> The daylight raid aspect, however, seems to me to be more grounded in ego and dogma than military utility. I don’t think avoidance of civilian casualties was

> The daylight raid aspect, however, seems to me to be more grounded in ego and dogma than military utility. I don’t think avoidance of civilian casualties was a deciding factor. Those airmen were sent into a meat-grinder. They were, but also remember that back in 1945 there was no such thing as GPS or any kind of more precise navigation than a compass, a sextant and star charts. It was very easy to get lost at night or to hit some mountain, particularly as Germans were pretty strict in enforcing Verdunkelung [1]. Flying during daytime was obviously more risky because AA defense can see you, but it was also less risky because navigation was easier - and more precise, because you could actually see where you were. [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verdunkelung_(Luftschutz) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verdunkelung_(Luftschutz)