Omaha Air Bombardment - Part I: Planning a Tactical Mission for Strategic Bombers

In the early hours of 6 June 1944, the Eighth Air Force launched an air armada of 450 B-24 heavy bombers to pummel the enemy beach defenses at Omaha with 1270 tons of bombs. The defenses would be pulverized; the landings would be a walkover. Or at least that was what many people expected. ‍Yet a variety of hard realities would prevent even a fraction of that tonnage hitting the targets, even had the weather been clear.

In this installment, we examine several factors which limited the tactical effectiveness in employing strategic bombers in support of the amphibious landings at the Omaha Assault Area.

This analysis serves as a prelude to a following installment which attempts to clarify the mystifying circumstances of the last minute decision to delay the bomb releases, resulting in no bombs landing on target. ‍