The Bombers and the Bombed: Allied Air War Over Europe 1940-1945

by Richard Overy

In January 1944, Portal told Churchill that he was toying with the idea of using gas to attack preliminary V-weapon installations that had been identified in France and the Low Countries, but hesitated to do so because the repercussions of starting gas warfare “would be far-reaching.” The RAF was nevertheless alert for the first whiff of German gas in order to activate its extensive plans for airborne gas attacks. The War Cabinet was notified by the air staff the same month that if Germany should ever use it, the air force would immediately unleash six area attacks with mustard gas and two with phosgene every month. The attacks were to be divided between lighter, harassing raids and heavy concentrated raids using a mix of gas bombs, incendiaries, and high explosive, which would have to be repeated regularly “on the most densely populated centres.”85 The air staff understood that even if the German forces used gas against the invading troops in June 1944, Churchill favored gas attacks not only on enemy troops but also on “the cities of Germany.” A list of suitable cities was drawn up in case such attacks were needed, fifteen for Bomber Command, thirty for the Eighth Air Force, and fifteen for American bombers from Italy. For the Normandy landings Bomber Command planned 11,000 sorties using gas and other bombs against a variety of military and civilian targets.86 The stalemate in Normandy and the onset of the V-weapons campaign brought further pressure from Churchill to use ...