CHURCHILL’S GREATEST
TRIUMPH: BOMBER COMMAND
BY RODDY MACKENZIE
“The real cause of Germany’s defeat was the
failure of the German Air Force.”—Hitler^1W
inston Churchill was involved from the be-
ginning. During the First World War, Prime
Minister David Lloyd George appointed
Churchill Minister of Munitions in July 1917. Churchill
was exceptionally effective. His many responsibilities in-
cluded overseeing the supply of the new Royal Air Force
following its creation on 1 April 1918. By 1919, Churchill
was both Secretary of State for War and Air. He concoct-
ed with Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard (the “Fa-
ther of the RAF”) “methods of using bombers to control
large areas of sparsely populated territory” through “force
substitution.”^2 This was important, because the two men
viewed air power as possessing both offensive and defen-
sive capabilities. This belief was used to overcome pres-
sure from the British Army and Royal Navy to disband
the RAF as a separate service. The United States had no
Churchill-Trenchard equivalent at the end of the First
World War, and so America’s Army and Navy succeed-
ed in preventing the creation of a separate US Air Force
until 1947. Churchill’s enthusiasm made the RAF for
many years the largest air force in the world. Further, his
encouragement of the British air construction industry
helped save Britain in the Second World War.Churchill’s View of Bomber CommandW
ith anyone but Churchill as Prime Minister in
May 1940, Britain would most likely have ne-
gotiated peace with Hitler. Additionally, with-
out Churchill, Bomber Command would most likely have
been sidelined early in the war because of the horrific cost
in crewmen killed and aircraft lost. But Churchill, with
singular clarity, saw Bomber Command as vital to victory.
In September 1940, the first anniversary of the beginning
of the Second World War, Churchill said in a memo tothe Cabinet: “The Navy can lose us the war but only the
Air Force can win it....The Fighters are our salvation...
but the Bombers alone provide the means of victory.”^3
A myth has arisen about “The Few,” which needs
to be dispelled. Churchill’s immortal words praising
“The Few” refer not just to Fighter Command. They
refer to all RAF airmen. Here are the three sentenc-
es Churchill spoke in Parliament on 20 August 1940:The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our
Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in
the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British air-
men who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their
constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning
the tide of world war by their prowess and by their
devotion. Never in the field of human has so much
been owed by so many to so few. All hearts go out to
the fighter pilots whose brilliant actions we see with
our own eyes day after day, but we must never forget
that all the time, night after night, month after month,
our bomber squadrons travel far into Germany, find
their targets in the darkness by the highest naviga-
tional skill, aim their attacks, often under the heaviest
fire, often with serious loss, with deliberate careful
discrimination, and inflict shattering blows upon the
whole of the technical and war-making structure of
the Nazi power.^4What Was Bomber Command?B
omber Command was the Commonwealth’s use
of airpower to attack Nazi-controlled Europe. The
Air Forces of Australia, Britain, Canada, and New
Zealand (the Irish Free State was neutral, and South Af-
rica focused on the African air war) came together in a
single seamless unit of ever-increasing power and effec-
tiveness. From 22 February 1942 to the end of the war,
Bomber Command was led by Air Chief Marshal Sir Ar-
thur Harris. The VIII Bomber Command (the “MightyCHURCHILL’S GREATEST
TRIUMPH: BOMBER COMMAND
BY RODDY MACKENZIE
“The real cause of Germany’s defeat was the
failure of the German Air Force.”—Hitler^1W
inston Churchill was involved from the be-
ginning. During the First World War, Prime
Minister David Lloyd George appointed
Churchill Minister of Munitions in July 1917. Churchill
was exceptionally effective. His many responsibilities in-
cluded overseeing the supply of the new Royal Air Force
following its creation on 1 April 1918. By 1919, Churchill
was both Secretary of State for War and Air. He concoct-
ed with Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard (the “Fa-
ther of the RAF”) “methods of using bombers to control
large areas of sparsely populated territory” through “force
substitution.”^2 This was important, because the two men
viewed air power as possessing both offensive and defen-
sive capabilities. This belief was used to overcome pres-
sure from the British Army and Royal Navy to disband
the RAF as a separate service. The United States had no
Churchill-Trenchard equivalent at the end of the First
World War, and so America’s Army and Navy succeed-
ed in preventing the creation of a separate US Air Force
until 1947. Churchill’s enthusiasm made the RAF for
many years the largest air force in the world. Further, his
encouragement of the British air construction industry
helped save Britain in the Second World War.Churchill’s View of Bomber CommandW
ith anyone but Churchill as Prime Minister in
May 1940, Britain would most likely have ne-
gotiated peace with Hitler. Additionally, with-
out Churchill, Bomber Command would most likely have
been sidelined early in the war because of the horrific cost
in crewmen killed and aircraft lost. But Churchill, with
singular clarity, saw Bomber Command as vital to victory.
In September 1940, the first anniversary of the beginning
of the Second World War, Churchill said in a memo tothe Cabinet: “The Navy can lose us the war but only the
Air Force can win it....The Fighters are our salvation...
but the Bombers alone provide the means of victory.”^3
A myth has arisen about “The Few,” which needs
to be dispelled. Churchill’s immortal words praising
“The Few” refer not just to Fighter Command. They
refer to all RAF airmen. Here are the three sentenc-
es Churchill spoke in Parliament on 20 August 1940:The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our
Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in
the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British air-
men who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their
constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning
the tide of world war by their prowess and by their
devotion. Never in the field of human has so much
been owed by so many to so few. All hearts go out to
the fighter pilots whose brilliant actions we see with
our own eyes day after day, but we must never forget
that all the time, night after night, month after month,
our bomber squadrons travel far into Germany, find
their targets in the darkness by the highest naviga-
tional skill, aim their attacks, often under the heaviest
fire, often with serious loss, with deliberate careful
discrimination, and inflict shattering blows upon the
whole of the technical and war-making structure of
the Nazi power.^4What Was Bomber Command?B
omber Command was the Commonwealth’s use
of airpower to attack Nazi-controlled Europe. The
Air Forces of Australia, Britain, Canada, and New
Zealand (the Irish Free State was neutral, and South Af-
rica focused on the African air war) came together in a
single seamless unit of ever-increasing power and effec-
tiveness. From 22 February 1942 to the end of the war,
Bomber Command was led by Air Chief Marshal Sir Ar-
thur Harris. The VIII Bomber Command (the “Mighty