Allied Bombing on Germany

On the evening of February 13^th, 1945, the allied planes bombed the defenseless German city of Dresden. This event was named as one of the most disastrous event in World War II. Dresden had no military value; it was just a hospital city for wounded German soldiers. But, in spite of that it was bombed relentlessly. An air force unit was once located there for protection but it was moved to some other place, where it could be of more use. On the day of the bombing there was a circus in town and the citizens felt relatively safe, even though almost every houses were filled with refugees, mostly from Breslau.

            It was Churchill and President Roosevelt’s idea to bomb the city and reduce it to ashes. This was done to impress Stalin and show him the power of the Allied forces. 700,000 phosphorous bombs were dropped on the city. Within less than 14 hours, an estimated one-third of the population had died. After the first raid, a huge firestorm erupted within the inner city and the temperature there reached about 1600 degrees Celsius. The second raid came 3 hours later, intended to bring out the civilians from their shelters. The Allied planes bombed Grosser Garten, where most of the survivors had gathered. Within minutes the whole park was ablaze with trees and human limbs. The third raid happened in the morning of February 14^th. American mustangs shot down rescue vehicles and survivors on the shores of the Elbe River. Most people died painlessly; they either simply disintegrated or melted into a think liquid. After the raid was over, the only remains of Dresden was a scorched ruin filled with mutilated corpses.

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Interesting Facts

1. 1477.7 tons of High Explosive bomb, the second largest amount of high explosive bombs dropped on Dresden.
2. Part of the reason for the bombing, as is shown even in officially recorded statements, was to show Russia our bombing capabilities.
3. On 4 September Hitler promised the crowd at a Berlin rally: "When the British air force drops two or three or four thousand kilograms of bombs, then we will in one night drop 150, 230, 300 or 400 thousand kilograms - we will raze their cities to the ground".
4. Approximately 85,000 people died directly from the bombing of Hiroshima. 135,000 people died in the bombing of Dresden.
5. Many nurses stationed at Dresden tried to help survivors by bringing them to the shores of the Elbe River but these people were ruthlessly gunned down by low-flying American Mustangs.
   
   Relevent Quotes:1)"This is Himmel. You got bombed, my girl. Es tut mir leid, Schatzi. I'm sorry, darling."- A man from the LSE, pg-533.
   
   2)"The girl's mouth wandered on, even if her body was now still. She had forgotten her wails for Hans Hubermann. That was years ago - a bombing will do that."- Death referring to Liesel after the bombing, pg-533.
   
   Bibliography:
   
   
   Angelfire, . "Facts about the bombing." For Those Interested in the Bombing of Dresden. n.d. n. page. Web. 9 May. 2012. <http://www.angelfire.com/ky3/dresdenforschool/>.
   
   BBC, . "Britain bombs Berlin." BBC- History. n.d. n. page. Web. 9 May. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/britain_bombs_berlin>.

   
   

   By Munzir R. and Saadat H.