Air War Over Europe.

[S.ChrisKelly]

Some research I did that may be of interest.

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MUNICH

 

There were seventy-four air raids on Munich, with 6,632 people killed and 15,800 wounded. Around 90% of the Altstadt (old city) was severely damaged due to the policy of carpet bombing (Flächenbombardement). Munich was considered a special target of allies bombings also for propaganda purposes, in that it was the "movement's capital city", Nazi Party's birthplace. At the start of the Großdeutsches Reich in 1939, Munich had a population of around 830,000, and was the fourth-largest city in Germany.

 

1939-Autumn 1942

7 RAF raids against München, Germany,

 

9/10 March 1940

RAF bombed München, Germany.

 

8 Nov 1940 

RAF bombed München, Germany, narrowly missing Hitler.

 

9/10 March 1942

RAF bombed München, Germany, 218 bombers dropped 599 tons of bombs, killing 208 and injuring 435.

 

19/20 Sep 1942

RAF bombers conducted a raid on München, Germany.

 

6/7 September 1943

RAF bombed München, Germany. 404 bombers took off and 347 made it to the target. 208 dead, 785 wounded, 1334 fires burned.

 

2/3 Oct 1943 

RAF bombed München, Germany. 

 

24 April 1944 

Daytime.

München and the surrounding area was heavily attacked by the USAAF. Over seven hundred bomber aircraft took part in the attack, and were escorted by P-51B, P-38J, and P-47D aircraft, with around eight hundred fighter aircraft. The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber aircraft came from the 8th and 9th Air Forces.

The attack was intended to limit production of the Dornier Do 335 at Dornier Flugzeugwerke, Oberpfaffenhofen and turbine blades for the Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow turbojet. Oberpfaffenhofen is now the home of the mission control center Deutsches Raumfahrt-Kontrollzentrum of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (German Aerospace Centre).

 

24/25 April 1944

Nighttime.

234 Lancasters and 16 Mosquito aircraft from the RAF attacked Munich. It was a devastating and concentrated attack, and around 80% of the buildings in the target area were destroyed. The attack was noted for a new method of target marking at low level from 700 feet. Karlsruhe, further to the north-west, was also heavily bombed by the RAF that night. Nine Lancaster aircraft were lost in the raid.

 

24/25April 1944

Nighttime.

British bombers attacked München, Germany. During this attack, the Spinosaurus fossil specimen BSP 1912 VIII 19 was destroyed at the Paläontologische Staatssammlung München (Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology).

 

11, 12 & 13 July 1944

USAAF bombed München, Germany.

 

16 July 1944

A total of 1,087 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from USAAF Eighth Air Force attacked Germany in three waves (407, 238, and 407 bombers, respectively), escorted by 240, 214, and 169 fighters, respectively, with most of the bombers targeting Munich, Stuttgart, Augsburg, and Saarbrucken; a total of 11 bombers and 3 fighters were lost.

 

16 & 19 July 1944

USAAF bombed München, Germany.

 

21 July 1944

1,110 bombers of US 8th Air Force were launched from England, United Kingdom against Germany, hitting München (Munich), Saarbrücken (targeting rail marshalling yards), Oberpfeffenhofen, Walldrun (targeting rail marshalling yards), Regensburg, Stuttgart, Schweinfurt, and other locations; a total of 31 bombers and 8 escorting fighters were lost.

 

31 July 1944

USAAF bombed München, Germany.

 

11, 12, 13, 16, 19, 21 & 31 July 1944 

USAAF dropped 8,800 tons of bombs, killing 1,856 and wounding 4,753.

 

22 September 1944

USAAF bombed München, Germany with 447 planes dropping 853 tons of bombs, killing 172, wounding 249.

 

November 1944

Six raids involving 1,200 planes dropping 3,836 tons of bombs, killing 436 and wounding 410.

 

18 December 1944

RAF bombed München, Germany.

 

7/8 January 1945

RAF bombed München, Germany. 597 planes dropped 2,220 tons of bombs in two waves, one an hour after the first, killing 505 and wounding 988.

 

25 February 1945

USAAF bombed München, Germany.

 

9 April 1945

USAAF bombed München, Germany.

 

29 April 1945

US Army arrives in München, Germany. US 20th Armored, 3rd Infantry, 42nd Infantry & 45th Infantry Divisions.

 

30 April 1945

Hitler dead, München, Germany, surrendered to US forces after light, sporadic resistance. "Pitched battle" at München Flugzeughafen on 1 May 1945.

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AUGSBURG

 

17 Apr 1942

12 Lancaster bombers from No. 44 Squadron RAF and No. 76 Squadron RAF attempted a low level daylight attack on the MAN diesel engine factory in Augsburg, Germany. 7 of the 12 aircraft were shot down by German fighters, while the remaining 5 accurately dropped the bombs on the target, though the damage caused was smaller than desired. This costly raid reinforced British Air Marshal Arthur Harris' feelings that daylight missions should be avoided. Elsewhere, 173 British bombers (134 Wellington, 23 Stirling, 11 Halifax, and 5 Manchester) attacked Hamburg, Germany; 23 civilians were killed, 66 were wounded; 8 bombers were lost during this attack.

 

25/26 February 1944

In a final Big Week mission (#235), the Eighth Air Force bombed the Augsburg Messerschmitt works during the day on 25 February 1944. That night (25/26 February 1944), RAF Bomber Command followed with 594 aircraft and destroyed large parts of the centre of Augsburg. 21 RAF aircraft, 3.6% of the force was lost (at least four due to collision).  The last bombings killed 730 people and injured 1,335; 85,000 were left homeless, and nearly a quarter of all homes had been destroyed. There were 246 "large or medium sized" and 820 small fires. Due to the frozen hydrants and water surfaces (the temperature was minus 18 degrees Celsius) fire fighting was difficult.

 

16 July 1944

A total of 1,087 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers USAAF Eighth Air Force attacked Germany in three waves (407, 238, and 407 bombers, respectively), escorted by 240, 214, and 169 fighters, respectively, with most of the bombers targeting Munich, Stuttgart, Augsburg, and Saarbrucken; a total of 11 bombers and 3 fighters were lost.

 

28 April 1945

Augsburg surrenders.

In the early morning hours before 06.00, April 28, 1945, the first American spear head with Franz Hesse reached the Riedingerbunker. City Commandant Major General Fritz Fehn was arrested. Not much later, the second spearhead with Hubert Rauch followed across the Wertach bridge. Augsburg was occupied in a peaceful manner.  U.S. VIIth Army’s report: „The surrender of Augsburg in the center sector of the VIIth Army’s final Bavarian operation was one of the strangest accidents of the occupation of Germany“. Major John O’Connell, Battalion Commander/15th Infantry Regiment, received the surrender in the heart of the city from the outskirts of Steppach. 

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