Selling Schweinfurt: Targeting, Assessment, and Marketing in the Air Campaign Against German Industry - Brian D Vlaun

This review has been submitted to the RCAF Journal.

Title: Selling Schweinfurt: Targeting, Assessment, and Marketing in the Air Campaign Against German Industry
Author: Brian D Vlaun
ISBN: 978-1-682-47536-2
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Year: 2020
Hardcover
Pages: 303
Photos/Maps: 15/0

In his book "Selling Schweinfurt: Targeting, Assessment, and Marketing in the Air Campaign against German Industry," author Brian D. Vlaun examines the complex process of target selection and assessment in the Allied air campaign against German industry during World War II. Vlaun draws on a wide range of sources, including official government records, personal papers, and contemporary media reports, to provide a detailed account of how the Allied air forces identified and prioritized targets for bombing.

The book is divided into three main parts. In the first part, Vlaun provides an overview of the Allied air campaign against German industry, emphasizing the strategic importance of targeting key industrial centers. He discusses the challenges faced by the Allies in terms of target selection, including the difficulty of accurately assessing the effectiveness of bombing raids and the need to balance strategic objectives with operational realities.

In the second part of the book, Vlaun delves into the system of target selection and assessment. He describes the various methods used by the Allies to identify potential targets, including aerial reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, and analysis of German industry's organizational structure. He also examines the complex process of prioritizing targets based on their strategic value and vulnerability.

One of the most interesting aspects of Vlaun's analysis is his discussion of the role of marketing in the Allied air campaign. He argues that the Allies relied heavily on propaganda and psychological operations to sell their bombing campaign to the public, both at home and abroad. For example, the famous "bomber boys" of the US Eighth Air Force were promoted as heroes and symbols of American determination to defeat the Nazi regime. Vlaun suggests that this kind of marketing played an important role in sustaining public support for the bombing campaign, even in the face of mounting casualties and criticism.

In the final part of the book, Vlaun assesses the effectiveness of the Allied air campaign against German industry. He argues that while the bombing campaign did have a significant impact on the German war economy, its overall strategic value has been overstated. Vlaun notes that the Allied air forces failed to achieve their primary objective of crippling German industry, due in part to the resilience and adaptability of the German war machine. Additionally, he makes the argument that the “behind the scenes” political machinations surrounding the relevance and effectiveness of the air campaign and, by extension, the maintenance of a separate Air Force, was a driving factor in ensuring that the 8^th Air Force conclusively demonstrate that it was able to decisively impact the Germans ability to continue prosecuting the war. Vlaun also undertakes an insightful analysis of a US intelligence community that was created only as the air war intensified in 1942-43 and thus has little to no operational experience from which to develop its processes and doctrine.

The results of a very junior service striving to justify itself while concurrently validating an air campaign replete with political undercurrents, was that the Air Force intelligence community was highly motivated to produce assessments that justified the operational effort and supported the strategic focus on ball-bearing and oil production facilities as a means of hamstringing the German military industrial complex. This, despite the fact, that there was little to practically show in the way of a tangible negative impact upon the German industrial sector.

Overall, "Selling Schweinfurt" is a well-written and thoroughly researched book that provides a fascinating insight into the complexities of target selection and assessment in the context of the Allied air campaign against German industry. Vlaun's analysis is nuanced and insightful, and he does an excellent job of balancing the strategic and operational aspects of the bombing campaign with the human and ethical implications of aerial warfare.

"Selling Schweinfurt" is an superb addition to the growing body of literature on the Allied air campaign against Germany during World War II. It is an important reminder of the complexity and human cost of aerial warfare, and a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of military strategy and tactics. It also serves as an outstanding case study of the impact of outside influences and internal assumptions on the quality of product that an organization might produce.