Bomber Harris, Criminal or Hero?

World War II British Military
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The Immediate Consequences of the Dresden Bombings on the Physical Structure and Populace of the City:

  1. The RAF Bomber Command’s are raid on Dresden, conducted on the night of 13/14 February 1945, resulted in fires that did great damage to the city proper, particularly in the older and more densely built up areas.46 Early official Allied post-strike reports estimated that 85 per cent of the fully built-up city area was destroyed, that the old part of the city, which comprised the greater portion of the built-up areas was largely wiped out, that the majority of buildings in the inner suburbs was gutted, and that in the outer suburbs, few buildings were effected by the area bombing attack. Virtually all major public buildings appeared heavily gutted or severely damaged. Public utilities, and facilities such as slaughter houses, warehouses, and distribution centers, were severely affected.47 A very large number of the city’s industrial facilities were destroyed or severely damaged,48 with perhaps a four-fifth’s reduction in the productive capacity of the arms plants.49 Later British assessments, which were more conservative, concluded that 23 per cent of the city’s industrial buildings were seriously damaged and that 56 per cent of the non-industrial buildings (exclusive of dwellings) had been heavily damaged. Of the total number of dwelling units in the city proper, 78,000 were regarded as demolished, 27,70 temporarily uninhabitable but ultimately repairable, and 64,500 readily repairable from minor damage. This later assessment indicated that 80 per cent of the city’s housing units had undergone some degree of damage and that 50 per cent of the dwellings had been demolished or seriously damaged.50

  2. The Eighth Air Force raids against the city’s railway facilities on 14 and 15 February resulted in severe and extensive damage that entirely paralyzed communications. The city’s passenger terminals and major freight stations, warehouses, and storage sheds were, when not totally destroyed, so severely damaged that they were unusable. Roundhouses, railway repair and work shops, coal stations, and other operating facilities, were destroyed, gutted, or severely damaged. The railway bridges over the Elbe river–vital to incoming and outgoing traffic–were rendered unusable and remained closed to traffic for many weeks after the raids.51

  3. Casualties among the Dresden populace were inevitably very heavy in consequence of the fires that swept over the city following the RAF area raid on the night of 13/14 February. In addition to its normal population, the city had experienced a heavy influx of refugees from the east and of evacuees from bombings in other areas, particularly from Berlin.52 The exact number of casualties from the Dresden bombings can never be firmly established.53 Contemporary British estimates were that from 8,200 to 16,400 persons were killed and that similar numbers of persons may have been seriously injured.54 Most of the latest German post-war estimates are that about 25,000 persons were killed and about 30,000 were wounded, virtually all of these being casualties from the RAF incendiary attack of 13/14 February.55 Although the latest available post-war accounts play up the “terroristic” aspects of the Dresden bombings, it is significant that they accept much lower casualty figures than those circulated by the Germans immediately after the raids and, from time to time, in the years immediately following the war.56 The most distorted account of the Dresden bombings–one that may have become the basis of Communist propaganda against the Allies, particularly against the Americans, in recent years–was prepared by two former German general officers for the Historical Division, European Command (U.S.A.) in 1948.57 In this account, the number of dead from the Dresden bombings was declared to be 250,000. That this figure may be the probable number of dead, multiplied by ten for the sake of exaggeration, becomes apparent by comparing the weight of the Dresden bombings of 14-15 February 1945 with the total tonnages expanded by the Allies against the six other largest German cities (see Chart A) and by comparing the various estimates of the Dresden casualties with the best estimate of the total casualties suffered by the Germans from all Allied bombings during World War II.

  4. Shown in the following chart are the total tonnages of bombs that were expanded by the Allies against the six cities in Germany that were larger in population than Dresden:

City Population in 1939
Total Bomb Tonnages

Berlin
4,339,000
67,607.6

Hamberg
1,129,000
38,687.6

Munich
841,000
27,110.9

Cologne
772,000
44,923.2

Leipzig
707,000
11,616.4

Essen
667,000
37,938.0

Dresden
642,000
7,100.5

The United States Strategic Bombing Survey estimated that 305,000 persons were killed and 780,000 were wounded as the consequence of all Allied bombings against Germany in World War II,58 from a total Allied bomb expenditure of 3,697,473.59 It may therefore be presumed that the estimates of 25,000 dead and 30,000 wounded, as presented in most of the latest available German estimates of the Dresden bombings, are reasonable and acceptable.

  1. Despite the lack of accurate statistics on the number of killed and wounded in the Dresden raid, as well as in other Allied bombings of German cities, it would appear from such estimates as are available that the casualties suffered in the Dresden bombings were not disproportionate to those suffered in area attacks on other German cities. The reports of the United States Bombing Survey give specific estimates of the dead for only four of the German cities which were subject to fire raids during area attacks.60 Assuming that there may probably have been about 1,000,000 people in Dresden on the night the 13/14 February RAF attack,61 these are the comparative death rates in Dresden and the four cities for which the United States Strategic Bombing Survey has given estimates of moralities from incendiary area attacks:62

City
Population
Killed
Percentage rate

Darmstadt
109,000
8,100
.075

Kassel
220,000
8,659
.039

Dresden
1,000,000
25,000
.025

Hamberg
1,738,000
41,800
.024

Wuppertal
400,000
5,219
.013

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The Dresden Bombings Within the Framework of Established Policies Set Forth in Official Bombing Directives:

  1. The original Combined Chiefs of Staff Directive governing employment of the British and American strategic air forces established the authoritative principle that the primary effort of the RAF Bomber Command should be the mass destruction of important German industrial areas and population centers by night area bombing and that the primary effort of the American Eighth Air Force should be daylight precision bombing of key installations within the larger industrial and population centers attacked by the RAF Bomber Command.63 (Area raids are defined and described in Section J, below). This joint and complementary effort of the British and American strategic air forces was authorized by the Combined Chiefs of Staff in order to accomplish “the German people to a point where their capacity for armed resistance is fatally weakened.”64 Approved in principle by the Combined Chiefs of Staff on 21 January 1943,65 and specifically inaugurated on 10 June 1943,66 the combined British and American strategic bomber offensive against Germany continued with ever-mounting power until 16 April 1945, when all strategic/air operations against Germany ceased.67 As the war progressed, there were certain alterations in the operational control of the Allied strategic air forces and in the order of priorities assigned to target systems and objectives. (See paragraphs 19-20 above.) By and large, however, there was no alteration in the fundamental principle that American strategic air forces in Europe would engage only in daylight precision raids against specific installations and that night area raids would be conducted by the British. Aside from technological differences in aircraft and equipment that justified the differences in American and British bombing methods, American authorities were, throughout the war in Europe, opposed to the use of American forces in area or “morals” bombings.68

  2. Falling within the established pattern of combined British and American strategic air operations against Germany, the 14-15 February bombings of Dresden , particularly the RAF night area raid, were a shattering and devastating blow to the physical structure, the economy, and the life of the city. The achievement of such a blow was necessarily the purpose of the Allied bombings, in consequence of the fact that Dresden, like other great German cities, was a legitimate military target, and vulnerable to Allied air power. It is, however, understandable that the surviving Dresden populace should have regarded the bombings as even more devastating and death-dealing than they actually were,69 and that the bombings were seized upon by the German authorities as a means of conducting psychological warfare against the Allies in the closing months of the war. The distorted and highly exaggerated accounts of the admittedly grim casualties suffered in Dresden issued by German propaganda agencies immediately following the bombings,70 coupled with an inadvertent and misinformed Allied news release concerning the Dresden and other simultaneous bombings, let to an investigation by Headquarters, Army Air Forces, of the purpose and character of the current American strategic bombing operations in Europe.

  3. At a meeting with Allied press correspondents on 16 February 1945 a member of the SHAEF public relations staff released inaccurate and misleading statements concerning the current Allied bombing operations against German cities, primarily against communications centers, among which Dresden was obviously included.71 American press accounts of the remarks made to newsmen at SHAEF implied that the American and British bombing forces had begun a deliberate campaign of indiscriminate terror bombing” against German cities, thereby deviating from long-established policies concerning the employment of Allied strategic air power.72 Confirmed with the sensational American news stories and the German propaganda “plants” in the foreign press, Headquarters, Army Air Forces, in Washington, at once demanded from American air authorities in Europe a full explanation of the basis of the lurid press accounts and insisted that American bombing forces must not deviate from official bombing policy, either as to objectives and priorities or as to bombing methods.73

  4. Headquarters, United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, strongly emphasized the following six points in the replies that were immediately dispatched to Washington: (1) it had always been the policy of the American forces that civilian targets were not suitable military objectives; (2) there had been no change in the American policy of precision bombing of military objectives; (3) attacks against German communications were listed as the second priority objective in the Combined Chiefs of Staff “Directive No. 3 for the Strategic Air Forces in Europe (see paragraph 20 above): (4) the power of the Russian advance was regarded ads the greatest strategic factor in the war at that time and should be, as the situation dictated, supported; (5) Dresden, and other key communications centers, had been attacked as targets important to the Eastern Front; (6) the attacks on Dresden and other communications centers were appreciated by the Russians.74 This information satisfied Headquarters, AAF that all open questions concerning the current operations of the American strategic air forces in Europe had been satisfactorily resolved and that the American forces in Europe had been satisfactorily resolved and that the American forces were operating in strict conformity with established bombing policies.75

  5. A few weeks later, the issue of the Dresden bombings was reviewed by the Secretary of War. On 6 March 1945, the Secretary was informed by General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, that Dresden had been bombed on 14-15 February because it was a communications center of great importance, through which reinforcements passed to reach the Russian front, and because the city was closely related to German potentialities for launching a counterattack against the southern wing of the Russian offensive, and that standard bombing methods had been used in the Allied air attacks against Dresden.76 With General Marshall’s statement to the Secretary of War, the issue of the Dresden bombings within the framework of established bombing policies was considered closed.77

The Specific Forces and Means Employed in the Dresden Bombings in Relation to the Forces and Means Employed by the Allies in Other Aerial Attacks on Comparable Targets in Germany:

  1. The Allied bombings of Dresden on 14-15 February 1945 were an example of the standard pattern of RAF night area bombing, followed by Eighth Air Force daylight precision attacks against specific installations in the general area–in this instance, attacks against the Dresden Marshalling Yards. A comparative analysis of the forces and means employed by the respective strategic air forces requires, first, a definition and description of area bombing operations.

  2. As defined by the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, area attacks were raids “intentionally directed against a city area by more than 100 bombers with a bomb weight in excess of 100 tons, which destroyed more than 2 per cent of the residential buildings in the city attacked.”78 Area raids had four principal characteristics: they were generally made at night; they were made against large cities; they were designed to spread destruction over a wide area rather than to knock out any specific factory or installations; and they were intended primarily to destroy morals, particularly the morals of industrial workers.79 During World War II, Allied air forces–primarily the RAF–dropped more than half a million tons of bombs in area raids on 61 German cities with populations of more than 100,000.80 The Strategic Bombing Survey estimated that the area raids against these 62 German cities totally destroyed or severely damaged 3,600,000 residential units (some 20 per cent of all the dwelling units in Germany) and that the raids killed about 300,000 people, injured some 760,000 and rendered 7,500,000 persons homeless.81 Against at least 40 of the largest cities in Germany, the RAF conducted fire raids as a specific means of area bombing, and it conducted raids on at least eight other cities that were not among the 62 with populations of more than 100,000.82 Moreover, against certain of the largest cities in Germany the RAF conducted more than one fire raid; for example, at least six against Berlin, at least five each against Hamburg, Munich, and Essen, and at least two against Cologne.83

  3. The forces and means employed by the RAF in the area bombing of Dresden were significantly, but not unduly large: 722 heavy bombers dropped 1477.7 tons of high explosives and 1181.6 tons of incendiaries, a total weight of 2659.3 tons.84 In its sustained area raids on Hamburg in 1943, the RAF had used comparable numbers of aircraft in single raids; for example, 740 heavy bombers on 24/25 July, 739 on 28/29 July, and 726 on 29/30 July.85 In other area raids, the British had dispatched such tonnages as 11,773 tons of high explosive and 4,106 tons of incendiaries against Cologne on 9 October 1944, 4,368 tons of high explosives and 3,846 tons of incendiaries against Hamburg on 7 August 1943, and 3,476 tons of high explosives and 3,814 tons of incendiaries against Frankfurt-am-Main on 24 March 1944.86

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  1. In its 14 February daylight precision attacks on the Dresden Marshalling Yards, the Eighth Air Force employed 316 heavy bombers on the 14th for a tonnage of 487.7 tons of high explosives and 294.3 tons of incendiaries, a combined tonnage of 782 tons, and in its attacks on 15 February it employed 211 heavy bombers and 465.6 tons of high explosives (no incendiaries)–a total of 527 bombers and 1247.6 tons in the two days operations.87 In an attack on railway stations in Berlin on 26 February 1945 the Eighth Air Force employed 1089 heavy bombers for a total tonnage of 2778 tons, and in an attack on the Nurnberg Marshalling Yards on 21 February 1945 the Eighth employed 1198 heavy bombers for a total tonnage of 2868.8 tons.88 Analysis of the Eighth Air Force’s operational missions indicates, in fact, that the goals of the attacks on the Dresden Marshalling Yards was relatively small as compared with many sources of precision attacks in which it employed larger forces and means.89

The Specific Ways and the Degrees to Which the Dresden Bombings Achieved or Supported the Strategic Objectives that Underlay the Attack and wars of Mutual Importance to the Allies and the Russians:

  1. The Allied bombings of Dresden on 14-15 February 1945 were one of many major air actions undertaken to bring about the defeat of Germany by a combination of Allied air operations, of Allied ground operations against Germany from the west, and Russian operations against Germany from the east. No single action, whether by land, sea, or air, could of itself bring about the defeat of Germany. Each specific action, through whatever medium or by whatever force, was–if successful–an action that contributed to ultimate victory. The Allied bombings of Dresden were by no means either the largest or the most important air actions that were specific contributions to the defeat of Germany. Nevertheless, the bombing of Dresden was by its design and the degree of success achieved a highly significant air action.

  2. The major significance of the Dresden bombings lay in the fact that they were among several immediate and highly successful air actions made in response to the specific Russian request, given by General Antonov at the ARGONAUT Conference, less than two weeks earlier, for Allied air support of the Russian offensive on the Eastern Front. Had the German communications centers leading to that front–among which Dresden was uniquely important–not been successfully attacked by Allied strategic air forces, there can be little doubt that the course of the European war might have been considerably prolonged.90 At the time of the Dresden bombings, Marshal Koniev’s armies were less than seventy miles east of Dresden and by virtue of their extended positions highly vulnerable to German counterattack, provided the Germans could pass reinforcements through Dresden.91 With communications through Dresden made impossible as a consequence of the Allied bombings, the Russian salient in that area was rendered safe throughout the ensuing months of the war.92

  3. Of secondary significance, but by no means negligible, was the destruction or disruption of Dresden’s manufacturing activities, particularly of military goods, and the further reduction of Germany’s critically short railway rolling stock and operating facilities. Again, the death and destruction inflicted on the largest German city that had not before undergone large–scale bombing was almost certainly a major contribution to the final weakening of the will of the German people to resist. While the Americans, happily, cannot and would not claim credit for this aspect of the Dresden bombings, the fact remains that the RAF area raid on the city was the last of the instances during World War II in Europe when the shock effects of area bombing resulted in nearly total demoralization of a great enemy city.93

  4. The ultimate significance of the Dresden bombings in terms of the strategic objectives that underlay the attack and were of mutual importance to the Allies and the Russians is evident in statements bearing on the last phase of operations that were designed to bring about the final defeat of Germany. On 28 March 1945, in a personal message to Marshal Stalin, General Eisenhower, outlined his plans for total defeat of the German ground forces in the west and stated that his final task would be to divide the enemy’s forces “by joining hands with your forces.”94 The best axis on which to effect the junction of forces, General Eisenhower stated, would be a line through Erfurt-Leipzig-Dresden.95 On 1 April Marshal Stalin replied to General Eisenhower: “Your plan of dividing the German forces by means of the union of Soviet armies with your armies completely falls in with the plan of the Soviet High Command. I also agree that the place of the junction of your and the Soviet Armies should be in the area of Erfurt-Leipzig-Dresden.”96 Less than four weeks later, on 27 April, American and Russian forces joined at Torgau, on the Elbe river near Leipzig, and Hitler’s Germany had been cut in two.97 Eleven days later, on V-E Day (8 May 1945), in the final military action in the war against Germany, Marshal Koniev’s armies entered and captured Dresden. The war in Europe was over.98

III. CONCLUSION

The foregoing historical analysis establishes the following definitive answers to the recurring questions concerning the February 1945 bombings of Dresden by Allied strategic air forces: a. Dresden was a legitimate military target. b. Strategic objectives, of mutual importance to the Allies and the Russians, underlay the bombings of Dresden. c. The Russians requested that the Dresden area be bombed by Allied air forces. d. The Supreme Allied Commander, his Deputy Supreme Commander, and the key British and American operational air authorities recommended and ordered the bombing of Dresden. e. The Russians were officially informed by the Allies concerning the intended date of and the forces to be committed to the bombing of Dresden. f. The RAF Bomber Command employed 772 heavy bombers, 1477.7 tons of high explosive and 1181.6 tons of incendiary bombs, and American Eighth Air Force employed a total of 527 heavy bombers, 953.3 tons of high explosive and 294.3 tons of incendiary bombs, in the 14-15 February bombings of Dresden. g. The specific target objectives in the Dresden bombings were, for the RAF Bomber Command, the Dresden city area, including industrial plants, communications, military installations, and for the American Eighth Air Force, the Dresden Marshalling Yards and railway facilities. h. The immediate and actual consequences of the Dresden bombings were destruction or severe damage to at least 23 per cent of the city’s industrial buildings; severe damage to at least 56 per cent of the city’s non-industrial buildings (exclusive of dwellings); destruction or severe damage to at least 50 percent of the residential units in the city’s non-industrial buildings (exclusive of dwellings); destruction or severe damage to at least 50 percent of the residential units in the city, and at least some damage to 80 per cent of the city’s dwellings; the total disruption of the city as a major communications center, in consequence of destruction and damage inflicted on its railway facilities; and death to probably 25,000 persons and serious injury to probably 30,000 others, virtually all of these casualties being the result of the RAF area raid. i. The Dresden bombings were in no way a deviation from established bombing policies set forth in official bombing directives. j. The specific forces and means employed in the Dresden bombings were in keeping with the forces and means employed by the Allies in other aerial attacks on comparable targets in Germany. k. The Dresden bombings achieved the strategic objectives that underlay the attack and were of mutual importance to the Allies and the Russians.

Allied Aerial Bombardments of the Seven Largest German Cities99
Chart A

City
Population in 1939

American Tonnage British Tonnage
Total Tonnage

Berlin
4,339,000
22,090.3
45,517
67,607.3

Hamburg
1,129,000
17,104.6
22,583
39,687.6

Munich
841,000
11,471.4
7,858
27,110.9

Cologne
772,000
10,211.2
34,712
44,923.2

Leipzig
707,000
5,410.4
6,206
11,616.4

Essen
667,000
1,518.0
36,420
37,938.0

Dresden
642,000
4,441.2
2,659.3
7,100.5

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NOTES:

  1. Statistics on 8th Air Force bombing from Eighth Air Force Target Summary, Period 17 August 1942 thru 8 May 1945, p. 20. Supporting Document No. 1, Statistics on RAF Bomber Command bombing from Allied Air Attacks Against Targets in Dresden, Headquarters, United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, Office of the Commanding General, p 1. Supporting Document No. 2.

  2. Census of 17 May 1939 as reported in The Statesman’s Year Book, London, 1945, p. 960. Within Greater Germany, which after 1938 included Austria, Dresden ranked eight in size.

  3. Statistisches Handbuch von Duetschland: 1928-1944 (Statistical Handbuch of Germany, 1928-1944), Munich, 1949, p. 19

  4. Encyclopedia Brittanica, Chicago, 1948, Vol. IV, p. 646

  5. Chambers Encyclopedia, New York, 1950, Vol. IV, p. 636.

  6. Chambers Encyclopedia, New York, 1950, Vol. IV, p. 636.

  7. Statistisches Handbuch von Deutschland: 1928-1944, Munich, 1949, p. 8 (for land area), p. 343 (for railway mileage, and p. 353 (for railway tonnage).

  8. Dresden, Germany, City Area, Economic Reports, Vol. No. 2, Headquarters U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, 10 July 1945; and OSS London, No. B-1799/4, 3 March 1945, in same item.

  9. Interpretation Report No. K. 4171, Dresden, 22 March 19145, Supporting Document No. 3.

  10. Interpretation Report No. K. 4171, Dresden, 22 March 1945, Supporting Document No. 3.

  11. OSS London, T-3472, Germany: Air/Political, Conditions in Dresden, 6 April 1945, in same source as footnote 8.

  12. MS NO. P-050, Historical Division, European Command

  13. United States Army in World War II: The European Theatre of Operations: Cross-Channel Attack, Washington, D. C., 1951, pp. 121-126. (This volume is by G. A. Harrison.)

  14. Ibid.

  15. OCTAGON Summary, Office No. 691, United States Military Mission Moscow, 16 September 1944; Memorandum of Conversation, Marshal I. Y. Stalin, Prime Minister Churchill, Ambassador Harriman, Moscow, 14 October 1944.

  16. Ibid.

  17. Memorandum, Conversation between the American Ambassador, Mr. Harriman, and Marshal I. V. Stalin, 14 December 1944. Supporting Document No. 4

  18. Ibid.

  19. Message, SHAEF 1659 WARX-82070, 25 December 1944. Supporting Document No. 5.

  20. Message, WARX-82144 SHAEF, 26 December 1944. Supporting Document No. 6.

  21. Memorandum of Conference with Marshal Stalin, 15 January 1945. Supporting Document No. 7.

  22. Same item and Message 22378, U.S. Military Mission Moscow, 16 January 1945. Supporting Document No. 8.

  23. J.I.C. (45) 31 (O) (Revised Final), 25 January 1945. Supporting Document No. 9.

  24. Ibid.

  25. Ibid.

  26. Message, SHAEF SCM OUT 4025 1274A, 31 January 1945 . Supporting Document No. 11.

  27. ARGONAUT Conference Minutes of the Plenary Meeting between the U.S.A., Great Britain, and the U.S.S.R., held in Livadia Palace, Yalta, on Sunday, 4 February 1945, at 1700. Supporting Document No. 12.

  28. Message, Air Ministry NSW 207, Serial No. 7/9, 8 February 1945. Supporting Document No. 13.

  29. Message, SHAEF SCM IM 5157, 14 January 1945. Supporting Document No. 14.

  30. Supporting Document No. 15.

  31. Ibid.

  32. Message, ARGONAUT-OUT-43, 061739Z, 6 February 1945, Supporting Document No. 16; Message HQ USTAAF UA-53861, 7 February 1945, Supporting Document No. 17; letter, Maj. Gen. S. P. Spalding, Acting Chief, U.S. Military Mission (Moscow), to Maj. Gen. N. V. Slavin, Assistant Chief of Staff of Red Army, 8 February 1945, Supporting Document No. 18; Message, ARGONAUT 122, 10 February 1945, Supporting Document No. 19; letter, Spalding to Slavin, 10 February 1945 , Supporting Document No. 20; Message, HQ HAAF MI-45899, 11 February 1945, Supporting Document No. 21.

  33. Supporting Document No. 12

  34. Message, USTAAF UA-53861, 7 February 1945. Supporting Document No. 22. It must be presumed that the Commander-in-Chief, RAF Bomber Command, forwarded a similar message to the British Military Mission, Moscow, although the documentary sources that would verify this fact are not available at the present time to the USAF.

  35. Ibid.

  36. Letter, Maj. Gen. S. P. Spalding, Acting Chief, U.S. Military Mission, Moscow, to Maj. Gen. N. V. Slavin, Assistant Chief of Staff of Red Army, 8 February 1945. Supporting Document No. 23.

  37. Message, HQ USTAFF US-642102, 12 February 1945. Supporting Document No. 24.

  38. Letter, Maj. Gen. E. W. Hill, Chief, Air Division, U.S. Military Mission, Moscow, to Maj. Gen. N. V. Slavin, Assistant Chief of Staff of Red Army, 12 February 1945. Supporting Document No. 25. Again, it must be presumed that similar information was conveyed to the Russians by the British, through the British Military Mission, indicating that the RAF Bomber Command was preparing to strike Dresden.

  39. Message, Eighth Air Force D-63497, 13 February 1945. Supporting Document No. 26.

  40. Message, Eighth Air Force D-0010, 13 February 1945, Supporting Document No. 27; Letter, Lt. Col. D. V. Anderson, Executive Officer, Air Division, U.S. Military Mission, Moscow, to Maj. Gen. N. V. Slavin, Assistant Chief of Staff of Red Army, 13 February 1945, Supporting Document No. 28.

  41. Message, HQ USTAFF UAX-64452, 18 February 1945. Supporting Document No. 29.

  42. All figures in this paragraph taken from Eighth Air Force Target Summary, Period 17 August 1942 thru 8 May 1945, p. 20, and Allied Air Attacks Against Targets in Dresden. Headquarters, United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, p.1. Supporting Documents Nos. 1 and 2.

  43. Ibid.

  44. See Supporting Document No. 3 and footnote 8.

  45. See Supporting Documents Nos. 1 and 3.

  46. RAF incendiary raids on 32 German cities (exclusive of Dresden) with populations over 100,000 are described and analyzed in Fire Raids on German Cities. The United States Strategic Bombing Survey, Physical Damage Division, 1947. Especially pertinent sections of this document are reproduced in Supporting Documents Nos. 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35.

  47. Supporting Document No. 3.

  48. Ibid.

  49. OSS London, T-3472, Germany: Air/Political, Conditions in Dresden, 6 April 1945. Endnotes 8 and 11.

  50. Air Ministry, RE. 8. Area Attack Assessment: Dresden, undated (filed 30 October 1945). Supporting Document No. 35.

  51. Supporting Document No. 3.

  52. Contemporary estimates of one number of refugees and evacuees in Dresden in February 1945 ranged from several hundred thousand into several millions. See Supporting Document No. 2 (second enclosure thereto) and extract from Keesing’s Contemporary Archives, 1943-1946, p. 7054, in Supporting Document No. 36.

  53. Supporting Document No. 34.

  54. Air Ministry RE. 8, Area Attack: Dresden. Supporting Document No. 35.

  55. Supporting documents Nos. 37 and 38.

  56. Supporting Document No. 2 (second enclosure thereto) for examples of the propaganda releases issued by the Germans immediately following the bombings.

  57. MS No. P-050, Historical Division, European Command

  58. Overall Report (European War), United States Strategic Bombing Survey, 30 September 1945, p. 95

  59. Ibid.

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  1. Fire Raids on German Cities, United States Strategic Bombing Survey, Physical Damage Division, January 1945. Supporting Document No. 34.

  2. Contemporary estimates of one number of refugees and evacuees in Dresden in February 1945 ranged from several hundred thousand into several millions. Supporting Document No. 2 and extract from Keesing’s Contemporary Archives, 1943-1946, p. 7054, in Supporting Document No. 36.

  3. The Report of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, used as the basis for this comparison does not list the number of injured in the fire raids cited.

  4. CCS 166/1/D, 21 January 1943.

  5. Ibid.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Report of Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker on USAAF Activities in the UK Covering Period from February 20, 1942 to 31 December 1943.

  8. USTAFF Message 161551B, 16 April 1945.

  9. A basic statement of the American objectives to participating in area and morale bombing in Europe is contained in the remarks of General H. H. Arnold and Admiral William D. Leahy in the minutes of Joint Chiefs of Staff, 176th Meeting, 14 September 1944.

  10. On 14 February, following the RAF area bombing of the city, Heinrich Himmler, Chief of the German SS, sent this message to the head of the SS in Dresden: “The attacks were obviously severe, yet every first air raid gives the impression that the town has been completely destroyed.” Supporting Document No. 2

  11. Same item, and Supporting Document No. 27

  12. War Department Message CM-IN-18753, 19 February 1945.

  13. War Department Message CM-IN-39730, 18 February 1945. Support Document No. 39.

  14. War Department Message CM-OUT-39222, 17 February 1945. Support Document No. 40.

  15. War Department Message CM-IN-18652 and 18745 , 18 and 19 February 1945. Supporting Documents Nos. 41 and 42.

  16. War Department Message CM-OUT-39954, 19 February 1945. See Supporting Document No. 43.

  17. Memorandum for the Secretary of War, by G. C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, 6 March 1945. Supporting Document No. 44.

  18. Official files for 1945 do not contain further significant reference to the Dresden bombings of 14-15 February 1945.

  19. Over-all Report (European War), United States Strategic Bombing Survey, p. 72.

  20. Over-all Report (European War), United States Strategic Bombing Survey, p. 71.

  21. Over-all Report (European War), United States Strategic Bombing Survey, p. 72.

  22. Ibid.

  23. Fire Raids on German Cities, United States Strategic Bombing Survey, Table No. 2.

  24. Fire Raids on German Cities, United States Strategic Bombing Survey, Tables Nos. 4 and 5.

  25. See paragraph 23, above.

  26. A Detailed Study of the Effects of Area Bombing on Hamburg, United States Strategic Bombing Survey, Area Studies Division, January 1947.

  27. Fire Raids on German Cities, United States Strategic Bombing Survey, Table No. 5.

  28. See paragraph 23, above.

  29. Eighth Air Force Target Summary, Period 17 August 1942 thru 8 May 1945.

  30. Ibid.

  31. Memorandum for the Secretary of War, by G. C. Marshall, 6 March 1945, Supporting Document No. 44

  32. See Map No. II.

  33. See Maps III-V.

  34. Over-All (European), United States Strategic Bombing Survey, p. 74.

  35. SHAEF Message 18264, 28 March 1945. Supporting Document No. 45.

  36. Ibid.

  37. Telegram from Marshal I. Stalin to General Eisenhower, 1 April 1945. Supporting Document No. 46.

  38. David Marley, The Daily Telegraph Story of the War: January 1st-September 9th, 1945, London, 1946, p. 142.

  39. Facts on File Yearbook 1945, New York, 1945, p. 142.

  40. For American bomb tonnages, Eight Air Force Target Summary, Period 17 August 1942 thru 8 May 1945, and Fifteenth Air Force Daily Bombing Operations by Target; for Britian tonnages, War

#149

Erhhh… is this what you mean?

And yet once again: the revisionist idea that Stalin asked Chirchil to attack civilians in Dresden is fata morgana!

#150

Errr, what do you mean mate?:shock:

Regards digger

#151

You explaned about the location of the transport junctions in Dresden.
And I presented to all of us here the maps of the Dresden city areas developed by the British in 1943. This is for all us to see how the transport, industry and civilian housing areas were placed.

Interesting, is not it?

#152

As a map, it is interesting.

Regards digger

#153

It would be more interesting if I could read the legend on it.

#154

The point I was making. It’s not much use without a readable legend.

Regards digger

#155

There is more info here: http://www.bl.uk/learning/artimages/mappingminds/war/guideextract/guidetozonemaps1943.html

The areas are color coded: blue - industry; black - railroad structures; red - different density housing areas.

#156

http://www.gorod.lv/novosti/28534/sekretnyie_protokolyi_bombit_drezden_ne_prosili
Here is the some of interesting material about “Who did ask to bomb the Dresden”:slight_smile:

THE USSR never requested Anglo-American allies during World War II to bomb Dresden.
About this testify the declassified protocols of the meeting of the past 4-11 February of 1945 Yalta conference, demonstrated in the documentary film "Dresden. Chronicle of tragedy ".
The film, taken by director Aleksey Denisov, was shown on Monday in the evening by television channel “Russia”. He tells about the bombardment, by which underwent Dresden from the side of British and American Air Force 13 and on 14 February, 1945, reports RIA . Then on the whole of 1400 aircraft dropped to the city 650 thousand incendiary bombs hundreds of bombs with a weight of from two to four tons, as a result of which perished tens of thousands people. Each yr, 13 February on entire East and central Germany into 22:10 into the memory about the victims of Dresden church bells rang. Chime continued 20 minutes - exactly so many, the first attack on the city how much lasted.
"to the vexation of American authorities this tradition was extended also in West Germany. Attempting to stop similar actions, on 11 February, 1953, U.S. State Department declared, that the bombardment of Dresden allegedly was undertaken in response to the persistent requests of Soviet side in the course of Yalta conference. It is interesting that these assertions began to again appear in the newest European films about the Dresden tragedy ", notes the author and the director of film.
Today, according to him, it is possible to already documentary refute this myth of the times of the “Cold War”. Denisov it demonstrated minutes of the meeting of the Yalta conference, which no one saw to the present day and which were declassified specially for the film.
"precisely at these sessions were discussed questions of the coordination of actions of allies in the final stage of war. Dresden city is mentioned only one time - and that in connection with drawing of the boundary between the Anglo-American and Soviet troops, it emphasizes Denisov. - A about which actually here requested Soviet command, so this about inflicting of impacts on the railroad junctions of Berlin and Leipzig in connection with the fact that the Germans already moved against us from western front on the order of 20 divisions and were collected to move about 30 more. Specifically, this request was entrusted in the written form to Roosevelt and to Churchill
The precise number of victims of bombing cannot be determined, until now. In THE USA and Great Britain speaks about 35 thousand those be killeden; however, the majority of historians considers that not less than 135 thousand people perished. As a result of airstrike in essence residential sections and monuments of architecture were destroyed. The at the same time largest sorting stations of Dresden were barely obtained damages. The main railroad bridge through Elba and large military airfield in the environments of city proved to be untouched. Because of this the regular movement of the trains through Dresden for the troop movement to the eastern front was restored by the Germans in all in the twenty-four hours.
In the film the opinions of the number of the historians, who connect the bombardment of the Dresden with the desire of western allies to demonstrate their power of the advancing Red Army, are given - troops of marshal Konev was situated up to that moment only in 100 kilometers from Dresden. “there is an evidence of the fact that the Anglo-American allies planned this military action to conduct to the beginning of Yalta conference or during it. Then becomes clear, that this, obviously, some means of possible pressure in the Soviet Union in order to somehow attempt to change the position of the Stalin”, says historian Vladimir Shum.
As the author of film notes, “the tendency of British command to attain the fastest end of war with the aid of the total destruction of German it is municipal with the citizen it did not lead to the desired result”. The purpose to demoralize German population and to force to capitulate not was achieved it.
.

So as we could to see the myth about “soviet request to bomb the Dresden” has appeared from the US department right after the Korean War when the Soviet firstly fight with americans.
Unfortinatelly i have not seen this film yet.
Cheers.

#157

So gues as it absolutly right noticed the RS the ALLIES themself decided to bomb the Dresden.:wink:
But that is strange … the OFFICIAL targed of bombing raid - the realway complex was practically untouched.Thus this bombing raid has no relation to the Soviet request for the bombing of Germans realway complex of Berlin-Leipzig indeed.
This makes us to arise the next question - what was the REAL aim of bombing?
According Harris strategy - the centre of city ( i.e. population together with refugees).
I heared if the 8 USAAF at least try to bomb the realway station - to the contrast the RAF bombed only and mainly the centre of city.
Certainly the carpet bombing method is far from the precision - but in this way for what were spend the millions of dollars, the handreds of toons of bombs and the thousands of hours of working time - rather for the henocide of the german population then for the real military nesserity?

#158

I think it should be good to compare the both maps of the bombing areas and the map that you presented.
How do youthing what percent of the REAL military objects of Dresden lied in the bombing zone?

#159

One more aspect gentlements.
I know for the sure that during the last phase of the WW2 Stalin demand for the soviet hight command to save as much as it was possible the GErmans idustrial areas and objects ( that will be in the soviet zone of occupation).As it wrote the british historian Alan Clark in his book “Barbarossa” Stalin ordered the Gukov to save the Silezia industrial area ( the second large german industry area after the Rur) when he prepeared the offensive to the germany in early 1945.
In fact already in the beginning of the 1945 the soviet -allies relations was worsting constantly - there is no any doubt that all politic look for the future.
In March 1945 the Churcilll prdered to developed the war plan “Unthinkable” - the strike on the Soviet troops in Europe.
So there is no any doubts the Stalin was wanted to save the German industry for the future when it should be usefulll in the war with former allies.
In this prospect - ( althouth it hard to believe ) in the 1945 the Soviet command do not wish devastate the neither Gernas industry nor the germans cities - the need all for the own use in future. ALL WHAT THEY WAS NEEED to stop the moving the germans troops in the Eastern front - THEREFORE THEY asked the allies to bomb ONLY the realway complex of Germany.
To the contrast the allies ( who clearly understand the situation) need to bomb the everyting in Eastern Germany as much as they can. Thus they were INTERESTED TO DESTRUCT the whole cities and areas in the future Soviet zone.
I read in one book ( and as we know from the forum) the Allies hight command had a SELECTIVE approach to the bombing targets. For instance we know the american property in Germany ( The FORD palnts) WERE NOT BOMBED. To the contrast the Easter Germany got the most devastating bombing raids in the 1944-45. In this way the Bombing of Drestden were nothing special - it was the approach of allies- to destroy the everethin that could be usefull for the future Cold war by enemy.

Cheers.

#160

Hello Chevan!!! it has been some time!

Yes, that would be great to see a map/diagram showing the result of the bombing. Do you have it?

#161

the continie…
Thus the tragedy of Dresden and other german cities was resault of Allies approach ( and view of future world sitiation).
The allies tactic in the last phase of WW2 had a several aims:
1. To liquidate the European competitors industry potential ( Germans) after the war as much as they could- in this proospect the “millitary necessarity” was just a covered justifiacaion.
The military damage was the minimal - to the contrast the mass annihilation of germans industry ( including the civils) and cities with population…
As we could it see in the Dresden - the millitary aim was the last that the allies thought about;)
This was a most brutal case of firebombing - and the Nazy propoganda has immediatelly used it in its dirty aims.
2. Do not get the any industry and property to the hand of Soviets - coz they could use it in the future possible war against allies.
In this way the devastation of Germans cities and areas REALLY had a military sense.
Not for the WW2, but for the Cold war.
So i wish to say the civilian victims of Dresden and other devastating cities in 1945- were the first victims of Cold war - it was resauld of western allies approach for the World Strategic Power views after the war.

Cheers.

#162

Hey Egorka.:wink:
Yes it seems i know where we could get the map of bombing zone - from the Wiki.

Left:The former city plan of Dresden with the amount of destruction rendered
Black, total destruction; checkered, partially damaged
Right:The map of Dresden with definition of odjects area for the Allies pilots:The areas are color coded: blue - industry; black - railroad structures; red - different density housing areas

#163

I forgot, the bombing of Dresden was another giant Western Allied conspiracy of breathtaking proportions against the Soviet Union.

Yes Stalin did not mention Dresden at Yalta, that was left to General Antonov the Red Army deputy chief of staff to hash out with the British delegation. the only specific mention of Dresden by Antonov was in regard to the bomb line which ran through Berlin, Dresden, Vienna and through to Zagreb. This was requested by Antonov as a requirement to prevent the flow of German reinforcements from the west and from Norway.

While the Dresden raid was singuarly most devestating raid by RAF Bomber Command and the US 8th AF, the overall damage was less than the damage on other cities due to accumulated raids, especially in the Ruhr.

The idea that the raids on Berlin and Dresden in this period were to deny Soviet 'spoils of war" is pure poppycock.

Regards digger