Bombing accuracy of B-17 and B-24 groups

BOMBING ACCURACY
With less than 5/10ths cloud coverage an average B-17 Group could be expected to place 32.4% of its bombs within 1000 feet of the aiming point when aiming visually.
The average B-24 Group under the same conditions could be expected to place 30.4% of its bombs within 1000 feet of the aiming point.
One box of bombers could contain from 3 to 18 planes. Formations with a three plane frontage could be expected to be 45% more accurate than formations with a nine plane frontage. A six bomber front would be only about 10% more accurate than a 9 bomber front.
The percentage of boxes which could be expected to place at least 10% of their load within 1000 feet of the aiming point depends upon how many other boxes passed over the target beforehand.

R.A.F. bombers dropped 40% of their bombs within 425 feet of the aiming point and averaged 38% of their tonnage on target. While it appears that the R.A.F. was vastly more accurate than the A.A.F., it must be remember that the "AIMING POINT'" for A.A.F. aircraft was usually a single factory building. The "AIMING POINT" for R.A.F. bombers would be the entire city.

B-17's with the 15th Air Force in North Africa and Southern Italy accomplished about 77 missions per plane while those of the 8th AF in Great Britain averaged only 58.9 missions.
B-24's with the 15th AF usually completed 35.5 missions per plane while those of the 8th AF completed 49.9 missions.

The following bomb tonnages taken from the United States Strategic Bombardment Survey show how heavily each of the following industrial complexes were bombed.