At the end of 1943, the U.S. 8th Air Force, that's the one based in Britain,

published a booklet touting the accomplishments of its first year of bomber raids in Europe.

Spread across the first two pages of the booklet was a map showing every target the Americans had bombed in 1943.

Two of the targets were in Norway, four in the Netherlands, and eight in Belgium.

Nineteen of them were in Germany, and 33 of them were in France, as many as in all the other countries combined.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Music The

The Episode 431, Bombing Your Allies

The French government first began drawing up civil defense plans against

possible air attacks in 1923. In 1935, the National Assembly passed legislation providing for

mandatory participation by all citizens in civil defense measures.

In 1938, the Ministry of Defense appointed a national director of civil defense,

whose job was to coordinate civil defense among France's 90 departments.

In June 1940, France was defeated by Germany and agreed to an armistice that divided the country into a German occupation zone and Italian occupation zone and unoccupied France.

In July 1940, the British War Cabinet approved bombing German military targets in

occupied France, within 30 miles of the coast. That year, most RAF bombing raids were meant

to disrupt the German bombing campaign against Britain, or German efforts to

marshal an invasion force, or maintain the U-boat blockade. Some of these attacks were

conducted by RAF Coastal Command. By 1941, however, as the prospect of an invasion of Great Britain grew more distant,

RAF Bomber Command turned its attention away from these immediate threats

and began targeting the German military generally.

As you know, from our previous episodes on the bombing campaign in Europe,

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