[Jerry]

The damn civilians were not fighting BACK!! Yes the mission was a battle but the outcome was not! Do you not recognize that women and children weren't the ones firing flak, it was the Military. The Military of course lost plenty of men but not as many as Civilian Casualty. Here is the exact Military Definition of "Battle":


bat·tle (btl)
n.

An encounter between opposing forces: an important battle in the Pacific campaign.

I don't think the civilians fit in a description of "opposing forces".