The bombing of Stuttgart during the Second World War is a series of 53 air raids during the strategic allied air attack against Germany . The first raid on the city took place with 20 Royal Air Force aircraft and occurred on August 25, 1940. During the raid 17 city buildings were destroyed. [1] Over the next four and a half years, the city was attacked several times by the British Air Force and the 8th US Army, which led to numerous destruction of the city’s buildings and industrial infrastructure (including Daimler and Porsche automobile factories) and several military bases. Centralized rail transportation in southwest Germany was disrupted. The last bombing of the city [2] took place on April 19, 1945. [one]
For the period 1939-1945, the British Air Force (RAF) dropped 21,216 long tons of bombs on the city of Stuttgart. [3]
Content
History
The city of Stuttgart in May 1939 was Germany's largest city with more than 458,000 inhabitants. Large industrial enterprises were located in the city, including the Daimler-Benz and Bosch military factories, as well as small companies such as Motorenwerke and the Roiter automobile body factory. These enterprises served as the primary targets for destruction during the upcoming bombing.
On November 22, 1942, South Stuttgart was attacked by 191 aircraft. Previous bombing of the city since 1940 did not bring him significant damage and casualties.
On March 11, 1943, 279 aircraft again bombed the southern districts of Stuttgart. On April 15, 1943, the city was bombarded in the eastern part by 393 aircraft. The raid on September 6, 1943 is known, when 338 American heavy bombers took off, but only about 150 flew to the city and bombed it. In this raid there were great losses of American aircraft - 45 B-17 bombers. On October 8, 1943, 342 Lancaster royal RAFs bombed the center of Stuttgart, on November 26 of that same year, 162 aircraft bombed the city.
552 aircraft hit the city on February 21, 1944, an even larger-scale bombardment of 557 aircraft took place on March 2. On March 5, 1944, an RAF of 863 bombers participated in a raid on Stuttgart, dropping 3,000 tons of bombs onto the city. [4] About 100 aircraft bombed the city on July 16, 1944. Subsequently, the Allied Air Force launched four strikes on Stuttgart from July 25 to July 29, dropping about 73,000 bombs. In raids on September 5, 10 and 12, over 200 aircraft participated in the city. The raid on September 12 as a result of a firestorm caused significant damage to the city and claimed the lives of 957 people. On the night of October 19-20, 1944, 583 aircraft bombed the city. After that, on November 5 of the same year, 165 bombers participated in two raids. The last major raid of 1944 was carried out by 350 aircraft in East Stuttgart on December 9th.
In the last major raid on the city on January 28, 1945, 539 aircraft participated, bombing its eastern regions. Subsequent raids consisted of a small number of aircraft - less than 50.
Despite the damage caused by Stuttgart from the bombing, the RAF concluded that the destruction of the city was not as effective as it could be: [5]
Air Defense
By 1944, 11 heavy (88 mm) and 38 light (20 mm to 40 mm) anti-aircraft gun batteries were defending Stuttgart. [6] Luftwaffe fighters deployed south of the city of Stuttgart also participated in the defense of the city. Currently, there are "witnesses" of those military operations - the Burgholzhof observation tower, which was used by anti-aircraft spotters during raids.
Attack Stats
- 1.5 million cubic meters of rubble from the destroyed buildings of the city were taken to Birkenkopf. [7]
- During the war years, about 142,000 bombs were dropped on Stuttgart.
- Losses of the allies in the attacks on Stuttgart amounted to about 300 aircraft and 2,400 people in flight.
- 4,590 people were killed in air attacks.
- As a result of the bombing, 39,125 buildings were destroyed or damaged in the city.
Literature
- James Stern: Die unsichtbaren Trümmer. Eine Reise im besetzten Deutschland 1945. Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-8218-0749-0 .
- Jörg Friedrich: Der Brand. Deutschland im Bombenkrieg 1940-1945. 11. Auflage. Propyläen, München 2002, ISBN 3-549-07165-5 .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Page on the air attacks against Stuttgart. Archived on March 10, 2009.
- ↑ Page on Stuttgart air attacks.
- ↑ bomber command | mines laid | flight august | 1945 | 1571 | Flight archive
- ↑ Page on RAF raids.
- ↑ Page on RAF Bomber Command.
- ↑ Page on Stuttgart Flak batteries. Archived on March 10, 2009.
- ↑ Source: Stuttgart Newspaper Archived on April 18, 2003.
Links
- Aerial slaughter
- Die Luftangriffe auf Stuttgart Multimedia-Reportage der Stuttgarter Zeitung auf: extra.stuttgarter-zeitung.de, abgerufen am 8. Dezember 2015
- Liste aller 53 Angriffe auf: schutzbauten-stuttgart.de, abgerufen am 8. Dezember 2015
- Schutzbauten Stuttgart eV