STILL WAR YET
In 1940 when the wholesale bombing fiercely began, both
sides were incinerating entire cities by the bushelful - Germans
to London and the Brits and and 'Mericans to places as diverse
as Berlin to sleepy Wittenberg. As a youngster, I used to think it
was all accidental - they'd take to the skies and just start
dropping bombs. But now I know different: entire studies and
plans were made for procedure and effectiveness. 'Strike Hard,
Strike Sure' was the motto used. Analyses were made by
experts on the inflammability qualities of varied German
cities, and a cocktail of bombs was devised:
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High explosives to blow off roofs and turn tenement blocks
into chimneys, followed by incendiaries to light the fires and
then more explosives to kill and maim the fire crews. Larger
bombs would disrupt water and electricity lines and demolish
factories. By 1942, Cologne, Lubeck and Rostock felt the
equal brunt. The Americans' daytime sorties with the
well-defended B-17's allowed for more precise targeting,
but soon enough they too found themselves just obliterating
entire cities. The Axis had started terror-bombing in the 1930's,
yes, but it was Democracies who made the long-range bombing
on the enemy home-front a central tactic of war : and now
wrong or right who can or will say?
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I never dreamed it could go so bad : fire and terror unleashed and,
to my small-boy's mind, with a fury unable to be fully understood.
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