The Allied strategic bombing campaign helped the Red Army on
the Eastern Front by forcing the Germans to defend their homeland with large
quantities of 88mm antiaircraft guns. Here are the details. The German 88mm antiaircraft gun was the undisputed
best antitank gun during the early parts of WWII and arguably the best overall.
The main contributors to the 88’s effectiveness were its light weight carriage
and speed of deployment joined with excellent muzzle velocity. The gun could go from the towed configuration
to ready to fire in under 3 minutes with a trained crew. There were roughly 21,000 88’s made before
and during the war. The increasing tempo
of Allied strategic bombing raids on the German homeland and occupied
territories in 1943 and 1944 constituted a virtual second front, particularly
with regard to 88’s. About 10,000 88’s
were deployed in an antiaircraft role to defend against Allied bombers. These guns were not all that effective
against the bombers, but they would have been devastating against Russian
tanks. The Russians manufactured about
35,000 T-34 tanks and 29,500 T-34-85 tanks.
These two types were what the Red Army used to win on the Eastern
Front. Both were very vulnerable to
German 88’s. While it’s hard to know
exactly how many 88’s were in use on the Eastern Front, estimates are in the
range of 2,000-4,000. The devastation of
5,000 additional 88’s killing thousands of T-34 and T-34-85 tanks would at
least arguably have stopped the Red Army from taking Berlin. So the Allied strategic bombing of Germany
contributed the vital factor of keeping German 88’s away from the Eastern Front
to facilitate the Red Army’s advance.
