Dresden was a valid stratigic target

Aediles Posts : 61 Join date : 2021-09-10

On the night of February 13 1945, the RAF carried out a very heavy raid on the City of Dresden, the bombers came in two waves, dropping their bombs throughout the city. By morning, an estimated 1,400 tons of HE bombs and 1,100 tons of incendiaries had been dropped, they had created a firestorm, which destroyed much of the city, causing the death of an estimated 25,000 civilians. There followed two more daylight raids by U.S. Bombers on the 14/15 February 1945, they bombed railways, bridges, and indusrial facilities.

Dresden had been the largest unbombed city in the Third Reich, it was also one of Germany's largest remaining industrial centres, with over 100 factories, among them were those with facilities for producing poison gas, artillery, and aircraft components, in addition Zeiss-Ikon was one of the major manufacturers in Dresden, producing instruments of importance, such as cameras, and bombsights. The city was also a key rail hub, with lines running north-south to numerous cities in Germany and the occupied territories, it was a major transport and communication centre. These factors, would have made the allies, consider Dresden as an appropriate target.

Censura Posts : 1818 Join date : 2012-05-12

Hello Fact Wizard. I think Priscilla has already said that posts written all in bold can be difficult to read and thus off-putting to other readers. That said - you might like to know that there was a brief discussion on the bombing of Dresden on an earlier thread:

War crimes

It's certainly a topic which has tended to be swept under the carpet by a lot of narratives regarding the Second World War.