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The bombing of dresden
The Dresden Bombing was a series of strategic bombing runs on the city of Dresden that took place on February 13-15, 1945. The Royal Air force and the U.S. Air Force dropped bombs on the city of Dresden in Germany during WWII. Dresden was the target of the raid even though it was a beautiful city with little military value. It was a subject to controversy because of its doubted usefulness and use of extreme force. It was a significant event in history because of its grotesque amount of deaths and the debate about whether it was really necessary or pointless.
On the night of February 13, 1945, alarms began to sound around the city of Dresden. The Royal and U.S. Air forces were about to attack through an air raid. The first of three raids was caused by the Royal Air force. They began to drop hundreds of bombs on Dresden and the surrounding city, destroying homes and lives of the many people who lived there. The second raid came unexpectedly the next morning, when the Royal Air Force began to drop more bombs on Dresden which put the whole city up in flames. The bombs caused immediate fires which burned down most of the city. The smoke made subsequent runs harder and hundreds of people died from suffocation. Unexpectedly, the third raid happened the next day by the U.S. Air forces. They used bombs, flares and aircrafts to completely demolish the city. It was said that the blaze of Dresden up in flames was seen from miles away and lasted several hours before dying out.
Overall, the bombs destroyed hundreds of homes, roads, and lives. Approximately, 45,000 people died either burned from the destruction of the bombs or the suffocated from the smoke and debris. A large total of about 2,600 tons of bombs were dropped on Dresden between those three raids. It was very difficult for people to survive after the attacks because the whole city was up in flames. For the people that did survive, it was difficult to get medical attention or find food and other supplies. A large portion of roofs, homes, and streets were destroyed turning Dresden from a well populated city to a deserted plain of ash and dead bodies.
The Bombings of Dresden were an important part of world history because of the immense number of civilian casualties and the fact that a residential area of little to no military value was targeted. In all previous wars civilian areas were largely left alone and especially not target purposefully but the Bombing of Dresden was the opposite. A high population area was targeted with only a small reason to believe it was valuable. After the war ended people continued to question the horror show that went on in Dresden and whether it was a necessity or whether it was a war crime with around 45,000 deaths of innocent civilians involved.
In total the Bombing of Dresden seemed to be an attack that was not required and led to many deaths that should have been avoided. As a result of this controversial raid the strategic bombings were stopped for the rest of the war because their use just couldn’t be justified by many of the people involved. The city of Dresden was turned into a mass grave and had trouble recovering for a while after, only returning to full power once the war ended.
On the night of February 13, 1945, alarms began to sound around the city of Dresden. The Royal and U.S. Air forces were about to attack through an air raid. The first of three raids was caused by the Royal Air force. They began to drop hundreds of bombs on Dresden and the surrounding city, destroying homes and lives of the many people who lived there. The second raid came unexpectedly the next morning, when the Royal Air Force began to drop more bombs on Dresden which put the whole city up in flames. The bombs caused immediate fires which burned down most of the city. The smoke made subsequent runs harder and hundreds of people died from suffocation. Unexpectedly, the third raid happened the next day by the U.S. Air forces. They used bombs, flares and aircrafts to completely demolish the city. It was said that the blaze of Dresden up in flames was seen from miles away and lasted several hours before dying out.
Overall, the bombs destroyed hundreds of homes, roads, and lives. Approximately, 45,000 people died either burned from the destruction of the bombs or the suffocated from the smoke and debris. A large total of about 2,600 tons of bombs were dropped on Dresden between those three raids. It was very difficult for people to survive after the attacks because the whole city was up in flames. For the people that did survive, it was difficult to get medical attention or find food and other supplies. A large portion of roofs, homes, and streets were destroyed turning Dresden from a well populated city to a deserted plain of ash and dead bodies.
The Bombings of Dresden were an important part of world history because of the immense number of civilian casualties and the fact that a residential area of little to no military value was targeted. In all previous wars civilian areas were largely left alone and especially not target purposefully but the Bombing of Dresden was the opposite. A high population area was targeted with only a small reason to believe it was valuable. After the war ended people continued to question the horror show that went on in Dresden and whether it was a necessity or whether it was a war crime with around 45,000 deaths of innocent civilians involved.
In total the Bombing of Dresden seemed to be an attack that was not required and led to many deaths that should have been avoided. As a result of this controversial raid the strategic bombings were stopped for the rest of the war because their use just couldn’t be justified by many of the people involved. The city of Dresden was turned into a mass grave and had trouble recovering for a while after, only returning to full power once the war ended.
"There were nonstop explosions. Our cellar was filled with fire and smoke." This was said by Lothar Metzger a child living in Dresden during the bombing. This quote shows how dangerous the bombings were even to civilian areas without any military significance.
"The firestorm is incredible, there are calls for help and screams from somewhere but all around is one single inferno." This was said by Margaret Freyer, a woman living in Dresden at the time. This quote shows how much unnecessary force was used. Even if there were military structures to hit the insane amount of incendiaries used during the raid was overkill for all but the highest fortifications. The inferno made it near impossible to survive.
"Fire, only fire wherever we looked. Our 4th floor did not exist anymore." This quote also said by Lothar Metzger a child living in Dresden at the time. This shows the destruction of the bombings to destroy a whole floor of a building. Again the amount of explosives dropped comes into question if it was enough to nearly level a city.
"We seemed to fly for hours over a sheet of fire." Said by Roy Akehurst, a bomber who helped to conduct the raid. This shows that even the pilots doing this thought it was irresponsible overkill for the city. They knew it had a high civilian population and they couldn't understand how this could be ordered because the amount of devastation they were seeing was immense.
"The intentions of the attack are to hit the enemy where he will feel it most." This was in an internal Royal Air Force memo from a month before the raid. This quote shows how the plan of the raid wasn't so much to destroy military equipment but to kill civilians and morally damage the Germans. This is a slaughter not just a bombing then because of the intention.
"The firestorm is incredible, there are calls for help and screams from somewhere but all around is one single inferno." This was said by Margaret Freyer, a woman living in Dresden at the time. This quote shows how much unnecessary force was used. Even if there were military structures to hit the insane amount of incendiaries used during the raid was overkill for all but the highest fortifications. The inferno made it near impossible to survive.
"Fire, only fire wherever we looked. Our 4th floor did not exist anymore." This quote also said by Lothar Metzger a child living in Dresden at the time. This shows the destruction of the bombings to destroy a whole floor of a building. Again the amount of explosives dropped comes into question if it was enough to nearly level a city.
"We seemed to fly for hours over a sheet of fire." Said by Roy Akehurst, a bomber who helped to conduct the raid. This shows that even the pilots doing this thought it was irresponsible overkill for the city. They knew it had a high civilian population and they couldn't understand how this could be ordered because the amount of devastation they were seeing was immense.
"The intentions of the attack are to hit the enemy where he will feel it most." This was in an internal Royal Air Force memo from a month before the raid. This quote shows how the plan of the raid wasn't so much to destroy military equipment but to kill civilians and morally damage the Germans. This is a slaughter not just a bombing then because of the intention.