TheArea Bombing Directive was a directive issued by theAir Ministry of theWar Cabinet to theRoyal Air Force (RAF) duringWorld War II on 14 February 1942. The directive orderedRAF Bomber Command to destroyNazi Germany's industrial workforce anddemoralise the population througharea bombing of Germany's cities and their civilian inhabitants.
TheArea Bombing Directive General Directive No.5 (S.46368/111. D.C.A.S) was a 14 February 1942[1][2][3] amendment to General Directive No.4 (S.46368 D.C.A.S), issued by the BritishAir Ministry on 5 February 1942, that instructedRAF Bomber Command that it had "Priority over all other commitments",[4] and directed RAF Bomber Command to bomb factories inoccupied France. General Directive Number 5 amended Number 4, to make targets in Germany the priority for RAF Bomber Command.
The directive issued on 14 February (S.46368/111. D.C.A.S) listed the primary industrial areas that were within 350 miles ofRAF Mildenhall, that distance being a little over the maximum range of theGEE radio navigation aid (referred to in the directive as "T.R. 1335"). The directive specifically mentions theRuhr and thatEssen, in the centre of theconurbation, was to be given the dubious honour as the first target that was to be bombed (the first attack on Essen under this directive was carried out on the night of 8/9 March).[1] The objective of the directive was "To focus attacks on the morale of the enemy civil population and in particular the industrial workers. In the case of Berlin harassing attacks to maintain fear of raids and to imposeA. R. P. measures".[1][5]
The directive issued on 14 February listed the industrial areas on Germany's northern coast (within range of GEE) and industrial areas beyond the operational reach of GEE (Berlin by name and northern central and southern Germany) as secondary targets to be bombed when the weather over those targets was more suitable for bombing than over the primary area. Other German cities mentioned by name and to be attacked with high explosives wereDuisburg,Düsseldorf andCologne. Billancourt in occupied France, which was the primary target in the directive issued on 5 February (Air Ministry Reference 46268 D.C.A.S) and immediately preceding this one, was to become the secondary target (it was bombed on the night of 3/4 March).[1] In addition, the RAF was also directed to conduct specific operations to supportCombined Operations, such as the periodic bombardment of targets of immediate strategic importance, for example naval units (seeChannel Dash that happened only two days before this directive was issued), but it added a qualifier that these were only to be carried out if good opportunities to attack primary targets were not missed.[1]
The directive issued on 14 February also stated that "You are accordingly authorised to employ your forces without restriction" which lifted theinjunction placed on Bomber Command on 13 November 1941 ordering it to conserve its forces after the very heavy mauling it had suffered at the hands ofLuftwaffe night fighters earlier that month.[6][7]
On 15 February, the day after the directive was issued, theChief of the Air StaffCharles Portal sought clarification from the Deputy Chief of Air StaffAir Vice MarshalNorman Bottomley who had drafted it:[5][8][9]
ref the new bombing directive: I suppose it is clear the aiming points will be the built up areas, and not, for instance, the dockyards or aircraft factories where these are mentioned in Appendix A. This must be made quite clear if it is not already understood.
The first major target attacked in the campaign initiated by the directive was Essen on the night of 8/9 March 1942.[10] This was followed by repeated incendiary attacks on Essen and the other three large cities in the Ruhr, and then "as opportunity offered, fourteen other industrial cities in Northern, Central and Southern Germany".[3]
Between 21 March and 3 September 1942, eight further modifications were made to the directive (all under the same Air Ministry reference, but modified file references). These were:[11]
The operations of the RAF were also modified by other directives issued by the Air Ministry while Directive S.46368 was still effective. For example, on 30 July 1942 (S.3319 A.C.A.S. Ops) gave priority to "Transportation and Transformer Stations" for Number 2 Group and S.O.E. squadron.[13] while on 4 September (S.46344 A.C.A.S. Ops) directed that incendiary bombs were to be "dropped in harvest season during normal bombing operations" as cover for sabotage operations.[13] On 14 January 1943 directive (S.46239/?? A.C.A.S. Ops) gave priority to attackingU-boat pens ofLorient,St Nazaire,Brest andLa Pallice on the western French coast. In line with the bombing of Genoa and Turin on 23 October 1942 and a speech by theBritish Prime MinisterWinston Churchill six days later, warning the Italian government that the RAF would continue bombing Italian cities while Italy remained an Axis power, a directive was issued on 17 January 1943 (S.46368/??? D.C.A.S. Ops) added to the bombing list of targets the Industrial centres of Northern Italy – Milan, Turin, Genoa andSpezia.[5][14][15]
The Area Bombing Directive was superseded by theCasablanca directive (C.S. 16536 S.46368 A.C.A.S. Ops). It was approved by theCombined Chiefs of Staff at their 65th meeting on 21 January 1943 and issued by the British and United States Army Air Force Commanders on 4 February 1943.[15]