I hate to say it, but we are again looking back at 1938 through the telescope of 1939 to 1945.
And so we see strategic bombers as being a big deal -- a war winning strategy, something that broke the back of the German war machine.
But let us not forget, that for the first FOUR YEARS of the war, until the end of 1943, the allied bombing campaign was pretty much of a joke. They measured accuracy in terms of miles, and they were lucky to hit the right CITY.
And one study even showed more air crews lost than the number of Germans killed on the ground by allied bombing.
Of course, by 1944, all that changed. But my point is, strategic bombers in 1938 were FREAKIN USELESS, a complete waste of time and resources, demonstrating yet again that the Brits (God love them) had their heads up their stinking a** er, I mean, in the clouds, so to speak....
What they should have focused on was tanks, trucks, radios and infantry support fighter aircraft -- just like the Germans did. Most of all, they needed infantry.
Of course, after the First World War, that was the one thing they didn't want to ever have to do again. It's hard to blame them, but the cost was the loss of Europe and many more years of war...
They had never anticipated the French would totally collapse like they did thus bringing every city in the UK within range of Jerry's medium bombers.
They also didn't allow for the fact that this time, the Germans would not respect Holland's neutrality.
What's the first Axiom of War: All plans turn to sh*t when the bullets fly?