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The Fire Bombing of Dresden, Germany

The Fire Bombing of Dresden, Germany. February 13, 1945 World War II. The Bombing of Dresden.

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The Fire Bombing of Dresden, Germany

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  1. The Fire Bombing of Dresden, Germany February 13, 1945 World War II

  2. The Bombing of Dresden • The bombers arrived in force in Dresden in the final months of the war. On the night of Feb. 13 to 14, the engines of 770 British Lancasters and 330 American B-17 "Flying Fortresses" droned over old Dresden. Before the planes left, they had dropped more than 3,100 tons of explosive and incendiary bombs on the city. The resulting firestorm immolated the city center and many of the neighboring districts. Up to 40,000 people lost their lives, many of them refugees from eastern Germany who had escaped the advancing Soviet army. A more exact count is impossible; many victims had been reduced to ash by the fire's heat.

  3. The Bombing of Dresden One tactic used by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force was the creation of firestorms. This was achieved by dropping incendiary bombs, filled with highly combustible chemicals such as magnesium, phosphorus or petroleum jelly (napalm), in clusters over a specific target. After the area caught fire, the air above the bombed area, become extremely hot and rose rapidly. Cold air then rushed in at ground level from the outside and people were sucked into the fire.

  4. The Bombing of Dresden • The dead of Dresden lie in the streets in 1945. Waves of British bombers flew over the city, creating a firestorm in which tens of thousands died. • The temperature of the masonry in the city's cathedral reached an estimated 1,000C. • Reports speak of many victims melting in the intense heat, their bodies becoming welded to pavements.

  5. The Bombing of Dresden • Bodies are piled up for burning in the streets of Dresden after the 1945 firebombing. • Many refugees died in the firestorm, after fleeing to Dresden to escape the fast-advancing Soviet forces. • One man recorded in his diary in March: "Russian commandos are still busy burning charcoal corpses on huge pyres in the middle of town."

  6. The Bombing of Dresden • Dresden bombing victims lie in the city's ruined streets. People died not only from burns, but also from smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide poisoning and suffocation, as the intense fire consumed all oxygen.

  7. The Bombing of Dresden • This is one of the most famous churches in Dresden that was bombed to bits in WWII. When it was rebuilt just recently, they reused some of the old burned black bricks in the construction. If you look closely, you can still see them in there on occasion.

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