Targets for bombing in France changed over the war. In the summer of 1940, as barges were assembled for a possible invasion of Great Britain, the Channel Ports were a prime objective. As the threat of invasion receded and the submarine campaign threatened to cut off the sea lanes the Atlantic ports where U-boats were based were targeted; when the massive bunkers housing the submarines themselves proved all but impervious to bombing the surrounding areas were levelled. French industry produced e.g. vehicles, engines and aircraft for Germany. In the run-up to D-Day the heavy bombers were employed as part of the Transportation Plan aimed at paralysing the movement of German troops by destroying the French rail network; shortly after the Allied invasion the launch sites of V-1 flying bombs were also key targets.

There was also a political element to the attacks, a way of showing that Germany had not triumphed, the Allies were still fighting and there was a prospect of liberation. More than five million leaflets were dropped over France over the war, some warning that industries supporting the Germans would be targeted. There was even support for the bombing within France, moreso earlier; reports following an attack on the Renault works in Paris in March 1942, in which 391 were killed and 558 seriously injured, included a witness saying that "Nobody was indignant". As the weight of attacks increased, and the USAAF joined the offensive, mounting civilian casualties caused public opinion to shift, though it was always a complex balance.

The results of the bombing of targets in France, like the wider bombing campaign, are debated; it undoubtedly inflicted damage on industry, transportation and the German military, supporting the Overlord invasion, but at considerable cost in civilian life. Richard Overy's The Bombing War: Europe, 1939-1945 covers the subject very well in the section "France: Bombed Into Freedom".