Comments by "" (@BobSmith-dk8nw) on "Shore Bombardment in WW2 - We're in the re-landscaping business now!" video.

The effectiveness of bombardment in general is uncertain. Sometimes it does more than others. If you look at WWI and other cases where the enemy is in bunkers ... bombardment is much less effective than if your rounds are dropped on an enemy advancing out in the open or who at least is not in bunkers. If you are engaging enemy gun positions that you have identified - it can have a very good effect in taking those guns out - and - as mentioned in this video - occupying the enemy gunners with the ships shooting at them rather than the troops landing on the beach. One thing though - is that communications can suffer from enemy fire. In the landings on Wake, Tarawa and Corregidor enemy action indirectly led to a loss of communications resulting in the defenders not being able to respond with their full force, doing so slowly or determining that things were worse than they were (not in that order). .
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