Kassel World War II bombings | |||||
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Part of Strategic bombing campaign in Europe | |||||
![]() Two people observing fires ravaging the Bettenhausen district after bombing | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||
Carl Spaatz (May 1942 – ) Arthur Harris (1941–) |
Gauleiters, Karl Weinrich, Karl Gerland |
The Kassel World War II bombings were a set of Allied strategic bombing attacks which took place from February 1942 to March 1945. In a single deadliest raid on 22–23 October 1943, 150,000 inhabitants were bombed-out,[citation needed] at least 6,000 people died,[citation needed] the vast majority of the city center was destroyed, and the fire of the most severe air raid burned for seven days. The US First Army captured Kassel on 3 April 1945, where only 50,000 inhabitants remained, versus 236,000 in 1939.[citation needed]
Targets
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Untere_koenigsstrasse_1945.jpg/220px-Untere_koenigsstrasse_1945.jpg)
As well as being the capital of the provinces of Hesse-Nassau and Kurhessen, Kassel had some important targets:
- Fieseler aircraft facility
- Henschel & Sohn facilities, maker of the Tiger I and King Tiger heavy tanks
- The Henschel & Sohn firm's locomotive plant
- engine plant
- motor transport plant
- railway works
- Military HQs at Wehrkreis IX, and Bereich Hauptsitz Kassel
- Central Germany HQ, highway & railway construction
- Regional Supreme Court
Bombing raids
[edit]Date | Target | |
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17/18 February 1942 | [specify] | ![]() |
27/28 August 1942 | Henschel | ![]() |
8/9 September 1942 | [specify] | ![]() |
2/3 October 1943 | [specify] | ![]() |
3/4 October 1943 | [specify] | ![]() |
22/23 October 1943 | city centre | ![]() |
18/19 March 1944 | [specify] | ![]() |
30/31 March 1944 | [specify] | ![]() |
27/28 September 1944 | [specify] | ![]() |
28 September 1944 | Henschel motor transport plant | ![]() |
3/4 October 1944 | [specify] | ![]() |
15/16 October 1944 | [specify] | ![]() |
9/10 November 1944 | [specify] | ![]() |
27/28 December 1944 | [specify] | ![]() |
6/7 January 1945 | [specify] | ![]() |
18/19 January 1945 | [specify] | ![]() |
21/22 January 1945 | [specify] | ![]() |
2/3 March 1945 | [specify] | ![]() |
8/9 March 1945 | [specify] | ![]() |
18/19 March 1945 | [specify] | ![]() |
20/21 March 1945 | [specify] | ![]() |
External images | |
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Before and after the bombings After the bombing in 1943 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^
"Campaign Diary". Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary. UK Crown. Archived from the original on 2009-04-17. Retrieved 2009-03-22. February 1942 Archived June 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, August 1942 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, October 1943 Archived March 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, November 1943 Archived June 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, December 1943 Archived March 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine January 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, February 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive March 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, September 1944 Archived 2004-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, October 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, November 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, December 1944 Archived June 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine January 1945 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, February 1945 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive March 1945 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, April 1945 Archived 2012-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Popa, Opritsa D. (2003). Bibliophiles and bibliothieves : the search for the Hildebrandslied and the Willehalm Codex. Berlin: de Gruyter. p. 12. ISBN 3-11-017730-7.
- ^ Bomber Command October 1943 Archived March 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^
McKillop, Jack. "Combat Chronology of the USAAF". usaaf.net. Archived from the original on 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
1942: January Archived 2009-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, October Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, November Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, December Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
1943: January Archived 2012-05-31 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2009-02-28 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-28 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-12 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, October Archived 2012-05-31 at the Wayback Machine, November Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, December Archived 2006-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
1944: January Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2014-12-27 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2012-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2013-05-27 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, October Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, November Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, December Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
1945: January Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2013-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2013-06-02 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
Sources
[edit]- Werner Dettmar: Die Zerstörung Kassels im Oktober 1943. Hesse, Fuldabrück 1983, ISBN 3-924259-00-3
- Gebhard Aders: Bombenkrieg/Strategien der Zerstörung. licoverlag 2004