Air Power IV
The Men, Machines, and
Ideas Which Revolutionized War from Kitty hawk to Iraq.
By Stephen Budiansky
A Book Report by Larry Eicher
World War II
was preceded by The Spanish Civil War, July 17, 1936 – April 1,
1939. The conflict proved to be timed
just right for the countries building up for WW II to use it as a testing
ground for their own forces. They could
try out their equipment and men under combat conditions. Mussolini’s Italy and Nazi Germany supported
the Spanish Nationalists.
The Spanish Republicans were supported by the Soviet Union.
WW
II began in September 1, 1939 when the Germans attacked the Polish who were
unable to defend themselves. The Nazis
attacked with blitzkrieg, aka “lightning War.” They
had radio contact between the elements of their force and they moved quickly
before the Polish knew what to do.
As
I mentioned previously in “Air Power” III the war began with many technological
advancements. The biplane was almost
gone. Monoplanes were the way to go. Bombers began the war using the best bomb
site from the end of WW I. Fighters were
fast enough to keep up with the bombers even though the bombers didn’t know
they needed them yet. Air Power advocates
knew bombs could sink ships. The Army
and Navy were still feuding. Air Craft
carriers gradually began replacing Battleships.
That process sped up from Pearl Harbor onward. That was a difficult change to accept for
many!
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| Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero |
At
the beginning of WW II, the Japanese zero was the best fighter in the
world. The German ME 109 was about equal
to the British Spitfire. The 109 had an
advantage over early American fighters because it was fuel injected and the
engine would keep running in a dive. The
carbureted American fighters would lose engine power in a dive.
 |
| Supermarine Spitfire |
As
the war in Europe moved on, the bomber command decided fighters were needed to
protect the bombers since their armament was inadequate. The Allies were losing many bombers.
Mr.
Budiansky covers details of WW II related to Men, Machines, and Idea as the title
suggests. He provides many details
beyond the scope of this book report. It
is called World War II for good
reason. There were theaters of operations
all over the world, obviously. Among
many the major ones were: The European Theater, The Mediterranean Theater,
African and Middle East Theater and the Pacific Theater.
One
development of technology has been a thread throughout the book, even in other
wars. Bombardment accuracy has posed a
problem since the beginning of aviation.
The United States championed Daylight Precision Bombardment which was
anything but accurate at least through WW II.
The Norden Bomb Sight was supposed to take Bombing accuracy a new level
but that level was not good enough. I just have to use a word Budiansky did not
use is his book. Idealism was at the
center of the controversy. When reality
in bombing could not live up to the ideal, The Idealists broke from reality to
called the benefits of bombing morale bombing
There are two words he uses in this area. You have to pay attention to their use. They are “moral” and “morale” It was considered
by many, Worldwide, to be immoral to kill citizens with bombing. The word, “moral”, morphed into “morale” as
the debate about bombing accuracy continued.
Inaccurate bombing became “morale” bombing as time went on and the problem
of bombing accuracy was not resolved.
The idea was to cause the civilian population to demand the threat be
removed by surrender. Since bombing
accuracy was unattainable, drop the bombs indiscriminately and they will affect
morale of the populace. The workers might
be unable to concentrate on weapon production because of the bombing. I can tell you he describes the solution to
accurate bombing later in the book.
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| Boeing B-17 Superfortress (public domain) |
Where
the European theater was configured around the aerial and infantry fighters at
the beginning, War in the Pacific was fought with submarines, carriers and aircraft
at the beginning. The Pacific fleet had
been decimated at Pearl Harbor. The
Carriers were undamaged since they were absent.
As time passed both theaters saw advancements and changes. The full story is too complex to be
contemplated in this context. The story
has been much told.
By
the end of the war in the European Theater, the North American P-51 had emerged
and accompanied the bombers all the Way to Berlin. The Germans had introduced weapons no one had
dreamed of previously such as V-1’s buzz bombs, V-2’s, rockets and a jet power fighter,
the ME 262, not to mention a rocket powered fighter in development, Me 163.
 |
| Messerschmitt ME 262A |
By
the end of the war in the Pacific Theater the Boeing B-29 Super Fortress had
emerged as the ultimate air weapon to deliver the Atom Bomb to Japan. Japan had released Suicide Pilots on the
world. The USA had a total of
twenty-seven Aircraft Carriers at the end.
Naval aviation was a definitive factor at the end of the war.
 |
| Boeing B-29 Superfortress (public domain) |
 |
| Little Boy Atomic Bomb (public domain) |
Air Power by Stephen Budiansky
tells the story in much more detail. It
is well worth reading in my opinion.
