Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the longest night of the Second World War, Maxwell Gladwell, author and narrator
During World War II, it was imperative for the Americans to have a place from which to stage their aircraft in order to attack Japan. The Mariana Islands enabled our bombers to reach their targets. Once capturing them and achieving a staging area, America was faced with a bigger problem. Now that they could reach Japan, how could they make their bombers more accurate? Haphazard bombing produced ineffective results and wasted the time and lives of the soldiers. The planes and bombs were costly, and they and soldiers were often unnecessarily sacrificed because they were unable to be used strategically. Not only did the pilots need to be more accurate, but they had to be used more effectively. They had to be able to fly in all types of weather and at all times of the day and night. Although the technique of precision bombing wasn’t perfected until after WWII, their efforts to develop more effective weapons turned the tide of the war. The unsung heroes of the Bomber Mafia designed and developed these more advanced tools of war which ultimately brought about its end.
In this brief book, two generals are largely featured as integral parts of the war effort. One is Major General Haywood S. Hansell Jr. and the other is General Curtis LeMay. One was fired for not accomplishing the goal of winning the war and the other was hired and did successfully bring about its end. One considered all consequences and casualties on the road to victory, resulting in catastrophic failure, and the other was headstrong and focused first and foremost on the ultimate goal of winning without regard to the loss of innocent lives.
Citing many examples, complete with quotes, sound effects and audio commentary from the actual persons involved , Gladwell explains how the idea of precision bombing came about and explores the types of men and methods involved in developing it. A group of forward-thinking men who were not afraid to think outside of the box, became the “Bomber Mafia. In spite of opposition in favor of carpet bombing, rather than precision bombing, eventually this group helped to bring about an end to the terrible war, though history has shown that they did not get appropriate credit for it and remained largely unacknowledged.
Without their creative ideas, coupled with their courage to persevere and develop them, the war would probably have continued far longer and accrued many more American casualties and fatalities. Their technology somewhat improved the accuracy of the bombers, but their ultimate achievement was the development of Napalm. Previously, bombings were haphazard, with bombs randomly dropping in approximate areas, sometimes missing the mark altogether. With their bomb sights, a more precise target could be chosen and struck more effectively. That technology, however, was not advanced enough, at that time, to end the war. The terrible incendiary devices were more effective and far more destructive of property and human life. As the author notes, in hindsight it is easy to judge the violence and destruction more harshly, but as one is experiencing the theater of war, one thinks only of inflicting harm on the enemy to bring about its end without our continued loss of life. The Bomber Mafia were at odds with the prevailing judgment of military men, but ultimately, they paved the way for the more precise war efforts of today.
Maxwell Gladwell narrates his book very well, with just the right emotional stress coupled with an intellectual approach. He treats each word as if seeing it for the first time and as is if he is being enlightened with the facts along with the listener.