The Biggest Lie of WWII? The Myth of the Norden Bombsight

The proximity fuse was more important than both the Norden Sight and the A-bomb. Those planes eould have been destroyed on english runways by the germans without the AAA batteries firing the "funny fuzes".

That being said, your criticism of the sight is really petty revisionist history. The Norden made the American planes the most accurate bombers of the war, and the Sperry unit you claim was so much better failed constantly. I wrote multiple papers on the history of military procurement, and the things you are claiming just aren't true. People love to throw rocks at heros to make themselves feel like less of a failure. It's honestly kinda pathetic and sad.

I second what emmed says. When is bombing from almost the equivalent of Mt Everest down to the ocean, it would be next to impossible to have the slightest idea of what all the wind layers were doing below. Some winds going one direction at 25K feet, but stopped or even the opposite at 15K, only to be going a third direction and gusting at 7.5K feet.

Modern technology is subject to just as much bullshit and hype. I.T. is a racket.

I was watching masters of the air and was wondering why the crews always destroyed the bombsight before bailing out of the plane lol. Interesting it was actual hot garbage.

The aim of precision bombing was laudable. Sadly many US servicemen lost their lives in the pursuit of something that was unattainable.

incredible ww2 technology

With the Norden Bomb Sight you put a bomb into a pickle barrel. As long as the barrel was the size of Berlin.

this myth is so pervasive. it started the american fascination with the world political theory that the right bomb, at the right place, at the right time, will change the world. and that, has just not been proven true over the last 100 years.

I never get tired of hearing how the Norden Bombsight was a myth and mostly marketing.

What about launching tiny tim rockets downward at 80 to 90 degree angle.

Competitive corporation bullshit delayed the development.

The day raids kept the Luftwaffe awake during the day, the RAF during the night. Lufthaffe never got sleep. Maybe that's its biggest contribution. 🤷‍♀

A family friend was a lead bombardier in B17s over Germany. I asked him about the rumor that the bombardier was supposed to destroy the Norden. He laughed and said that only thing he was taught was to get out and save himself.

This is almost as bad as the Navy procurement denying the US torpedos were defective

I am so glad I grew up knowing the people that I knew. In 65 I was 7 years old lived in Hartville Ohio been in the Goodyear blimp stationed in Akron Ohio the one with the light signs. When some of Dad's naval friends would visit there would be black vehicles parked all around. I learned quickly what was smoke and mirrors and what wasn't😢. Now old skeptical but not bitter. 😸

It was a piece of crap.. 😂

one thing was true - the cross-hair were made from hair of a naked Polynesian virgin picked up at mid-night on her 16th birthday after performing secret mystical rituals prayers provided by HAMAS to Pentgaon Department of Strategic Aerial Bombing in 1940

My aunt is German, went through WW2. I've also met her family and friends. They all say that the USAAF accuracy was dreadful compared to the RAF. Not only was the Norden sight ineffective, the US practice where only a lead bomb aimer used his sight and the rest just watched him and dropped when he did resulted in whole raids being miles off. Given the incredible bravery of US crews in going over in daylight, making them easy targets, the myth of this sight is criminal.

Norden also made great vacuum cleaners.

I had wondered how accurate it was because they said that in the beginning of the war, there was like 10% of the bombs might hit the area that was the target!

70,000 young American lives snuffed out for corporate profits, egos and cult -like thinking about doctrine.

So with us bombing accuracy increasing, civilian casualties increased too
During daylight bombing runs to avoid civilian casualties

I also think the allied servicemen acted according to their belief that the axis must be overcome at all costs, not according to propaganda they heard on the radio or saw in a movie. The desperation of the allies predicament is under appreciated by the younger generation who don't stop to think what it would be like to have hostile fascist militaries attacking the country from both sides at once.

I think most of what was presented in this documentary was accurate and more or less reasonable. However, I lost some faith in you as an historian when you showed a supposed WWII audience watching propaganda on a 1950s television, and then commented on how impressed people during the war were with the brand new televisions in their homes. When the war started only a handful of rich people on the east coast near a television transmitter had televisions. The other 99.9% of the country was getting their news on the radio. You're about a decade off. Additionally, television transmissions were put on hiatus during war so that resources could be diverted elsewhere. This makes me wonder how much of your narrative was based on assumption rather than evidence.

Anyone else here after watching Masters of the Air? ✈️

WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM! INACURATE VIDEO!

I have never heard the term, "pinpoint accuracy" to describe WWII bombing from high altitude.

Much ado about not much ado.

I wonder if it's the same Sperry company that makes the boating shoes nowadays?

Every single thing about war is based on lies. This is just one example. The problem with these kind of Lies is that people die in large numbers because of the lies. But a small group of people make a large amount of money on those lies, so that's all that matters. Today the lies around War are all encompassing.

HA! I live less than 10 mins away from that Peedee river bridge, I grew up hearing stories about when the army blew the fairly new bridge up because of the hydroelectric dams were going to raise the river and it was a good chance to see how sturdy the new bridge designs were. Apparently they were very well made an the army had trouble blowing up the bridge with artillery and air raids. They ended up having to place charges to do the job. People always joked about fishing around the bridge saying you might hook an old bomb in the water

I’ll be honest and tell you up front, I detest these types of videos. They always come across as condescending. Reprimanding you for your inability to see through the so-called propaganda and be duped. It makes me slow down and listen carefully. What are they saying? How are they saying it? And if possible, why are they saying it?

My uncle flew B-24's over Europe during the war. He completed his combat tour and retired a full Col. from the U.S. Air Force. He is buried in the national Cemetary at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

My father was a radar technician on Guam, supporting B-29 raids on Japan. His main job was to maintain and repair the/APQ -13. A super-secret radar bombing and navigation system. If visual bombing was possible, despite its high tech for the day and ability to paint rail road tracks from 30k feet clearly, it was never used over the Norden sight.

First of all, accuracy is a relative term. The degree of accuracy we impose on modern guided weapons was decades away at the time the Norden Bomb sight was produced and used. Its high degree of accuracy, relative to previous sights, was only obtained in ideal, clear and near windless conditions over open ground with clearly marked targets. If you think about it, it was the smart way to test and measure the device. Everything else being equal, how accurate is this sight? For its time, it was quite accurate. I mention all this because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a historical evaluation or reflection on anything that isn’t viewed through the lense of present-day standards. It’s clear modern concepts of “accuracy” invaded the thinking of this video’s producers. The combat effectiveness of the Norden is even more complicated than its accuracy, since it’s only one small component of a much larger weapon, the 8th Air Force. Parsing out the effectiveness of the bombsight isn’t possible for a video like this when one considers the large list of confounding variables. Hell, you couldn’t even do it in a large book. That’s why they keep writing about WWII.

The producer of this video wants you to believe because the Norden bombsight wasn't capable of hitting a pickle barrel, something that was always said tongue in cheek, meant it was, in his words, "hopelessly inaccurate." Did you notice the sleight of hand he used? It's called a false equivalency, and it's used by revisionist to tear down the past.

First, the claim of hitting a pickle barrel from 30k feet was never intended as a factual claim of accuracy. In addition, the high degree of relative accuracy attributed to the Norden Bomb Sight was obtained in ideal, near windless conditions, on perfectly clear days. The fact that European weather and combat conditions reduced the sights effectiveness should come as no surprise. Combat always decreases weapon effectiveness. Accuracy isn’t the same thing as combat effectiveness, but the producer of this video wants you to think they are.

Here's another example of the difference. When I was in the Army, my rifle and I could hit any man-sized target at 300 meters. In fact, I never missed such a target when qualifying on the rifle range. The fact that I never hit a live man-sized target at that range doesn’t mean the weapon suddenly became inaccurate. My effectiveness in using the weapon decreased in combat conditions. Nothing about the weapon changed. Do you see the difference?
He also claims because the bombing was unable to stop German war production, the raids failed, inferring this was due to the Norden’s inaccuracy. In fact, they did an excellent job destroying primary production facilities. Not only didn’t he tell you that, but he neglected to inform you of the German’s ability to disperse production of key components, so there was no centralized location to bomb. This, in addition to moving some production to hardened facilities, was what enabled German industry to maintain production. It wasn’t because the Norden Bomb sight failed, but it was in spite of its success, German industry, out of necessity, innovated and kept on producing.

I will say the click bait nature and prideful attitude aren’t quite as obvious here. Content creators are getting bettor at revisionist oriented content, and you have to be more observant. Pay attention and listen carefully. If you do, you’ll spot more of the BS, like some of that being spread in videos like this.

Wow! Of all thousands of allied lies told during and since WWII I am shocked this one is revealed so openly. Maybe the next thing we can be open and honest about is the fact that the allies were bigger rear criminals than the Germans BY FAR!

Sounds like the hate for Trump from people who watch television.

Biggest lie??

My DI when I was a young Marine told us, war is hell, war is bloody and war is dirty and atrocious, and sometimes innocent non combatants lose thier lives during a war, is it sad yes very is it necessary, he'd say that all depends on the enemy, if your enemy is willing to use non combatants against you in war, then sometime you have to take them out. Yes it's sad but that's war.

The Nordon Bombsight was designed to be used wirh bombs of 1,500lbs and greater, because anything smaller was subjected to wind drift, which is NOT the devices fault, once ordinance leaves the aircraft that's smaller than 1,500 lbs, nothing could keep the bomb on target. So your video is completely useless.

Fun fact, the BR20 bomber from the Italians had a bombsight with a direct linkage to the aircraft's altimeter and automatically self recalibrated if the aircraft changed altitude during the bomb run!

I feel like some pickles now

my dad worked on this project... it broke his heart when the yanky bomber formations came home with heavy losses. then the germans started attacking his young family with v1 flying bombs and he found other things to worry about... never truly recovered... nor did mum who in later life still jumped when a plane flew over her home..

Accuracy was very dependent on the operator's skill.

Very nicely done, old boy. The constant parroting by Merrick'ans about how the R.A.F had area bombed but that USAF had engaged in precision bombing has been grinding my gears for years.
The truth about the bombing campaign is that by the end of the war, the R.A.F. could hit targets at night with the same precision as the U.S.A.F. could achieve during the day.
The technology story of WW2 is so much more interesting and complex than most know. In the minds of most people, it was the Nazi's that had the edge technology wise, but that is simply another myth.

If you really originally thought that the Norden Bomb sight was anything more than a slightly more sophisticated version of other bomb sights - and basically obsolete by the end of the war you shouldn't be making videos about WW II technology.

Anyway we started firestorming

I took a hot - balloon ride one time, and got a beautiful lesson in wind - shear . About every 20 to 50 feet , the wind would change direction , often Drastically, like 90 or more degrees . The balloon pilot would get to Approximately where he wanted to go , by raising or lowering his altitude . The uneven heating/cooling of the earth over hills and valleys would send thermals all over the place . And we were at altitudes of only a few hundred to a couple of thousand feet . Now , trying to get bombs to hit Somewhat accurately from 20,000 + feet ?? For an individual bomber , Good LUCK . That's part of the reason USAAF started using monster formations .

Even if the Norden had been more accurate , those aircrews have AAA (later , with proximity fuses) , 109s , & 190s coming at them . Sometimes 110s would spray a load of rockets into the bomber formation . With all the danger going on , and sometimes a mechanical failure, is it any wonder a B-17 or 24 would have some pretty bad misses ? Oh , yeah , then there were cloud and ground - smoke visual issues . I don't know how accurate the Norden was , on clear - sky Test - ranges in the southwest deserts or where ever in the U.S. , but those TWO situations just can't be compared .

The only people who thought this worked were the American's, we Brits knew it was a lot of nonsense that's why we did night bombing, it was too dangerous and it was not accurate enough to warrant the danger.

Christmas tree lights turned out to be relatively more accurate and safer.

This was incredible tech for its time. we have the luxury of calling it a big lie with time. It is a mechanical computer which at the time was phenomenal. I have much more respect for those who built the Norden bombsight than these clowns today with super computers.