Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

If we measure an operations success by it’s strategic effect, there are three major operations which really do stand out for me;

The Battle of Britain – okay, not strictly a single operation, but it undoubtedly changed the course of the war.

Taranto – which effectively stopped the Italian fleet from becoming active in the Mediteranean. This helped Malta to remain active, and in turn helped safegurad the fragile supply routes to Egypt.

Bismark – The loss of the Bismark on her maiden voyage was instrumental in reducing the German capital ships’ enthusiasm for venturing out into the North Atlantic.

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

The German invasion of France, and how they used CAS to support ground troops, was clearly highly succesful.

Operation Bodenplatte, was a failure. It destroyed not many (concerning the numbers available) allied planes, yet it cost the germans their last experienced pilots, operational planes and precious fuel. These planes would have been better used to stop a Rhine crossing.

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

I’ll second that one, Glenn.

Neilly

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

Pearl harbour succeded in sealing Japan’s fate in the war. 🙂 I think that much we can all agree on. Yamamoto could only guanrantee 6 months of victory and he was pretty much right on.

Regards, Glenn.

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

I think you could only call Pearl Harbour a partical success. As I said before the PRIME objective was to sink the USN’s carriers, which the Japanese failed to do. This fact came back to haunt the Jap Navy, when the American Carrier bourne aircraft desimated the Jap Carriers & there by turning the tide, of the Pacific war into American & Allied favour. Had the USN lost it’s carriers at Pearl then, I feel certain the Japanese would’ve pushed them & the British & Commonwealth Forces, out of the Far East. Battle of Midway would still be my choice in the Pacific war.

Cheers,
Neilly

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

I think they could have called Pearl Harbour a succsess.

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

Pearl Harbour was probably the most successful air operation in the element of strategic and tactical surprise and the level of devastation to the enemy with minimal loss. Even if the US carriers had have been there and had been attacked, it is very likely they would have been rasied and repaired as were a lot of the battleships that were hit and sunk in the shallows that day. This of course would have depended on the damage inflicted, and had the carriers been present they would have almost ceratinly provoked a 3rd wave of strikes to really finish them off. Speculation of course, but interesting to think about.

Others would be Operation Mercury, the airborne invasion of Crete. A virtual pyrhic victory for the Germans but the plan worked none the less.

The Allied bombing campaign in Europe – once it had switched to focus on German synthetic oil production the effects were wide and deep reaching within the German forces, ended the war in Europe a lot quicker.

Regards, Glenn.

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 10-04-02 AT 09:57 AM (GMT)]Pearl Harbour didn’t achieve it’s main objective either. The US Navy aircraft carriers were not attacked (for the obvious reason, they were still at sea!). The carriers were one of the prime reasons, that Japanese force finally lost the war in the Pacific.
Carrying on the Pacific War theme, surely the greatest battle & victory was The Battle of Midway? The brilliance of the American Commanders & the bravery of the USN pilots. Especially the bomber/torpedo crews, who knew they didn’t have the range to attack the Japanese carriers & return to their own carriers, but still went. This was courage of the highest order!
The Battle of Midway, would be my choice from the Pacific.

Neilly

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

I would say Pearl Harbour was pretty well planned and succsessful though I’m likely to get flamed. And much as i idolise the dambusters pilots, the raid didnt achieve much.

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

It depends on how you define success.

You could claim that the raids on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, although highly unpleasant, were incredibly successful in that they brought about the end of a conflict that would have cost an astounding amount of casualties on both sides if an invasion of Japan had been undertaken.

Even more unpleasant, how about the often overlooked fire bomb raid on Tokyo, which has gone down in history as the most destructive air raid ever undertaken.

If you define success as achieving your aimed objective with minimum casualties to your own side, I would look to Bomber Commands 100 Group and their electronic warfare activities during the conflict.

However my own candidate for the most successful aerial operation of the Second World War goes to the Luftwaffe and their highly innovative glider attack on Fort Eben-Emael and the bridges across the Albert Canal during the morning of May 10th 1940.

EWEN

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

Any raid which used a Mosquito! Amiens Prison Raid for example.

Biased,
Neilly

RE: Most successful aerial operation of WWII?

Peenemunde?

Moggy