The Bomber Mafia

Malcolm Gladwell Allen Lane €17.99 ★★★★★

The First World War caused death and destruction on an unprecedented scale and left some 37 million people dead or wounded. Was there any way that such carnage could have been avoided?

There were plenty of military theorists who thought so, and the most strident of these were the advocates of air power. The First World War was the first conflict in which aeroplanes had played a part, albeit in a supporting role. Air force leaders were determined that in any future conflict they would take centre stage.

In the US the doctrine of airpower was nurtured by a group of talented and ambitious young officers who became known as ‘The Bomber Mafia’. They were convinced not only that strategic bombing alone would suffice to win future wars, but that their methods would result in minimal civilian casualties. What happened when their theories collided with reality is the subject of Malcolm Gladwell’s short but fascinating book.

Gladwell’s story focuses on two individuals, the idealistic and quixotic Haywood Hansell, who commanded the first B-29 Superfortress raids against Japan, and the man who replaced him, the brutal but pragmatic Curtis LeMay (pictured).

When the American USAAF had joined the RAF in the air war against Germany they were dismissive of the British doctrine of area bombing, but despite their much-vaunted technology, USAAF bombing raids were woefully inaccurate. LeMay came, saw, and changed his mind. Hansell did not, and only after he was sacked did the Americans switch to an area bombing strategy in Japan that for sheer destructiveness put the air war against Germany in the shade. Gladwell concludes that although LeMay won the battle Hansell won the war, a reference to the modern computer-guided weapons technology that has finally made the dream of precision targeting a reality. I’m not convinced, but, as ever, Gladwell’s eloquence and flair for lateral thinking make for a compelling read.