Dam Busters

[John McGillivray]

Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
Given Bomber Command's losses in the night raids, I wonder what might have transpired had we gone to daylight sorties with adequate defensive armaments on the bombers and fighter escort. Better results and a higher aircrew survival rate? Ah well, we won anyway.

At first the American bomber losses in the daylight raids were equal to, or perhaps even higher then those suffered by the RAF. It was only after the long range fighters like the P-51 appeared in large numbers, that the American bombing efforts started to pay off. One should note that without the British, the P-51 may never have being built. When the first prototypes were built by North American, as a private venture, the USAAF showed little interest in aircraft. It was the British who placed the first orders for the aircraft and made production possible

Also one should note that because of all the armament and armour on the B-17 it could carry only a very small bomb load, but had a larger crew. A Mosquito bomber could carry the same weight of bombs as the B-17, but at twice the speed.