Restrained Policy and Careless Execution: Allied Strategic Bombing on the Netherlands in the Second World War
AbstractThis article examines the nature of Allied strategic bombing on the Netherlands in the Second World War. It discusses the endless controversy on strategic bombing, and adds the policy of bombing occupied countries, especially the Dutch involvement in bombing policy development, a quantitative analysis of bombing on the Netherlands, and three case studies to the existing narrative. The paper concludes that Allied bombing policy towards the Netherlands sought to maintain a balance between the usefulness of bombing and the risk of collateral damage. Further, it reveals the absolute magnitude of the bombing campaign in the Netherlands, which contrasts with existing history. This article concludes that the nature of strategic bombing on the Netherlands, notwithstanding the fact of sincere intentions and restrained policies, was that the execution of the bombardments regu- larly failed to attain the defined bombing goals. These failures caused extensive collateral damage, as illustrated by three case st...
‘How many Frenchmen did you kill?’ British bombing policy towards France (1940–1945)
The Allied bombing of France between 1940 and 1945 has received comparatively little attention from historians, although the civilian death toll, at about 60,000, was comparable to that of German raids on the UK. This article considers how Allied, and particularly British, bombing policy towards France was developed, what its objectives were and how French concerns about attacks on their territory were (or were not) addressed. It argues that while British policymakers were sensitive to the delicate political implications of attacking France, perceived military necessities tended to trump political misgivings; that Vichy, before November 1942, was a stronger constraint on Allied bombing than the Free French at any time and that the bombing programme largely escaped political control from May 1944.
The War at Sea
Setting Up Step 1: Neutral units can be included in any fleet unless historical restrictions are in play; in that case, neutral units can't be used by any fleet. Step 4: The first player selects either side of the map on which to deploy his fleet. Ignore the Player 1 and Player 2 setup area designations on the battle zone diagrams on pages 5 and 6. If Aircraft are set up in the same sector as a Carrier, place them either on the Carrier model or touching it to indicate that they are based on that Carrier. The basing capacity of the Carrier must be observed. Also place a card matching each Aircraft unit beneath that Carrier's card. These cards remain stacked with the Carrier's card until the Air Return phase; see Air Return Phase, below. If your fleet contains more ships than can legally stack in your deployment area, you can "overstack" sectors. Ships must be spread as evenly as possible; no sector can contain three ships until every sector contains at least two, no sector can contain four until all contain at least three, and so on. By the end of your first Sea Movement phase, all of your ships must be positioned legally according to the stacking rules.