Hugh Trenchard exerted long influence over the Royal Air Force, but interwar air doctrine cannot be reduced to one man. The psychological legacy of the First World War shaped politicians and strategists who were desperate to avoid another prolonged trench conflict. Strategic bombing promised a way to break an enemy by destroying cities and inflicting mass civilian casualties from the air. The discussion stresses the brutality of that logic, describing its envisioned use of enormous bomb loads and chemical agents as conduct that would amount to war crimes. An appalling doctrine could still appear preferable to leaders haunted by the Western Front.
Notable Point · 37:18-38:17
The RAF, strategic bombing, and the First World War legacy
The discussion moves beyond Trenchard to explain how First World War trauma made city bombing look like an alternative to another war of trenches.