Blowing up history

Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jenns Robertson has developed an historical database showing where every bomb has been dropped since World War II. From Boston.com:



“What if you had the detailed data on when and where every bomb was dropped from an airplane in combat? What would you know?” . . .

A lot, as the article goes on to say. Here's one critical (and I'm sure controversial) point from World War II:


Unlike land battles, whose outcomes have been well understood by those who were physically engaged with the enemy, the impact of air attacks has historically been far more difficult to discern.
Initial analysis of THOR has raised at least one intriguing possibility in that regard: airstrikes, not tanks, may have been most responsible for the Allied breakthrough against the German Army at El Alemein in Egypt in the fall of 1942, a major turning point in the war against Nazi Germany.


Article.

The database could have a major impact on World War II histories, and not just those assessing air battles. A reassessment of El Alemein would force a (long overdue) reassessment of Montgomery. And I suspect that would be the tip of iceberg.

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