The problem was early in the war there weren't enough bombers to make a difference. Due to the inaccuracy of strategic bombing it took vast fleets of bombers to do any appreciable damage to a target. It's estimated that only 10% of the bombs dropped by strategic bombers actually hit their intended target and that's depending on how liberally you define a hit. Indeed sometimes in post raid assessment the Germans could not decide which town (not the installation in the town) had been the intended target because the scattering of bomb craters was so wide. Sadly, there were no Allied laser guided missiles in WW2.
Ultimately strategic bombing become more about smashing the enemy will to resist and wholesale destruction than a pin-point effort to hit specific targets.
|