Editing RAF Bomber Command (section)

{{Short description|Former command of the Royal Air Force}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name       = Bomber Command
|image           = File:Bomber600.jpg
|image_size = 150px
|caption         = [[Heraldic badges of the Royal Air Force|Bomber Command badge]]
|start_date      = 14 July 1936
|end_date        = 1968
|country         = {{UK}}
|branch          = {{Air force|UK}} (RAF);<small> attached squadrons & individual&nbsp;personnel of the [[RCAF]], [[RAAF]], and [[RNZAF]].</small>
|type            =
|role            = [[Strategic bomber|Strategic bombing]]
|size            =
|command_structure =
|garrison        = {{ubl
|1936–1940: [[RAF Uxbridge]]
|1940–1968: [[RAF High Wycombe]]
}}
|garrison_label  = Headquarters
|equipment       =
|equipment_label =
|nickname        =
|patron          =
|motto           = ''Strike Hard Strike Sure''{{sfn|Pine|1983|p=222}}
|colors          =
|colors_label    =
|march           =
|mascot          =
|battles         = Second World War
|anniversaries   =
|decorations     =
|battle_honours  = {{ubl
|Berlin 1940–1945
|[[Fortress Europe]] 1940–1944
}}
|notable_commanders = {{ubl
|[[Air Marshal]] [[Charles Portal]]
[[Air Chief Marshal]] [[Arthur Harris|Sir Arthur Harris]]
}}
|identification_symbol         =
|identification_symbol_label   =
|identification_symbol_2       =
|identification_symbol_2_label =
|aircraft_attack    =
|aircraft_bomber    = 1939: [[Fairey Battle|Battle]], [[Bristol Blenheim|Blenheim]], [[Handley Page Hampden|Hampden]], [[Vickers Wellesley|Wellesley]], [[Vickers Wellington|Wellington]], [[Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley|Whitley]].

1942: [[Avro Manchester|Manchester]], [[Short Stirling|Stirling]], [[Handley Page Halifax|Halifax]], [[Avro Lancaster|Lancaster]], [[de Havilland Mosquito|Mosquito]].

1945: [[Avro Lincoln|Lincoln]]

1950: [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|Washington B.1]]

1951: [[English Electric Canberra|Canberra]].

1955: [[Vickers Valiant]]

1956: [[Avro Vulcan]]

1958: [[Handley Page Victor]].
|aircraft_recon     =
|aircraft_patrol    =
|aircraft_trainer   =
|aircraft_transport =
}}

'''RAF Bomber Command''' controlled the [[Royal Air Force]]'s bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the [[United States Army Air Forces]], it played the central role in the [[Strategic bombing during World War II#Europe|strategic bombing of Germany in World War II]]. From 1942 onward, the British bombing campaign against Germany became [[Area bombing directive|less restrictive]] and increasingly targeted industrial sites and the civilian manpower base essential for German war production. In total 501,536 operational sorties were flown, {{convert|1,005,091|LT|e9lb e6t|2|order=out|abbr=off|lk=on}} of bombs were dropped and 8,325 aircraft lost in action. Bomber Command crews also suffered a high casualty rate: 55,573 were killed out of a total of 125,000 aircrew, a 44.4% death rate. A further 8,403 men were wounded in action, and 9,838 became prisoners of war.

Bomber Command stood at the peak of its post-war [[Armed forces|military power]] in the 1960s, the [[V bomber]]s holding the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent and a supplemental force of [[English Electric Canberra|Canberra]] light bombers. In 1968 it was merged with [[RAF Fighter Command|Fighter Command]] to form [[RAF Strike Command|Strike Command]].

A [[RAF Bomber Command Memorial|memorial]] in [[Green Park]] in London was unveiled by [[Queen Elizabeth II]] on 28 June 2012 to commemorate the high casualty rate among the aircrews. In April 2018 The [[International Bomber Command Centre]] was opened in Lincoln.