Class Notes 12/10

Strategies/Practices

3 Air

• Strategic/Area Bombing
• Tactical Bombing
• Formations

2 Naval

• U-boat packs
• Aircraft Carriers
  

1 Question

• What was the strategic value of battleships?

Pearl Harbor

• Dec. 7th 1941
• Preemptive attack surprises the US Navy
  
• 4 Aircraft Carriers were preserved
• Brings US into the war
• Germany declares war on the US
• War becomes global

Battle of the Atlantic

• 1940-1943
• German Submarines versus American + British Navy + Air Force
• German Strategy: starve Britain into submission
• German Tactic: use U-boats
• Convoy systems
  

Comparing and Contrasting Sources

Compare/Contrast the views expressed by Bob Stewart and Robert Mcnamara on Aerial bombing during World War II.

There were a number of similarities between the views of Captain Bob Stewart and former US Defense Secretary Robert Mcnamara on the practice of aerial bombing in World War II. Both people were greatly involved in the fighting of World War II, and they seemed to agree afterward that what they were doing was immoral. They both pointed out that, although there were some military targets designated for aerial bombing missions, those targets were surrounded by areas occupied by civilians, which resulted in large numbers of civilian deaths. There seemed to be a general agreement that this type of area bombing could easily be declared a war crime. Similarly, both men seemed to think that the use of the atomic bomb on Japan was unnecessary, with Captain Stewart even claiming that it was the true beginning of the Cold War. Mcnamara and Stewart both seem to be strictly anti-war. The Fog of War, a documentary film showing some of Mcnamara's thoughts on World War II, presented the amount of destruction due to firebombing in Japan in a shocking way to convey the negative effects of war.

At the same time, there are many differences between the views expressed by the two sources. Mcnamara seems to be convinced that aerial bombing during World War II was very effective and that it was one of the most important practices of the war. Captain Stewart, on the other hand, argued that bombing was not particularly effective and was largely unnecessary. This disagreement may have been caused by the different roles the two men had in fighting the war; Mcnamara did not do any direct fighting but had a more strategic perspective of World War II, while Captain Stewart was a bomber pilot who was more closely involved in the fighting. Mcnamara likely had a larger scale view of the war and thought that the bombing served its purpose on that scale. Captain Stewart, being the one actually doing the bombing, may not have thought that what he was doing was enough to win the war. In addition to this, Mcnamara's view of the war was largely based on the Pacific front, while Captain Stewart only served against Germany.

Primary Source OPVL Excercise

1. Source A: Captain Bob Stewart's presentation provided the class with a first-hand account of WWII, which he experienced as an American bomber pilot. The purpose of the presentation was to help inform students about WWII and to convey his views on the ethics and effectiveness of aerial bombing. Capt. Stewart spoke about the war from a very personal perspective, which naturally has a number of strengths and weaknesses. The fact that he experienced the war himself gives him a large amount of credibility on the topic, at least when he was discussing the part of the war he was involved in. He was also able to share very specific stories and examples of things that happened, while people who simply did research on the war after it happened likely know only general stories. However, Capt. Stewart's personal account may also be limited for several reasons. The events he spoke about took place a very long time ago, so his memory of some events may not have been completely accurate. In addition to this, his views and claims about the war as a whole, outside of the topic of aerial bombing, may be debatable as he was not directly involved with them. Capt. Stewart also had a clear anti-war mentality and strongly believed that aerial bombing was not particularly effective, and that the use of the atomic bomb was unnecessary.
2. Source B: The Fog of War is a documentary film which portrays the thoughts of Robert Mcnamara, who was the United States Secretary of Defense during World War II. This film, produced in 2003, was meant to inform people about the practices of war and to convey Mcnamara's views on war. Mcnamara's role in the war brings with it certain values and limitations. One value is the fact that he was a very important figure during World War II, and as such he knows much about the strategies and practices that were developed and used during World War II. He also has credibility when he discusses his knowledge of the statistics of the war, such as the results that were shown of the firebombing of Japan. Another area he is likely to know about is the people involved the leadership of the various countries involved in the war, as he was one of them himself. One limitation may be that, because Mcnamara was not directly involved the fighting the war, he may have only a general idea of what the process of aerial bombing was actually like. World War II seems to have also had an emotional effect on Mcnamara, making him very anti-war. This may have altered his views on the effectiveness of aerial bombing.
   

Questions (HW 13)

1. Why do you think the abort rate was so high early in the war?
   
2. What was the reaction of the pilots when LeMay said that anyone who aborted would be court marshaled?
3. What was your perspective at the time on the war as a whole? Has it changed at all since then?
   

Class Notes 12/3

Strategic Bombing:

Why was the abort rate so high?

Curtis LeMay- in charge of US strategic bombing, believed in total war

LeMay stated that anyone who aborted would be court marshaled. Abort rate decreases, productivity goes up.

Women worked in factories to build bomber planes. Factories had previously been used to make things like automobiles.

US worked with China against Japan. Using China as a base was inefficient, so the US decided to take back islands from Japan.

March 1945: Tokyo was firebombed, 100,000 dead, 50 square miles were burned

Population of approximately 50% of 67 Japanese Cities killed

"If we lost the war, we'd be tried as war criminals."

Class Notes 12/2

Wolf packs (groups of U-boats)
Atlantic, or Aim of Britain to keep shipping open
Royal Navy, or Royal Oak (British battleship sunk by a U-boat at Scapa Flow)

Allied convoys, or American aid
Torpedoes (used by U-boats to sink ships)

Submarines (U-boats), or Seeking/Sinking the Bismarck
Enigma (German coding machine; codes were broken by Allies)
Aircraft, or Air cover (limited by the "Black Gap")

HW 11

A.

1. The white cliffs represent Britain, the sinking boat represents the Royal Navy, the lion may be symbolic of the United States, the captain is Churchill, and the sharks are the German U-boats.
2. The sharks are biting off parts of the lion, which may represent Germany's plans to defeat the US using U-boats.
   
3. The German cartoonist may have been trying to make the point that Germany would win the Battle of the Atlantic even though Britain had the aid of the US.
   
4. It does not seem like the cartoonist was accurate. While the U-boats were very effective at first, the Allies eventually developed ways to fight back against them.

B.

• The Nazi-Soviet Pact stated that Russia and Germany would not attack each other when both countries invaded different parts of Poland.
• Operation Barbarossa was the massive German invasion of the USSR.
• Scorched-earth policy refers to destroying things so that the enemy cannot use them.
  
• Neutrality is the decision to not join either side of a conflict.
• Lend-Lease aid refers to America's trade with countries involved in the war.
  
• The Tripartite Axis Pact was the alliance between Germany, Italy, and Japan.
• The United Nations was created as a result of WWII, replacing the League of Nations as an international organization.
• WWII was a global-war because it involved countries from North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
  
• U-boats were German submarines used to attack the Allies' ships.
• Convoys were large groups of ships that were protected by the navy.
• The Battle of the Atlantic was the battle between the Allies and the German U-boats.

A.

• Second front: The war in the east, as opposed to the war in Europe.
• Area bombing: The tactic of bombing everything in a target area.
• The Allies: Countries that opposed the Axis. Included Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Australia, and Canada.
• Operation Torch: The British and American invasion of Morocco and Algeria.

B.

• Similar: It was likely hot and uncomfortable in both places. Both battles were Allied attacks on the Axis forces. Both battles involved brutal fighting.
  
• Different: El Alamein was in Egypt, where it was probably dry and flat, while New Guinea was probably humid and mountainous. Fighting in New Guinea probably involved a lot of guerrilla warfare, while the Battle of El Alamein was largely based around tanks.