Stephen
2009-06-08 14:46:26
Shadow:
35,000 tends to the high end of Taylor’s estimates. But you’re going to see quite a few estimates. Did it shorten the war? In retrospect, probably not, or at least not significantly. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if the planners of the raid thought that it would. After all, if you believe that a target is militarily significant, then perforce, you ought to believe that its destruction will contribute to shortening the war. I suspect, that at that point, after 4-5 years of war, nearly everyone among the Allies just wanted to finish things as quickly as possible. In the history of warfare, it is often the case that many of the nastiest parts come on eve of the end.
