Combined Bomber Offensive

Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) alias: Allied Bomber offensive
Part of the Strategic bombing campaign in Europe
8th Air Force B-17 during raid of October 9, 1943 on the Focke-Wulf aircraft factory at Malbork, Poland (Marienburg in German).[2][3]
Date June 10, 1943 – April 12, 1945 Location European Theatre of World War II Result Disputed
Belligerents
United Kingdom  Canada Poland Free French Air Forces[1]  United States	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Arthur Harris Carl Spaatz	Hermann Göring

The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) was an Allied offensive of strategic bombing during World War II in Europe. The primary portion of the CBO was directed against Luftwaffe targets which were the highest priority from June 1943 to 1 April 1944.^[4] The subsequent highest priority campaigns were against V-weapon installations (June 1944) and petroleum, oil, and lubrication (POL) plants (September 1944). Additional CBO targets included railyards and other transportation targets, particularly prior to the invasion of Normandy and, along with army equipment,^[5] in the final stages of the war in Europe.

The British bombing campaign was chiefly waged by night by large numbers of heavy bombers until the latter stages of the war when German fighter defences were so reduced that daylight bombing was possible without risking large losses. The US effort was by day – massed formations of bombers with escorting fighters. Together they made up a round-the-clock bombing effort except where weather conditions prevented operations.

The Pointblank directive initiated the primary portion^[6] of the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive intended to cripple or destroy the German aircraft fighter strength, thus drawing it away from frontline operations and ensuring it would not be an obstacle to the invasion of Northwest Europe. The directive issued on 14 June 1943 ordered RAF Bomber Command and the U.S. Eighth Air Force to bomb specific targets such as aircraft factories; the order was confirmed at the Quebec Conference, 1943.

Up to that point the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces had mostly been attacking German industry in their own way – the British by broad night attacks on industrial areas and the US in "precision attacks" on specific targets. The operational execution of the directive was left to the commanders of the forces and as such even after the directive the British continued in night attacks on the majority of the attacks on German fighter production.^[7][8]