What is the bombing of Dreden during World War 2?

Question

Who
How
What
Where
When
Why

Answer 1

Dresden had been hit many times during the war with conventional bombs. The outcry that you're probably referring to was the so-called 'fire-bombing' which is how i'm answering below:

who: RAF Bomber Command under orders from British Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris

How: 2,600 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped

What: the incendiary bombs sucked the oxygen out of the air and created a firestorm that destroyed Dresden. A city swollen with refugees and considered a cultural city.

Where: Dresden, an ancient medieval and cultural city.

When: Feb 14th 1945

Why: Some say Churchill was mad over the bombings of Coventry, others say Harris' stragegy of 'area bombing', he was nicknamed "Bomber Harris." The Allies claimed the rail lines were military targets, which they were, but they were up and running a few days after the bombing.

Answer 2

The Brits did it strictly as a revenge killing and "for the sake of increasing the terror" (Churchill),. Dresden was an open city with all war related manufacturing outside. These were heavily bombed by the American 8th air force during their precision daylight bombing. The war would be over in less then 3 months with the final big German push at the battle of the bulge essentially their last gasp
Estimates of 25,000 non combatants, men woman an d children with absolutely no chance for escape were killed.

There is some argument that this should have been considered a war crime. Now it would be recognized for what it was, an act of terror with weapons of mass destruction.

Answer 3

The bombing of Dresden in Central Germany in the later days of the war (l944 & l945) was done to intimidate the German people into surrendering and also to destroy their armament industries that were present in and around the area that were producing arms and munitions for the Nazi war machine.

The most notorious thing about the bombing of Dresden was bombing it with incendiary bombs by the RAF or the Royal Air Force of the British that caused horrendous fires all over the city which caused the whole city to be in flames at the same time and actually reduced it to rubble over night!

The RAF flew their Lancaster and Wellington four engine bombers on these raids, and the 8th Air Force flew their four engine Flying Fortresses and Liberators. And when these planes were flying in formation - there were so many of them that they literally filled the sky! In one raid alone over 1,000 planes took part in it (which included fighter protection).

Thousands of innocent civilian men, women, and children were burned to death and died as a result of this and many people blamed the United States 8th Air Force but it was proven that the 8th Air Force only bombed military targets around the city.

Winston Churchill was the one that History gives credit to for this "Attack against Civilians" that totally disgusted the civilized world!

Answer 4

The Why for the complete destruction of Dresden is the most interesting question (the rest can be found on the internet easily).

The populus of city captured a couple U.S. aviators and publicly executed them for whatever reason instead of making them POWs. The American pilots, without the approval from on high, decided they would destroy the city for their barbarbic actions. Many pilots, all the way until the city was captured on the ground, saved a bomb or two for their return flight to England and dropped in onto the city.

Answer 5

Start with some perspective. German bombing of British cities resulted in around 60,000 civilian deaths. British (and to a lesser extent US) bombing of German cities resulted in the death of between 300,000 and 600,000 civilians. Between 35,000 and 70,000 civilians died in the bombing of Dresden. Dresden's population prior to the bombing may have been in the region of 600,000.

The British and US and Soviets agreed in 1945 that the British and US Air Forces would bomb Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden in order to destroy rail links from the East to West across Germany, in order to slow German troop movements. Soviet troops were approaching these cities, and did not want the Germans to be able to reinforce them with troops pulled out of less 'active' areas such as Norway, Italy and Greece. The Battle of the Bulge had surprised the Allies, who were now reminded that the Germans remained a dangerous enemy even this late in the war.

While the US Air Force concentrated on the Rail yards, the British night bombers simply bombed the city, with explosives and incendiaries. Night bombing was always less precise than daytime bombing. The British view was that destroying a city effectively destroyed the military targets in the city.

In the old city, containing many wooden building a firestorm was created, where the rising hot air above a large fire causes fresh air to be sucked in from surrounding areas at ground level. Winds at ground level then exceed 80 mile per hour, and the fire (now effectively a blast furnace) reaches temperatures of nearly 3000 degrees. Roads melt, and anything organic is completely incinerated. Despite the winds rushing in, the fire consumes all of the oxygen in the air and people die of lack of oxygen in underground shelters shielded from the direct effect of the flames.

The Germans claimed that this was a terror attack, with no military 'purpose'. The Soviets claimed that it assisted their campaign by preventing the Germans from moving troops through the destroyed city, or using the city as a point of resistance when they later advanced on it and captured it. British and US investigations after the war concluded that the military objectives justified the attack.

***Edit****

After the war, however, the Soviets encouraged the East Germans (where Dresden 'ended up') to believe that the bombing was an example of the West's brutality - as a way of making the East German and Soviet regimes seem more attractive.

And (I suspect) the Soviets encouraged British anti-war movements (which they had penetrated with their agents) to promotet Dresden as an example of militarism being turned against 'innocents', as part of an overall plan to undermine support for the British nuclear capability, and support for the use of Britain as a base for US nuclear forces. The 'lesson' was that if 'you thought Dresden was bad, just imagine a nuclear attack'. Dresden was a more 'useful' model for this purpose than Hiroshima, as it was a European city.

***End Edit****

Frankly, although the scale of the attack at this time of the war disturbed many on the allied side, it was little different to the bombing raids on Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg and indeed Tokyo (where 100,000 died). The 'disturbance' was generally not triggered by sympathy for its victims - but by concern that the Allies were adopting the tactics of their enemy.

Germany paid a terrible price for it's decision to go to war, but given the damage it had inflicted on the rest of the world (over 20 million dead), few at the time had any sympathy for any German, military or civilian.

Answer 6

DRESDEN, a very old and once beautiful city in Germany mercilessly destroyed in 1945 by British night bombers for no particular reason except as payback for German bombing of cities like Canterbury. The US followed up by bombing during the day. 10s of 1,000s of harmless civilians were burned to death. This bombing compares to the American firebombings and the Atomic bombings in Japan. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWdresden.htm

Answer 7

The English bombed Dresden .
They used hundreds of bomber with fire bombs.
it was on the night of 14-15 feb 1945.
They said that it was aiming the railroad complex of the city.
135000 people died in the raid (official).The railroad was not hit.
The resulting fire made an atmospheric depression and brought rain.

Answer 8

Mostly British bombers

Early warning system was destroyed and weather was clear

In Avro Lancasters

Over the city of Dresden

February 1945

To destroy a centre of communications, possibly hasten the end of the war, hence reduce allied casualties

Answer 9

Wow, good question sweetheart!
I have been wishing they would do this to Iraqi cities because it stopped fighting in that city.
Dresden was fire bombed by us during WW2 in either 1944 or 1945. I believe it was 1945 though.
The city was pretty much destroyed by massive incendiary bombings.
Yes many innocent Germans died but the fighting there ended. No more snipers, I.E.D's. RPG's.