The National Archives
Education
World War II
Catalogue ref: AIR 14/3647
This source was released by the Ministry of Information and was taken during a raid by RAF Lancaster bombers.
This photograph shows Lancaster bombers in action near Wangerooge, one of many Frisian Islands in the North Sea off the coasts of the Holland, Germany and Denmark.
The war began in 1939 and went well for Germany at first. By 1940 Hitler controlled most of Western Europe, apart from Britain. For a while the main attack on Britain was by air. He tried to destroy the Royal Air Force. When this failed Hitler switched to bombing British cities. From then until 1944 the only way to attack Germany was by air. The RAF and USA air forces did this relentlessly.
At first the British were determined not to bomb civilian areas. However, by 1941 they realised bombing was too inaccurate to hit pinpoint targets and the losses of aircraft and aircrews were terrible. So they switched to area bombing. This basically meant flattening cities, taking out industries and civilian homes.
There was strong support in Britain and the USA for the policy of bombing. However, the public were probably not aware of the terrible conditions and appalling losses suffered by bomber crews.
Losses among bomber crews were around 50%. This was a far higher rate of casualties than any other service in either the First or Second World Wars. US bomber crews were allowed to leave the service if they survived 25 missions.
Use the debate summary table to record your choice of sources.
