Military Affairs (nonnaval)

The Oxford Companion to World War II The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military Further reading

precision bombing

The Oxford Companion to World War II | 2001 | | Copyright

precision bombing is the bombing of specific targets, which the Eighth and Fifteenth US Army Air Forces employed during their daylight strategic air offensives against European targets. It was something of a misnomer because only a squadron's lead bomber aimed at the target; the others just dropped their bombs as close as possible to those released by the leader (see alsopattern bombing).

When the Butt report revealed British Bomber Command's failure with precision bombing in 1941 the RAF turned to area bombing which the Americans also used during their strategic air offensive against Japan. Later in the war, when electronic navigation systems increased its accuracy, Bomber Command used precision bombing, often with remarkable success.

An example of true precision bombing was the destruction, prior to the Normandy landings (see OVERLORD), of all 24 bridges across the River Seine by aircraft of the Ninth USAAF. One of them, a railway bridge at Vernon, was destroyed by eight fighter-bombers with just eight tons of bombs. See also Amiens prison, Dam Busters, Peenemünde, and Shell House raids.

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I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "precision bombing." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "precision bombing." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-precisionbombing.html

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "precision bombing." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-precisionbombing.html

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