The bombing of Dresden in 1945

THE indiscriminate bombing of civilians is one of the most horrific actions in times of war. Unfortunately, with the advent of the airplane it has become a regular occurrence and has figured in all conflicts for the past 100 years.
Supposedly, the Blitz in the Second World War started when a German bomber on a mission to bomb factories and military targets accidentally dropped a bomb on London. The following night the British bombed Berlin and so it continued. A huge amount of damage was inflicted on London and Coventry in particular and British and American planes wrecked like havoc on German cities.
Early in 1942, Bomber Command under Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris – a man who later became known as Bomber Harris – was instructed to focus on the morale of the civil population. The focus was to be any significant spot in the centre of cities, rather than military or industrial targets. Many of the bombers carried incendiary bombs since they found fire to be a very effective means of destroying a town. Their strategy was known as area bombing.
This lasted for about 18 months but following D-Day, their efforts were switched to supporting the ground troops. One of their most successful strategies was concentrating on the German oil refineries and supplies. They also targeted the rocket sites, which were developing the early types of rockets being aimed at English targets. That type of bombing needed clear weather and with the onset of winter, the focus shifted back again to civilian targets. During the months of November and December 1944, it is estimated that more than half of all Allied bombs were dropped on towns and cities. By that stage of the war they were running out of targets but the bombings continued.
The government wanted to help the Russian advance from the east and ordered Bomber Command to attack cities in Eastern Germany to hamper the movement of troops from the west and cause confusion in the evacuation from the east. The only evacuees from the east were refugees and few troops were moving from the west. This decision led to the raid on the city of Dresden and one of the most horrific nights of the war.
The bombing of Dresden was terrorism; 90% of the inhabited city was destroyed, while most of the industrial and military targets escaped. On the first night, 800 RAF planes dropped over 500,000 incendiary bombs, hundreds of 4,000lb bombs and tons of high explosives. They turned Dresden into an inferno.
Aircrew reported that the fires could be seen from 500 miles away. When the US planes arrived the following day they continued the bombing, although what little was left of the centre of the city was still ablaze from the night before. The city population was swollen by over half a million refuges and the casualties are estimated at between 25,000 and 100,000.
So bad was the bombing that a few weeks later, just before the end of the war, Churchill tried to disassociate himself from it by saying that bombing raids on cities were acts of terror and wanton destruction.
The almost total destruction of the city of Dresden was carried out by RAF and USAF planes on February 13 and 14, 1945 – 66 years ago this week.