ABSTRACT
A formidable air offensive against German military objectives would have a profound and, he thought, favourable effect on neutrals, including the United States'. The early post-war literature, British and German, saw in the Freiburg raid the opening of the strategic air offensive, referring to an alleged British cabinet decision taken under Churchill's aegis. What the German public had been clamouring for several months past, was now taking place: reprisals against Britain. Between 11 /12 May and 24/25 September it carried out raids on 138 separate nights against German targets, a number which must be multiplied several times over, since almost every night in question more than one mission was flown and more than one target was attacked. The official history of bomber command also gives thecrucial date as 15 May 1940. In the early phase of bomber command's activities, many of the war diary entries are only summary and lacking important detail, which, however, is supplied by the Meldungen.
