Well, Hawk, lets start with your first statement.
Furthermore, Britain and the US carpetbombed French cities where it was believe German troops were seeking shelter.
I am no BDA expert, but the first picture you gave a URL to looked like a lot of bombs hit a field. Don't know what it has to do with "German troops seeking shelter."
The second URL was about the Brits bombing, and I quote from the article, " the small town of Villers-Bocage." Hardly a "French City." The reason for the bombing, according to Montgomery, and I quote from the URL, was, "If that could be torn apart by our bombs, the panzers would be stopped long enough for British armour and field guns to be brought up to join the battle. "
The third URL was about the Bombing of Caen. Turned out, in after action, to be considered a mistake. But at the time, the Germans were holding it as a Fortress to protect the Harbor. It was a Military target. Hardly a place "where German Soldiers were seeking shelter."
Strategic Air made tons of mistakes in WWII. I was just reading about the biggest one at Normandy, where the infamous General Brereton, of, "Leave the Bombers lined up in a row," Philippines reputation, tried to bomb ahead of Bradley's Army, and did more damage to Bradley than the Germans. I don't think mass bombing of French cities on purpose, just to hit sheltering Germans, was one of the things they did. The thing that comes out of Cohen's description of events was that the allies were really concerned about French casualties. |
