Bombing run on a bridge, best way?

[KneadToKnow]

@1920s Style "Death Ray"

There’s a relatively famous movie about this called “The Dam Busters”

Of which a remake is in development.

[HPL]

@Spezza

Actually, the bombing accuracy rate during WWII was abysmally low.

I thought that was the reason they pretty much blew up the entire neighborhood to hit the bridge/factory/whatever in the middle. There was no other way with high altitude bombers.

[BrotherCadfael]

@Harmonious_Discord

I wish I knew what this video was called. A couple years ago I watched a special on PBS where they followed everything that was involved with bombing a dam in Germany. At least one of the original crew was in this show and it went over how they handled sighting for the run and other concerns. They made a special low tech sight for the bomb runs. This would be a very informative video to watch if anybody knows what it was called.

In one of his Teeming articles, **CalMeacham **pointed out that this movie was almost certainly the source for the attack on the Death Star in the original Star Wars Movie.

I’ll post the link when I find it.

[garygnu]

@1920s Style "Death Ray"

There’s a relatively famous movie about this called “The Dam Busters”

@KneadToKnow

Of which a remake is in development.

I thought there was already a remake, called “Star Wars” back in '77.

[Paul_in_Qatar]

Airplanes miss targets long and short, not left and right. Attack runs are made along the long axis, unless that would put friendlies in the way.

[DanBlather]

I have a follow-on question for you bomb savvy people. My mother was stationed with the Admiralty in Bath, England during WWII. The story is that they moved there because Bath is in a surrounded by hills, which would make dive bombing more difficult. Of course, the Germans then used high altitude bombing so it became moot.

Does that story makes sense?

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@KneadToKnow

Of which a remake is in development.

The IMDb.com page is almost blank; the Wiki article has more detail: The Dam Busters (film) - Wikipedia

[in_hiding]

Whatever you do, if it’s not destroyed, you shouldn’t go around and try a second run.

[Patch]

@KneadToKnow

Of which a remake is in development.

I bet they change Gibson’s call sign for the successful breaching of the Möhne Dam.

[KneadToKnow]

Thanks, Elendil’s Heir. I grabbed the URL while the page was still loading … or so I thought. Turns out, that was the page.

And I bet you’re right, Patch.

[smiling_bandit]

@Xema

Right. It is something of a scandal how its effectiveness was badly inflated, and the money and men that were expended in a surprisingly wasteful way. One quote I recall is that “Two percent of bombs hit within 2 miles of the target.” (This may be a bit harsh.)

Well, it wasn’t just the bombing itself. Done under good conditions, it wasn’t too inaccurate.

But conditions were never ideal. You mentioned flak, and indeed bombers never wanted to just fly in a low, straight line in clear skies, because it was suicidal. That made it much harder to aim bombs. The other problems was the issues of navigation. It is not easy to target even a large, distinctive structure with numerous landmarks available to guide you (assuming of course you can see the landmarks at all in the weather, etc.)

Finding a bridge isn’t easy, either. You can locate the river most of the time, but trying to follow its course like that is predictable and therefore dangerous. If not, you have maybe one shot assuming you angle properly to hit the target, when even a hundred feet of space means the bombing run is wasted.

[si_blakely]

@garygnu

I thought there was already a remake, called “Star Wars” back in '77.

George Lucas has apparently claimed inspiration from the fjord attack scene from 633 Squadron - which fits better with the trench attack on the Death Star.

However, 617 Squadron (the Dam Busters) used a gyroscopic bomb sight that gave them unprecedented accuracy for the time. Several times, Tallboys hit impossibly small targets like bridges and the Tirpitz.

Si

[Lungfish]

@Patch

I bet they change Gibson’s call sign for the successful breaching of the Möhne Dam.

Not to mention the name of his dog.

[Chickenwrangler]

@Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor

Chickenwrangler–just what are you training those chickens of yours to do? :eek:

In the current economic climate I’m trying to create new job opportunities

[Chickenwrangler]

As always good informative replies posted, goto love this place

Just as a follow up thought, how would a an aircraft flying a tight circle over the bridge above the range of AA have worked?

Would the load of bombs have dropped in a sort of shotgun effect with better chance of scoring a hit?

[Spezza]

@HPL

I thought that was the reason they pretty much blew up the entire neighborhood to hit the bridge/factory/whatever in the middle. There was no other way with high altitude bombers.

No, they really did try to hit the targets. However, as other have noted, there were a variety of elements that, combined with the technology available during WWII, prevented any real “strategic” bombing accuracy.

While I don’t have my sources with me at the moment, Wikipedia’s entry conforms to my memories in that at best only 20% of ordnance hit within 1000 feet of the target.

[SenorBeef]

To be fair, targets were often not specific point targets like a bridge but factory complexes within an industrial district within a city. Even if you didn’t hit your specific target that well, you caused some useful damage.

[Richard_Pearse]

@Lungfish

Not to mention the name of his dog.

I know about the issue with his African American dog but what was unusual about the callsign?

[blondebear]

I used to have a book by Martin Caidin called Air Force that had a high-altitude pic of a skinny little bridge being blown up by a single bomb. The book in question can be found on Google Books, but the specific page doesn’t seem to be available. There is, however, this nice shot of a near-miss by a B-25. (I think you’ll have to click on the page number to see the photo.)

[manila]

@1920s Style "Death Ray"

I know about the issue with his African American dog but what was unusual about the callsign?

It was the same as the mutts name

Nigsy? Trigger? N-word dilemma bounces on for Dam Busters II

ps sorry I cant find the damn apostrophe on this stupid keyboard!