almost three miles below this formation of american flying fortresses there lies mattie and bergen east prussia up to this moment one of the most important columns in germany is war machine the specific target on which this lead bomb but the others lining up his bomb tons of bombs rain down on a tight pattern of destruction this remember is no area it is an assault on one single target and any bomb that falls outside that target has failed to achieve its purpose the assembly of fighters in this fucker will factory has come to a sudden and and violent to many the bombing of germany probably seems to be little more than a series of caprices adventures one attack unconnected in any way with the one that preceded it all the one that will follow it it is easy for the average citizen to envision the positions of ground on is because of maps like these which make the positions of the contesting forces quite clear it is hard to express so graphically the progress of the bombing program yet there is a real line in this battle of germany not a geographical front but an industrial one in the british isles that are the allied air are actually the scent of germany's industrial defense line however these are only the places where the aircraft is assembled into the finished fighting machine component parts for german fighters are made at  obviously an assembly plant can't operate if other plants on building the parts from which the enemy planes will be assembled produce twenty nine percent of all german synthetic rubber production and is in fact responsible for connected with the manufacture assembly maintenance and repair of enemy aircraft and so it is all over germany and occupied europe everywhere there are plans and installations that contribute directly or indirectly to the making of thankful i've had the result of piercing the german industrial line to the extent of thirty seven and one hundred percent of estimated single engine fighter production in september of one nine hundred forty three if this rate of drop continues of command had started daylight attacks against germany proper forty two percent of the german fighter strength was concentrated in western europe thirty three percent up in russia and twenty five percent in the mediterranean area after ten months of american bombers appearing by day over germany the figures lined up more like this on the russian front nineteen percent in the mediterranean at twelve percent and in western europe sixty nine daylight bombing offensive against germany is the responsibility of the apes air force under the a task force of the eighth bomber command the a fighter command and the eight s service command all of whom contribute to every bombing mission but it is the bomber command which is charged with the actual destruction of the selected targets the bomber command with which this picture is primarily concerned is divided into three divisions each division has a changes of nomenclature and have not affected the broad strategical and tactical purposes of the organization for instance what is referred to as bomber command in this picture is now the  whether it is the greatest single enemy of the eighth bomber command for heroes to be found the most changeable treacherous weather in the world to keep the most accurate possible check on weather conditions all over europe has established fast communication men like this supply a major portion of the data from which the main weather maps of europe and of the united kingdom up on each day in addition and it maps of the miscellaneous in this room all weather information is collected coordinated body and sent out by teletype to every responsible c this is the weather section and the operations block of the pharma command here the information gleaned from the weather stations is put together and coordinated into weather maps accurate predictions must be made as to the direction and  upon the findings made in this room will depend whether or not there will be an american bombing of a german target tomorrow this is the operations room of the bomber command here is where the wheels up put in motion for any american bombing attack right now the officer you see waiting for the commanding generals morning conference they are the eighty three operations officer the operational intelligence officer a weather officer and other members of the various specialist offices then go into action this is the operational intelligence section here our target files containing a pete information as to the type construction and vulnerability of the targets this data is gathered both from photo interpretation of aerial pictures and from confidential ground sources on the basis of this information the aiming point for the attack will be selected the aiming point is a building or installation in the approximate center of the target here operational research experts on my nuclear studying the architectural and construction details of the targets it will be their duty to recommend on the basis of studies previously made the types of bombs and the proper fusing to accomplish the greatest possible destruction of the object of the studies of the auto factory and plume are mentally important since the nose and tail fuse of the bomb can be adjusted to give varying degrees of delay between the time of initial impact and the explosion for example an improperly fused bomb would react something like this result very superficial damage that may hardly even cause delay in production on the other hand here's what happens when a properly fused bomb strikes the same factory two bombs of exactly identical weight and explosive power have totally different effects because one was used properly and the other was not it is the responsibility of the operational research section to determine proper bumf using here the commanding general and the while this is going on the various liaison officers stationed at bomber command headquarters are busy keeping their respective commands acquainted with the cost of events the closest liaison is maintained with both the our u s fighter and bomber command the royal navy the eight fight a command and the ninth bomber command it is through these liaison officers that requests will be made for the necessary fighter support diversionary effort by the medium bombers air sea rescue patrol and so on officers apply to command and mediately look up plan number two three four zero to find out what the fighters are expected to play in the next day's operations similarly the  thing forces inform the bomber command intends to lay on plan two for the four zero it will be the duty of the medium's to attack enemy feels at a time that will cause maximum interference with german attempts to intercept  been taken in the sequence of events that will finally result in bringing our planes over the targets and discharging the bomb loads task forces and the routes from assembly to rendezvous points and the target many considerations go into the selection of the routes he is the commanding general of the first division what you want  this is operations of the combat a purely tactical unit having absolutely no administrative functions whatsoever  problems of takeoff and assembly but the particular specialized function of this organization it is the primary business of the combat wings to get the airplanes up its group into the air at the proper time and to get them assembled once in the  think all right will have eight and the ages and maximum the most of the groups are going further than an american bomber has gone before combat wings must work up precisely the maximum bomb load in relation to the required gas load decisions made in this and other matters are added to the divisions field order then passed on to the group the ultimate tactical unit to the men who get the planes in the air and  mission on the bases of the telephone down to the group by the combat wing the various agencies necessary to get the planes airborne on their mission we'll into action intelligence operations weather signals group navigators and bombardiers at the grave responsibility of passing on and making clear to the combat crews the vital target and route information furnished by bomber command and bomb division the proper information folders maps weather maps and charts and photographs have to be selected by the various group officers and then the information therein passed on to the cr make up a complex mechanics of a heavy bombardment plane all must be kept in perfect shape the failure of any one of them on a mission can easily mean the loss of the plane and its personnel or at best such a failure will cause the plane  that is returned to its base without having reached the target it was originally estimated that about thirty seven and a half percent of planes on hand would be affected at one time however the maiden there has been so magnificent the bombs have to be placed in their racks very carefully one bomber sticking in its rack through careless placement might make the whole mission useless so far as that individual plane goes three o'clock in the morning all over england at this exact moment american air crews are being roused from their sleep off in about four hours the target for today right this is the briefing room of the three hundred third group here in a few minutes the nature locale and routes of today's mission will be made known to the men who fly  increase as you go up towards the north sea three to five ten fifteen hundred to two thousand feet talk four to five thousand feet there will be some fog patches over and one visibility one  continuing three to five tents and also the metal clogs toward the target decreasing to know at the target low plods continuing three to five ten decreasing to two to reading over the pilots navigators bombardier radio operators receive separate specialized briefing these briefings are very technical and very thorough and i held so that every member of the combat crew would understand exactly what he can expect and what is expected of him and the lack of southern us here might very well result in the failure of a mission as dawn breaks over the english countryside it fin ground crew still working grimly in an effort to get every plane in the air that is scheduled to be dispatch these men take a fierce a pride in their planes or do the crew to each of them it is a personal tragedy reflecting in some way on their capabilities when their plane is forced to turn back without having completed its mission or when they have been unable to get an expected containing the maps which would be of such vital importance to them in the prosecution of the mission the men turn in all personal papers and valuables which might serve to give the enemy information in case of capture so changeable of the web in the european theater that sometimes widely varying conditions will be found on fields only a few miles from each other and now the last briefing of all well the final end of a conference around egypt plane as the pilots rechecked the details of the mission with their crews crew members have ceased to exist as individual as they are now ten men teams and turns as soon as the pilot sees the plane in front of him to the element of three planes levels off at one thousand feet and returns parallel to the takeoff runway at a distance of about two miles in the elements start to assemble into squadrons of six continuing to circle the field the squadron is then go to two thousand feet where the group assembly takes place this accomplished the group now moves on to the combat wing assembly point here is how the group stacks up from the side the group has a depth of eight hundred fifty feet this is how the group looks from above in the lead squadron the second element has flown with the nose of the leader slightly behind and to the right of the right wing aircraft first element the lead plane of the high squadron flies even with the lead plane second element lead squadron the second element of the high experience has shown that this arrangement of the group brings to bear on attacking fighters the greatest possible amount of firepower by utilizing to fullest advantage the field of fire of each gun in the formation again it is proved to be the most maneuver possible in one defensive formation however it has been found that the largest practical defensive formation is the combat wing of three groups any formation of aircraft larger than this becomes unwieldy of the task force in this case another combat w attraction it is now ten thirty hours and denmark has been penetrated to some distance without any great upas in this yet so far there has been only some light and in so that they can destroy their target and bring their crews back safely to their  anxious moment comes now for the lead navigator and bombardier the formation is approaching the initial point that is the point where the wing will turn off and make its bombing run on the target proper navigation to this point may rest the success of the entire mission turn it fires to red flares spaced five seconds apart then the group makes its turn on to the run up the low group goes on straight ahead for twenty seconds then makes sense to the high group proceed for twenty seconds beyond the low groups and then it turns on to the run the most critical defensive period in the mission has begun the wind to accomplish most efficiently its primary purpose the bombing of the target as sacrifice its mutual defense the firepower and the groups are thrown on their own the bombay doors open the group is committed to its attack no base of action may be taken until the bombers are away and at this time the formation is most vulnerable to attack both from flak and enemy meanwhile to permit the trailing groups to catch up the lead group crosses around a point at a height one thousand feet lower than bombing other to the succeeding groups would close with the lead group as quickly as possible to regain the defensive combat wing formation the following groups need not necessarily pass exactly over the rally point in regaining wing formation in the meanwhile those marauders take off to fulfil their  in the day's operation short time sweep the area cleared of enemy fighters then give the heavy bombers withdraw support from the enemy close to home at the field it's getting on towards the most noticeable time the estimated time of return everyone who stays behind sweats out this period at the end of each mission here at the controls of the special areas the red cross at the officers club everywhere on the field the one thing total mound in everyone's mind is that the group is due back twenty three dispatch nineteen dispatch eighteen dispatch important to question the crews at the first possible moment after the mission while their impressions and memories are still fr in one way or another scores of our crews are saved by ascii rescued from the english channel and the north sea and returned to combat service aside from human values to train fortress crew is even more valuable than the plane they also valuable to the intel they get is any intelligence that might be picked up by the crews on route to from the target such observations may be completely incidental to the mission but can prove to be of great value at another time now begun to operate in reverse information obtained from the cruise is evaluated in divisional critiques conferences in which all responsible group and divisional officers carefully inspect the detail record of the mission discuss any failures that may have occurred and recurrence after a particularly large or important operation there will be a command pretty with the eighth air force commanding general presiding here in a dark room the strike photos of the targets brought back by the returning planes of the group are developed and printed with all possible speed so that experts the bomber command can assess the damage done coming in from planes of every group participating in the various raids and interpreted and appraised by trained photo interpreters these pictures will give bomber command and excellent idea as to exactly what parts of the various targets were hit and how severely here as seen in these pictures taken the following day by photo reconnaissance planes severe damage has been inflicted on all the major and most of the minor buildings of the arrow factory at anchor this is a strike photo showing how down sick look during the attack very extensive damage has been suffered in the away then the german army in the field and the german workers on the home front will have no food for their stomachs no clothing for their body is no medals for their machines and no fuel with which to run them then the battle of germany will be won and with