Greatest aviation related Blunders of WWII

[pbfoot]

I haven't read every thread but... I think one of the bigger US blunders was not bombing parralell to Allied lines during operation Cobra as requested by the army. They killed a lot of American troops including Gen. McNair. Effects on german troops would have been much worse as well.

same thing here
"On August 8th, Simonds requested the US Air Force to provide aerial bombing support. At 1300, 678 aircraft flew over German positions. The German Flak countered with accurate fire and several aircraft were hit. The leader of a 12-bomber squadron being heavily damaged dropped his bomb load before reaching its target and the other aircraft, reacting automatically did the same. The bombs fell far behind the combat line but in an area that was filled with Allied troops waiting to move up to the front. Some 65 men were killed and 250 wounded from the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and from the 1st Polish Armoured Division, not to mention equipment losses. Major-General Rod Keller, the commander of the 3rd Division was among those injured."
which is a great reason to have every reason to bomb on their own

[syscom3]

The 8th AF had been ordered by SHAEFto bomb parallel. But the 8th BC staff officers refused this order and changed the plans without notification. They were apparently afraid of losses due to the length of time they would be exposed to flak while on the bomb runs.

I think it was borderline cowardice by the staff officers.

[bobbysocks]

leaving goering in charge of the lw....

[Denniss]

leaving goering in charge of the lw....

AKA "The Big Fat Man" or "The Snowman"

[Readie]

The French's complete lack of an effective fighter to fend of the LW as the German's advanced into France.
And then the cheeky B's blame the British for not defending them..
John

[tomo pauk]

French did have far more problems than a lack of a really high-performance fighter.
They lacked the vision & doctrine at high level that would put the planes into a good use. Eg. Germans were issuing 3 sorties per plane per day during BoF, French maybe one? They were lacking a competent system that would detect incoming enemy planes, guiding fighters to intercept them - an MS-406 at 15000 ft is a far better asset than Spit XIV on the ground. The absence of a 25 mile, water filled trench made possible for Germans to park their tanks at the airports, since the French army was also ill suitable (despite their good hardware) to forestall that.
Any blaming of the Brits for not defending them, if indeed that happened, is ridiculous.

[Readie]

Any blaming of the Brits for not defending them, if indeed that happened, is ridiculous.

Its still a bone of contention with the French the fact that the RAF command withdrew from France to preserve our fighters for the perceived BoB to come.

John

[Denniss]

The french had indeed some very good fighters but, as with the army and their tanks, they lacked proper strategy/tactics to use them.

[Milosh]

Its still a bone of contention with the French the fact that the RAF command withdrew from France to preserve our fighters for the perceived BoB to come.

John

Not only the RAF but also the Army which the French claim retreated opening their flank to German assault.

[Gixxerman]

Its still a bone of contention with the French the fact that the RAF command withdrew from France to preserve our fighters for the perceived BoB to come.

John

I can understand that to a limited extent.....I mean, when you have had such a total & utter national catastrophe (which the numbers indicate ought never have happened or at least been quite so bad) then casting around for someone else to blame is not exactly unknown.

Afterall, if you can't shift at least some of the blame, however absurdly, to someone else then all that is left is to stand all alone forced to take absolutely all of the criticisms & brickbats.......and as you try to rebuild & recover after said total & utter national catastrophe that might not be a good thing to be doing or a wise position to place yourself in.
Particularly if you have a large communist element in your body politic itching to destroy what little is left of that body politic.

Rumours during the war are one thing (and 10 a penny).
My bet is that the postwar French leadership were quite candid about this to the then British Gov too (which explains the muted reactions rather than forceful condemnations & perhaps chilled bilateral affairs aone might expect).

We won - and so too ultimately did France - so we could afford to let it be & let it go.

[michaelmaltby]

From "B of B Turnaround Time" thread, h/t DaveBender:

"... Sortie Rate


Per "The Blitzkrieg Myth" by John Mosier.
During the invasion of France Luftwaffe aircraft averaged 3 sorties per day. RAF aircraft averaged 2. French aircraft averaged 1.

I have no other source for these sortie rates so I cannot confirm them..."

Speaks volumes ..

MM

[JAG88]

Not only the RAF but also the Army which the French claim retreated opening their flank to German assault.

I thought they were more pissed off by, you know, getting shot in the back in their naval bases...

They also seemed to have remembered that in WWI the French Army commander had to go stop the commander of the BEF since he was already heading back for England after the first engagements with the German Army. What was the phrase? "Monsieur le Marechal, the honour of England is at stake!"

Plus, there was the sentiment that England had been systematically undermining French policy regarding Germany.

In any case, put the entire RAF in France and the Luftwaffe would have simply destroyed it, no radar means no GCI, no channel means you will be overrun in short order anyways. The RAF didnt fare well in France either.

[Tankworks]

Don't know if this was mentioned before but I look to the obstruction of Harris to allowing diversion of some of the long range heavies to patrol for U-boats. Britain was being starved and the losses incurred in one night-bombing raid would have provided enough aircraft to make a real difference in the U-boat war. Instead the RAF had to wait for Liberators to become avialable, a delay which cost dearly in men and materiel.

[GregP]

One of the greatest blunders was put into action by the War Materiel Board in the U.S.A.

They elected tor emove the turbocharger from both the P039 and P-40, relegating them to medium altitudes for their lifetimes, and removing the Allison's high-altiitude abilities except in teh P-38 Lightning. Had they left the turbos in those two fighters, we well might have seena different history of same.

[wuzak]

One of the greatest blunders was put into action by the War Materiel Board in the U.S.A.

They elected tor emove the turbocharger from both the P039 and P-40, relegating them to medium altitudes for their lifetimes, and removing the Allison's high-altiitude abilities except in teh P-38 Lightning. Had they left the turbos in those two fighters, we well might have seena different history of same.

The P-40 never had a turbocharger to begin with.