[ken5050]

Some military historians are now beginning to suggest that the real reason for continuing the bombings despite such horrendous losses was that the bombers were in effect being used to draw the German fighters out, where they could be destroyed. It was evident early on that the invasion could not succeed without absolute control of the airspace over Normandy by Allied air forces. Thus, the bombers were to some extent, sacrificed.

The more I read, the more I tend to agree with this theory. Post war studies revealed the near failure of bombing raids...I believe that less than 5% of bombs dropped actually landed on target. These poor results were known during the war, though not to such an extent. But it's hard to see senior officers willing to sustain such losses for such poor results absent another motive. The were basically hoping to destroy more fighters than the Germans could continue to produce..It's frightening to think what would have happened had the Nazis been able to produce their jet fighter in any quantity..

[RayChuang88]

Even if Hitler had wisely ordered the Me 262 into production in 1943, the plane was still in many ways no match for the fastest Allied fighters like the P-51B/C/D/K, Hawker Tempest V and Supermarine Spitfire Mk. XIV, because of the Me 262’s slow acceleration and limited maneuverability. The Allies would have figured out how to draw the Me 262 into a dogfight where the Allied fighters had the advantage.