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Directory:American Journals and the Strategic Bombing of Germany (view source)
Revision as of 00:56, 11 September 2010
, 00:56, 11 September 2010→Larger magazines
The first article was published in the September 1942 issue and is entitled "Can the RAF Keep It Up?"<ref>Allan A. Michie, "Can the RAF Keep It Up?", '''Reader's Digest''', September 1942, p. 26.</ref> It was written by Allan A. Michie, who is labeled as the author of '''Retreat to Victory''' and billed as a war correspondent for American magazines who specializes in covering RAF activities. Michie gave the RAF Bomber Command high marks; in fact, the next year Michie wrote '''The Air Offensive Against Germany''',<ref>Allan A. Michie, '''The Air Offensive Against Germany''' (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1943).</ref> in which he defends his belief that American bomber forces should abandon daylight bombing and join the British at night. His '''Digest''' article briefs the reader on the latest exploits of Bomber Command. Michie assures the public that even though the Luftwaffe failed to knock out Britain during the Blitz, the RAF would be capable of cracking the Nazis because of significant "differences in tactics, in quality and reserves of planes and personnel, and circumstances of the war itself."<ref>Michie, "Can the RAF...", p. 26.</ref> Thus Michie disregards empirical evidence against bombing by claiming that the concentration and ability of the force has changed. He states, "The RAF has now perfected concentrated mass bombing to a fine art."<ref>Michie, "Can the RAF...", p. 28.</ref> The Butt Report, which emphasized terrible inaccuracy, would certainly disagree. The author relates how Churchill once referred to the indiscriminate bombing of Berlin's citizens as "pleasure."
The first article was published in the September 1942 issue and is entitled "Can the RAF Keep It Up?"<ref>Allan A. Michie, "Can the RAF Keep It Up?", '''Reader's Digest''', September 1942, p. 26.</ref> It was written by Allan A. Michie, who is labeled as the author of '''Retreat to Victory''' and billed as a war correspondent for American magazines who specializes in covering RAF activities. Michie gave the RAF Bomber Command high marks; in fact, the next year Michie wrote '''The Air Offensive Against Germany''',<ref>Allan A. Michie, '''The Air Offensive Against Germany''' (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1943).</ref> in which he defends his belief that American bomber forces should abandon daylight bombing and join the British at night. His '''Digest''' article briefs the reader on the latest exploits of Bomber Command. Michie assures the public that even though the Luftwaffe failed to knock out Britain during the Blitz, the RAF would be capable of cracking the Nazis because of significant "differences in tactics, in quality and reserves of planes and personnel, and circumstances of the war itself."<ref>Michie, "Can the RAF...", p. 26.</ref> Thus Michie disregards empirical evidence against bombing by claiming that the concentration and ability of the force has changed. He states, "The RAF has now perfected concentrated mass bombing to a fine art."<ref>Michie, "Can the RAF...", p. 28.</ref> The Butt Report, which emphasized terrible inaccuracy, would certainly disagree. The author relates how Churchill once referred to the indiscriminate bombing of Berlin's citizens as "pleasure."
Michie, on the one hand, promises that "<nowiki>[t]</nowiki>his year the RAF can afford to combine business with pleasure"; yet on the other hand, he pledges that "[t]he British know, from their own experience as guinea pigs in Goering's bestial experiment, that killing civilians won't win wars."<ref>Michie, "Can the RAF...", p. 31.</ref> This duplicity undermines Michie's whole argument that massive bombings of entire cities will help speed the war.
Michie's article was followed in October 1942 by one entitled "Wanted: Air Assault on Germany <u>Now</u>" by William B. Ziff.<ref>William B. Ziff, "Wanted: Air Assault on Germany <u>Now</u>", '''Reader's Digest''', October 1942, p. 36.</ref> Ziff is here recognized as the author of '''The Coming Battle of Germany''', the publisher of '''Flying''', and the recipient of endorsements by Major Alexander de Seversky, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, and other "experts." The article begins by dispelling any implications that American bomber aircraft are inferior to British bombers; they serve a different purpose, but are not inferior. Quickly though, Ziff gets to the heart of the matter, his desire for a huge air offensive against Germany:
<blockquote>''There is no such thing as a limited offensive. Under every rule of military logic, the aggressor must possess the strength, nerve, fire power and resources to reduce his opponent, or suffer quick, bloody defeat.''<ref>Ziff, "Wanted...", p. 37.</ref></blockquote>
The journalist describes how Central Europe's inclement weather has necessitated a switch to "'saturation' ''night bombing assaults''". Ziff is explicit in describing what he wants.
<blockquote>''Such a sustained attack will specialize in large-scale military arson, in the utter destruction of key areas and in terrorization. ...It will soon be possible to spread death and devastation in factory and city in much the same way as poachers kill fish in ponds by dynamiting.''<ref>Ziff, "Wanted...", p. 38-39.</ref></blockquote>
Ziff's comparison of German civilians to fish seems to disregard any moral question whatsoever. He concludes this article by reminding the American citizen that just as aerial bombardment is "the only road open to us for attack on Germany, it is also the only road open to Hitler for attacking America".<ref>Ziff, "Wanted...", p. 41.</ref> Ziff's belief that the Fuhrer could utilize this avenue of attack "tomorrow"<ref>Ziff, "Wanted...", p. 42.</ref> belies any knowledge of air warfare at all. An air attack on the United States would have been suicidal, if not absolutely impossible, from any location in German-occupied territory. Yet, the American public was misguided into thinking that the U.S. must strike before the Nazis did.
The '''Reader's Digest''' next printed an article by Francis Vivian Drake titled "Why Don't We Really <u>Try</u> to Bomb Germany Out of the War?" This May 1943 article labeling Drake an "aviation expert for 30 years" takes a rather statistical look at how to bomb. Drake vouches that the air plan he presents is not the work of an "armchair strategist" but is in concordance with ranking air officers and military "professionals who... analyze photographs after every raid, study Intelligence reports, assess actual destruction".<ref>Francis Vivian Drake, "Why Don't We Really <u>Try</u> to Bomb Germany Out of the War?", '''Reader's Digest''', May 1943, p. 35.</ref> Note the businesslike attitude conveyed. Drake quotes Major General Ira C. Eaker, commander of the Eighth Air Force as saying, "There is nothing that can be destroyed by gunfire that cannot be destroyed by bombs."<ref>Drake, "Why Don't We...", p. 36.</ref> Assuming this would include innocent German civilians, it must be asked, "Does the ability to destroy someone justify that destruction?" On a more practical note, Drake comments, "With the tremendous armament carried by our Fortresses and Liberators, a force of several hundred could probably take care of itself."<ref>Drake, "Why Don't We...", p. 37.</ref> Later that year in August and October, American generals would make the same incorrect assumption in operations over Schweinfurt, thereby sending 122 Fortresses to the ground. Drake concludes that there is a sound alternative to the heartaches of great land offensives.<ref>Drake, "Why Don't We...", p. 39.</ref> Given the fallibility of his article up to that point, it is difficult to trust Drake. But the American public did not know about Schweinfurt in May.
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