military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) (08/28/90)
From: sun!ucqais.uc.edu!skilby (Steven Kilby)
I thought that I would post some fairly reliable information concerning
the Dresden bombing. Since there has been some contradictions between posts,
I am including my reference at the end.
The Dresden bombing took place on the 13, 14, and 15th of
February 1945. On the night of 13-14 250 multi-engined Lancasters of R.A.F.
Bomber Command dropped massive concentrations of high explosives and
incendiary bombs into the centre of the city. A second formation, on the
same night, of 529 R.A.F. Lancasters scattered 4,000-pound block-buster
bombs and thousands of incendiaries at random into the spreading fires. It
is said that on the dawn of the 14th, the heat rising from Dresden could be felt
at 20,000 ft.
On the 14th - Ash Wednesday - a force of 300 Flying Fortresses of the
U.S. 8th Air Force dropped 700 tons of radar directed bombs. During these
three raids at least 3,000 tons of high explosives and incendiaries had
fallen on Dresden.
On the 15th another huge formation of U.S. B-17's returned and
dropped a futher 461 tons of bombs.
An area of approx. 8 square miles was totally burned and the temperature
was said to have reached 1,000 degrees at the centre. The dead was numbered
as at least 135,000.
References :
Killen, John. "A History of the Luftwaffe", 1967.
with forward by : Marshal of the Royal Air Force,
Sir John Slessor, G.C.B., D.S.O., M.C.
--
Steven M. Kilby Univ. of Cincinnati, College of Business Administration
(Steven.Kilby@UC.EDU) UUCP: {decuac,pyramid}!uccba!ucqais!skilby
ARPA or BITNET: skilby%ucqais@uccba.uc.edu PHONE: (513) 556-7159