The Science of Bombing: Operational Research in RAF Bomber Command

by Randall Thomas Wakelam

After suffering devastating losses in the early stages of the Second World War, the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force established an Operational Research Section within bomber command in order to drastically improve the efficiency of bombing missions targeting Germany. In The Science of Bombing , Randall Wakelam explores the work of civilian scientists who found critical solutions to the navigational and target-finding problems and crippling losses that initially afflicted the RAF. Drawing on previously unexamined files that re-assess the efficacy of strategic bombing from tactical and technical perspectives, Wakelam reveals the important role scientific research and advice played in operational planning and how there existed a remarkable intellectual flexibility at Bomber Command. A fascinating glimpse into military strategy and decision-making, The Science of Bombing will find a wide audience among those interested in air power history as well as military strategists, air force personnel, and aviation historians.

384 pages, Paperback

First published July 3, 2009

Reviews

[Nishant Pappireddi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book about the use of operational research in the British strategic bombing campaign.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished reading The Science of Bombing by Randall Wakelam. A book about the Operations Research Section of the RAF Bomber Command's Headquarters Staff during World War Two. This isn't really a book about the many problems analyzed by these Mathematicians and Scientists but rather about how their analysis was used by the Bomber Command leadership to greatly improve the efficiency of the RAF Strategic Bombing campaign. It is a detailed staff history rather than a collection of analytic writings. That being said, it was interesting to learn about the interactions between the analysts ("boffins") and operators. Knowing how to best present their analytic findings so that they had good effect was a skill that took the OR section some time to figure out.
A good book to read if you are interested in how the British employed their bomber force to "overcome the basic problem that one cannot see in the dark" and how analysts can help a major staff continually refine its efforts to achieve success.

[Nate Huston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wakelam presents an intriguing look at the value and contribution of Operational Research in British Bomber Command during WWII. A number of great examples of data used and numbers crunched in order to achieve insight perhaps not ordinarily achieved through after-action reports alone. Certainly a lesson in the value of measuring results of operations and the potential for objective research to provide critical lessons. The author clearly wishes to alter Bomber Harris's record as regards the view that he was too hard-headed and stubborn to listen to anyone else's argument. His argument is compelling in places, but the impact of OR on his decision-making is a bit of a stretch in others.