German Bombers of World War II

This is the longest piece of writing that I've ever written....ENJOY!


It's a calm, quiet day on May 21, 1940. A little boy on the beach listens to the beating of waves and the excited rippling of water. Then, in the dead calm, a noise is heard. What is it? It gets louder, louder, and then, a huge screeching noise. Other people, grown-ups, are yelling. BOOM! Bright light flashes as explosions light up the sandy beach. People are screaming, lights flash for brief moments, and then calm. The noise fades out leaving only the moaning of the dying and the sight of the dead. The once bustling town is in ruins when the German troops finally come in. Nobody left alive has the strength or resources to resist.

Many towns, such as this one, have experienced such devastation. What caused it? Airplanes - in particular, bombers. As I was reading a book on World War II, I read that bombers were a very essential part of World War II. I said to myself, "Why is that? What, besides the ability to fly, could have made these metal monsters so formidable?" I knew that bombers were used in both sides of the war and I knew that the Germans were eventually repulsed. But what part did they play in the war? With these questions in mind, I've decided to look into World War II bombers and how they became so important. First, I needed to do some research. I went to the library and studied some of the World War II books. Then, at the computer lab, I found a couple of websites and thoroughly read through them. These are the results of my search.

There are three main types of bombers: light, medium and heavy. There are also torpedo and commando classes, but there are only one or two types of plane in each class. Light bombers are the fastest types of bombers. They don't carry a very heavy bomb load, but they are more effective at traveling long distances. Heavy bombers travel at slower speeds and are more easily caught by enemy aircraft, but that's only if they survive getting bombed first. They carry between 3000 and 6000 pounds of disposable cargo (a.k.a. bombs), whereas light bombers carry only 1000 to 2000 pounds. Then, there are medium bombers. Medium bombers are a mix between the two. They aren’t super fast, and their bomb load ranges from 2000 to 4000 pounds of cargo. Torpedo bombers are sea-based bombers that specialize on boats. Commando planes usually were intended for one-item drops (Wikipedia). Those aren’t the only methods of classifying bombers either. There is another common way: level bombers and tactical (or dive) bombers. Level bombers are very dangerous to infantry troops. They just fly in a straight line and drop their bombs. Tactical bombers are very different. Instead of flying over the target, they come crashing down on the target, pulling up and releasing a bomb at the same time. It tends to do more damage in a smaller area. This has made it extremely well-suited for attacking armored vehicles (Air). In my opening scenario, I believe that those bombers were probably level, medium bombers. Level bombers did more widespread damage, which made them ideal for cities and towns. It depended on the size of the city being bombed if a heavy or medium bomber was used. If it was a large, relatively undefended city, a heavy bomber was used. If it was big and heavily defended or a smaller city, a medium bomber was used (Jablonsk). Light bombers generally went after the soldiers or performed armed recon. I also learned that World War II bombers usually belonged to one of three main airforces: the RAF (Royal Air Force), the Luftwaffe (the German Air Force), or the USAF (United States Air Force). Of the three, the German Luftwaffe was the most advanced, had the most skill, and were the most feared. The only advantage that the RAF and USAF had on the Germans was that they could replace every man that the Germans shot down, and the Germans couldn’t (Wikipedia).

During World War II the German Luftwaffe always had the upper hand in battles. Since before the war, in 1935, the Germans had better aircraft. Bombers and fighters alike were more advanced than pretty much any other country. The German Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Junkers Ju 87 are examples of their early air superiority. Then, as the war rolled on, they started producing better and more revolutionary aircraft such as the Junkers Ju 88 and Messerschmitt Bf 110. The Junkers Ju 88 was rolled into hurried production as a heavy bomber because of the Germans first real defeat on the British Isles. This defeat was because of a the lack of heavy bombers weakening the ground resistance. The Bf 109 was an extraordinary airplane. It was originally designed as a fighter, but it soon turned into a multi-role aircraft. It soon became the Bf 110, which was kind of like an extremely light bomber, only carrying a couple hundred pounds of cargo. But along with strafing (which actually worked very well against enemy vehicles), it became one of the most deadly semi-bombers of the war. The Germans kept air superiority throughout the war, and when the war was in its final stages, the German Luftwaffe was using the Heinkel He 162, and Messerschmitt 262, both fighters. Most bomber production was given up because they were now on the defensive. The Germans now focused on anti-bomber aircraft. The Messerschmitt 262 was especially effective with this because it now had the ability to shoot down allied bombers, which were becoming much more effective. They were also jet powered, which allowed them to outrun almost any other aircraft. Unfortunately, even with their superior technology, the Germans lacked sufficient numbers, which contributed to their loss of the war (Jablonsk).

The German Luftwaffe’s bombers weren’t usually heavily armed. This would prevent the bombers from getting annihilated but also slow them down considerably and reduce their payload. The Junkers Ju 87’s and 88’s usually were not armed except with the occasional wailing siren that caused extensive fear for their enemies. However, the later models that were used in the war as the Luftwaffe was being pushed back were armed with heavy cannons to prevent them from being destroyed by the increasing number of enemy fighters. The main bomber of the war was the myth of the “Stuka”, more commonly know as the Junkers Ju 87 dive-bomber. The Ju 87 got the name “Stuka” from the German word for dive-bomber, Sturzkampfflugzeug (Wikipedia). While sturdy, accurate and effective, a few flaws, including being slow and somewhat unmaneuverable, allowed many of its number to be shot down. This taught the Germans that air superiority had to be accomplished before they brought in the Stukas. Because air-superiority could not be effectively established in Britain, the Stuka was not used there after one, first, disastrous attempt at invasion. After its defeat in Britain, the Stuka’s fame was ruined, and the model of the Luftwaffes bomber core was ruined as well (Einsteins Emporium, Air).

The bombers of Luftwaffe during early World War II were first used during the invasion of Poland. They were mainly Junkers Ju 87 “Stukas” and were highly effective. Their first real success was in the Battle of Bzura, when the Poles were threatening to break the German lines and set the Germans back prematurely. During the ensuing battle, the Stukas managed to destroy the bridges across the river, stranding the Polish forces out in the open. The Poles were then subject to four days of extensive bombing. Poland fell shortly after and the Luftwaffe turned to Norway and Denmark. Denmark, having only eighty-nine combat planes compared to the Luftwaffe’s five hundred twenty-seven, put up minimal resistance and German air-superiority was established in twenty-four hours. Norway, however, put up more of a battle. However, after the first day of fighting, their air strength fell by twenty to only fifty-four combat planes. As the Luftwaffe continued to invade, they began to encounter heavy resistance and the Germans failed to destroy some anti-ship batteries, which led to the sinking of a German destroyer. However, the Germans still had air-superiority and Norway surrendered in June of 1940. The Luftwaffes next targets were in Belgium and France. The France and Belgium campaigns only lasted about a month with considerable losses for the Luftwaffe, but devastating losses for the French and Dutch. France was totally unprepared for the German Stukas and their trenches that they’d prepared were mostly useless. Britain was siding with the French but they soon decided to cut their losses and pull out so that they could resist Germany’s impending invasion on their country. When these countries were won, Britain became their next target. Göring, the commander of the Luftwaffe, got a little overconfident, and sent in his troops. Unfortunately, the Luftwaffe was not meant for this kind of long-range attack. As a result, the Germans suffered heavy losses and caused Göring to reevaluate his strategy. When the Luftwaffe came back, they were better prepared and the Luftwaffe was soon bombing RAF airfields. Britain was weakening fast and if Hitler had not switched his troops to terror bombing cities, the RAF Fighter Command would have been irreversibly crushed. Or, as Air Marshal Sir Robert Saundby said, "...had the Germans persisted in their policy for another fortnight the result would have been disastrous for Fighter Command."(Wikipedia) Fighter Command soon regained momentum however and managed to push back the Germans. This was the first major defeat for the Luftwaffe. Soon after the German invasion of the USSR, the Germans bomber core took a backseat as the Germans started to get pushed back.(Wikipedia, Jablonsk)

What part did the German Luftwaffes’ bombers play in the war? Well, they seem to have caused a lot of terror and damage. I’ve also come to the conclusion that it was due to the bombers that Norway, Denmark, France, Belgium and many other countries all fell to the Germans so quickly. I don’t believe that the Germans could have expanded their empire as far without the Luftwaffe. Even though World War II was a time of terror, it’s kind of awesome that a country could’ve advanced their air machines to the point were they could almost take over an entire continent. This has impressed upon me the importance of bombers and given me a new respect for flying machines.