although I have never seen evidence to say that the Allies ever deliberately targeted German schools).

Austin