What you need to know: During World War II, five bombers stood out for their strategic impact: the American B-29 Superfortress, famous for bombing Tokyo and dropping atomic bombs that ended the war; the United Kingdom’s Avro Lancaster, known for its heavy payload and its effectiveness in decimating Nazi Germany’s infrastructure; Japan’s Mitsubishi G4M “Betty”, a multi-role medium and torpedo bomber with notable strikes on the British Navy; Nazi Germany’s prolific Junkers Ju 88, which saw heavy action during the Battle of Britain; and Italy’s Savoia-Marchetti SM.79, an effective Mediterranean torpedo bomber that proved formidable against Allied shipping. Each left an indelible mark on the air warfare of World War II.

Five Best Bombers of World War II

These admittedly highly subjective top five lists are virtually guaranteed to generate controversy, because no matter how much you back up your opinions with hard, objective facts, some military history buffs will still feel miffed because their warplane favorite/warship/firearm/reservoir/helicopter/anything that was omitted from the list.

That says: “Once more to the breach, dear comrades”, as I decide on the five best bombers of World War II. To be more specific and help narrow things down further, I’m going to focus specifically on multi-engine bombers, because single-engine bombers such as dive bombers will soon merit their own separate, stand-alone article.

United States of America: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

We might as well start at the end, that is to say the bomber that ended the Second World War! The B-29 did this, of course, via the “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the B-29s.Enola Gay” And “Bock’s scar” on August 6 and 9, 1945 respectively, prompting Imperial Japan to surrender and thus ending World War II.

But even before the A-bombs, the “Superfort” had already made history by inflicting sheer destruction on the heart of industrial Japan through more conventional bombing raids (led by the great United States Air Force (USAF) and the US Army Air Force (USAAF). General Curtis E. LeMay). For example, during Operation Meetinghouse On March 9-10, 1945, 324 B-29s bombed Tokyo in what would become the most destructive air raid in history, yes, that’s right, a death toll even higher than either other A-bomb raids.

It resulted in at least 90,000 deaths, a million homeless people and 267,171 buildings destroyed.

Great Britain: Avro Lancaster

Arguably the most revered bomber in Britain’s prestigious history. Royal Air Force (RAF)BAE Systems’ information page goes so far as to call the warbird “The most emblematic heavy bomber of World War II. It made its maiden flight on 9 January 1941 and was officially placed into operational service with the RAF in February 1942.

The Lancaster carried out the lion’s share of the British portion of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) that ultimately devastated the cities of Nazi Germany. She carried a much heavier bomb load than that of the B-17 Flying Fortress or the B-24 Liberator while operating at similar speeds and a slightly longer range.

Imperial Japan: Mitsubishi G4M (Allied code name “Betty”)

Keeping in mind the former United States Secretary of Defense and former Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, That of Jim Mattis sobering reminder: “The enemy gets a vote“, it must be remembered that even if the The Axis ultimately lost World War IIthey still produced their fair share of top-notch bombers.

As a result, it can reasonably be argued that the twin-engined “Betty” is the best of the bunch in Japan. Used as both a medium high altitude bomber and a torpedo bomber, it was in this last role that the so-called Hamaki was the most successful, sinking the pride of The British Royal Navy, that’s to say the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Repulse with four torpedoes each, in exchange for the loss of only two Hamakis and one Mitsubishi G3M Type 96.

Sir Winston Churchill said of this event: “During the entire war, I never received a more direct shock.”

Nazi Germany: Junkers Ju 88

Difficult choice between the Ju 88 and the Heinkel He 111 as to what was the Third Reichbest bomber; however, as the saying goes: “Quantity has a quality of its own “, the nod should go to the Junkers warbird.

THE twin-engine Ju 88it became the second most produced bomber of all time, with 15,183 airframes built; these figures have only been surpassed by America Consolidated B-24 Liberatorfour-engined heavy bomber, with 18,482 manufactured.

This Luftwaffe bomber made its maiden flight on December 21, 1936 and officially entered operational service with the Vaterland in 1939, which was the ideal time for the start of World War II . The Ju 88 indeed managed to participate in the first official battle of the Second World War, namely the blitzkrieg of September 1939. invasion of Poland although they had a negligible impact on this particular mission.

The 88s made a much greater contribution during the Battle of France (May-June 1940).

Of course, it was during the Battle of Britain that the Ju 88 acquired its greatest fame. This fame, however, came at a terrible price: between July and October 1940, 303 1988 aircraft were destroyed by flames, representing 15.3% of the total 1,977 aircraft lost by the Luftwaffe during that ill-fated campaign. .

Fascist Italy: Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero

The quality of Italian fighting machines tends to be overlooked, because Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Italywas the first Axis power to capitulate, leading to the popular misconception that Italian troops were cowards.

It’s no surprise then that the three-engined Sparviero, although arguably the most famous Italian aircraft of WWII, is the least known warbird on this list, which is a real shame, as it It was a war plane. excellent medium bomber and torpedo bomber. Making its maiden flight on September 28, 1934, it was very popular with its crews, who nicknamed it il gobbo maledetto because of the distinctive dorsal “hump” of the fuselage.

As noted Aaron Spraying Single flight“Supreme Commandostates that it is considered one of the deadliest Italian aircraft of the war and that it managed to damage and sink dozens of Allied ships in the Mediterranean Sea and that it was one of the best bombers -land torpedo boats of the war… While submarines inflicted the greatest damage. for the Royal Navy, SM.79s are credited with sinking the destroyers HMS Fearless, HMS Bedouin and HMAS Nestor, an Australian destroyer. They also damaged Royal Navy cruisers and the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable in July 1943, just before Italy’s exit from the war.

About the author

Christian D. Orris senior defense writer forNational Security Journal(NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments in Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan , in Germany and at the Pentagon). Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and a master’s degree in intelligence studies (concentration in terrorism studies) from the American Military University (AMU). It was also published inThe daily torch,The Journal of Intelligence and CybersecurityAndSingle flight. Finally, he is a Companion of the Order ofNaval Order of the United States (US).

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