Explanation: During WW2, British and American bomber command in Europe pursued different strategies for fighting the Nazis. The British employed a strategy of area bombing, or, less charitably, terror bombing, in which large swathes of German cities were indiscriminately flattened at night-time in the hope that this would sap the morale of the German population to continue fighting. Post-war studies would show that this was not the case, and one might think that the British, themselves, the subject of German terror bombing early in the war which only stiffened their resolve, might have cottoned on to that a little faster.
American bomber command preferred daylight raids in the hopes of destroying strategic military and industrial targets in order to sap the material ability of Nazi Germany to resist. This is generally agreed to have been more effective.
The two, however, converged on Dresden - a major transport hub for the German war machine, especially regarding transport of materiel to the Eastern Front. A joint British-American firebombing raid killed tens-of-thousands of civilians. While there was some military justification for the raid, it’s generally agreed that the civilian damage was excessive and that the raid was one of the least justifiable decisions of the Western Allies of the war. It provided the Nazis with considerable propaganda material, and gets passed around even today with exaggerated numbers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden
‘Funny’ enough, despite the Americans engaging in a more targeted bombing campaign in Europe, American firebombing in Japan was every bit as pointlessly brutal and murderous as the Brits were in Europe - if not worse, considering the extremely flammable nature of 1940s Japanese civilian structures.
He did, however, come out with the single most badass quote of the war, and a strong contender for the most badass of all time.
“The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.”
The British may have held a bit of a grudge.
Yes, the Nazis had been bombarding the British homeland for years, and early on they feared the country would fall to Hitler. You bet your ass they were ready for payback.
Slaughterhouse 5 goes into detail on this subject.
Dresden 45
Removed by mod
Should’ve just killed every human on Earth to ensure world peace.
