<P> The air offensive against the RAF and British industry failed to have the desired effect . More might have been achieved had OKL exploited the vulnerability of British sea communications . The Allies did so later when Bomber Command attacked rail communications and the United States Army Air Forces targeted oil but that would have required an economic - industrial analysis of which the Luftwaffe was incapable . OKL instead sought clusters of targets that suited the latest policy (which changed frequently) and disputes within the leadership were about tactics rather than strategy . Though militarily ineffective, the Blitz cost around 41,000 lives, may have injured another 139,000 people and did enormous damage to British infrastructure and housing stock . </P> <P> The British began to assess the impact of the Blitz in August 1941 and the RAF Air Staff used the German experience to improve Bomber Command's offensives . They concluded bombers should strike a single target each night and use more incendiaries, because they had a greater impact on production than high explosives . They also noted regional production was severely disrupted when city centres were devastated through the loss of administrative offices, utilities and transport . They believed the Luftwaffe had failed in precision attack and concluded the German example of area attack using incendiaries was the way forward for operations over Germany . </P> <P> Some writers claim the Air Staff ignored a critical lesson, that British morale did not break and that attacking German morale was not sufficient to induce a collapse . Aviation strategists dispute that morale was ever a major consideration for Bomber Command . Throughout 1933--39 none of the 16 Western Air Plans drafted mentioned morale as a target . The first three directives in 1940 did not mention civilian populations or morale in any way . Morale was not mentioned until the ninth wartime directive on 21 September 1940 . The 10th directive in October 1940 mentioned morale by name but industrial cities were only to be targeted if weather prevented raids on oil targets . </P> <P> The AOC Bomber Command, Arthur Harris, who did see German morale as an objective, did not believe that the morale - collapse could occur without the destruction of the German economy . The primary goal of Bomber Command was to destroy the German industrial base (economic warfare) and in doing so reduce morale . In late 1943, just before the Battle of Berlin, Harris declared the power of Bomber Command would enable it to achieve "a state of devastation in which surrender is inevitable". A summary of Harris' strategic intentions was clear, </P>

Which cities in england were bombed in ww2