1 WW 2 History Club 22 – Feb The Air War The Truth

2 Butt Report, Aug 1941  Of those aircraft recorded as attacking their target, only one in three got within 5 miles of the target.  Over the French ports, the proportion was two in three; over Germany as a whole, the proportion was one in four; over the Ruhr it was only one in ten.  In the full moon, the proportion was two in five; in the new moon it was only one in fifteen.  All these figures relate only to aircraft recorded as attacking the target; the proportion of the total sorties which reached within 5 miles is less than one-third.  The conclusion seems to follow that only about one-third of aircraft claiming to reach their target actually reached it

3 The Bomber Will Get Through  The Aug 1934 bomber specification from which came the B17 was for a heavy bomber that could deliver a “useful” bomb load at altitudes (10,000 ft) and speeds (200+ mph) that would put it above FLAK and behind fighters  The B17 greatly exceeded the specs as did the B24  But by 1941, AA guns could reach beyound the B17s ceiling and fighters were 100 MPH faster

4 Butt Confirmation Postwar studies confirmed Butt's assessment showing that 49% of RAF Bomber Command's bombs dropped between May 1940 and May 1941 fell in open country. As Butt did not include those aircraft that did not bomb because of equipment failure, enemy action, weather or failed to find the target area only about 5% of bombers setting out bombed within five miles of their target