In February 1945, over 1,200 Allied bombers of the RAF and the US Army Air Forces launched four aerial attacks against Dresden. It was the final months of the war in Europe, and would become one of the most controversial Allied attacks of the Second World War. The raids destroyed 75,000 homes and around 25,000 people were killed. However at the start of the war, the bombing of civilians had been seen as unjustifiable.

Over the course of the war, the strategic bombing campaign developed from a limited force into a weapon of immense destructive power, with hundreds of cities subjected to air attack alongside military targets.

 

Why the Allies bombed German cities

Vertical photographic-reconnaissance aerial taken over Dresden, Germany, following the two devastating attacks on the city by aircraft of Bomber Command on the night of 13/14 February 1945. A large number of fires still burn fiercely in the vicinity of the central goods depot and marshalling yards south of the River Elbe.
© IWM C 4973
Vertical photographic-reconnaissance aerial taken over Dresden, Germany, following the two devastating attacks on the city by aircraft of Bomber Command on the night of 13/14 February 1945.

In February 1945 over 1200 allied bombers of the RAF and the US Army Air Forces launched four aerial attacks against the German city of Dresden.

The three-day attack obliterated the city in an attempt to force a surrender. It was the final months of the war in Europe and would become one of the most controversial allied attacks of the entire war.

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