Army Air Corps Test of Strategic Air Power: Operation MATTERHORN And the B-29 Superfortress

摘要

The Army Air Corps played a pivotal role in bringing Nazi Germany to her knees through strategic bombing. General H. Arnold believed that strategic bombing alone could bring about strategic victory, saving lives of ground forces. General Arnold viewed the newly fielded B-29 Superfortress, with its exponential increase in bombing capability, and the Pacific theater as an acceptable 'proving ground' to test his theory. This paper examines the thesis that strategic bombing at various centers of gravity was contributory but not singularly responsible for war termination. Strategic bombing was one of many components of the total Allied war machine that defeated Imperial Japan.