136 - The Carpet Bombing of Germany begins - WW2 - April 3, 1942

by Panzer
So he's in charge of the fleet now?
Oh, that's cool!
So what is he going to do, is he going to attack?
No, he's going to hide and disperse…
I don't understand… how come?
Kido Butai!
Oh! Yeah, yeah, say no more.
April 4, 1942
One thing that we've seen that is guaranteed to make Adolf Hitler angry is attacks against
Germany proper.
Well, this week comes one such attack that heralds an entire new phase of pissing off
Hitler, and it comes in Lubeck.
I'm Indy Neidell; this is World War Two.
Last week, yet another Soviet attack on the Crimean Kerch Peninsula was stopped by the
Germans, Japanese attacks in Burma were briefly stopped by Chinese opposition, and a convoy
attempt to supply Malta was mostly stopped by Axis air power.
Allied air power, specifically British, is in the news this week.
On March 28th, 234 RAF bombers raid Lubeck, Germany.
30% of the city is destroyed and 80% or more of its medieval town center.
This marks the beginning of Bomber Command's new policy targeting civilian living areas
and not factories.
Lubeck is chosen because it is an old medieval town with narrow streets and wooden framed
houses so it will burn better.
Commander Arthur Harris will later say, "The main object of the attack was to learn to
what extent a first wave of aircraft could guide a second wave to the aiming point by
starting a conflagration; I ordered a half hour interval between the two waves in order
to allow the fires to get a good hold."
15,000 Germans are left homeless.
This is not the only raid this week against German territory, though the other big one
comes from the sea.
Also on the 28th, Operation Chariot is launched.
This is a raid on the port at St. Nazaire.
HMS Campbelltown is filled with explosives on a timed fuse and rams the dock gates while
commandos attack the service area.
The port is completely destroyed and 400 Germans are killed.
Of the 611 attacking commandos, 169 are killed, but just 228 return to Britain as most of
their small craft are destroyed by the Germans and they are captured.
This is the only port in western France that can accommodate ships the size of the battleship
Tirpitz so its use in the Atlantic as a commerce raider has been limited, and of course should