Air raids during the bombing of Dresden

Before the night attack on February 13, the railway yard near the center of Dresden had been bombed twice by the Eighth Air Force of the U.S. Army Air Force during the day. The first time was on October 7, 1944, when 70 tons of high-explosive bombs were dropped on the shunting yard; the second time was on January 16, 1945, when 133 bombers dropped 279 tons of high-explosive bombs and 41 tons of incendiary bombs. The firebombing of Dresden by the Eighth Air Force of the U.S. Army Air Force was supposed to begin on February 13, but bad weather over Europe prevented the U.S. military from taking military action, so that it was the RAF's turn Bomber Command came to launch the initial attack. On the evening of February 13, 796 Avro Lancaster bombers and 9 De Havilland Mosquito bombers were sent to Dresden in two waves, dropping 1,478 tons of high-explosive bombs. bombs, 182 tons of incendiary bombs. The bombing continued until five or six o'clock in the morning of February 14. The first wave of air strikes was carried out by No. 5 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. They used a unique low-altitude marking method. When the first bomb was launched over Dresden at 22:14, they almost used one bomber to drop all their bombs within two minutes. The last Lancaster bomber of the 5th Squadron dropped its bombs at 22:22. There are still clouds over Dresden. In this initial attack, 244 Lancaster bombers dropped more than 800 tons of bombs. Three hours later, Lancaster heavy bombers from the 1st, 3rd, 6th and 8th Squadrons of the Royal Air Force launched a second round of air strikes using the marking technology provided by the 8th Squadron. By then the weather had cleared and 529 Lancaster heavy bombers dropped over 1,800 tons of bombs with high accuracy between 01:21 and 01:45. The RAF lost six Lancaster heavy bombers in two raids, and two more crashed in France and one in England.

From 12:17 to 12:30 on February 14, 311 American B-17 bombers aimed at the railway yard and dropped 771 tons of bombs on Dresden. "Some of the P-51 Mustang fighter jets serving as escorts were ordered to circle Dresden and conduct low-altitude strafing of road traffic facilities to add to the chaos." As the Firestorm engulfed Dresden in February 1945, several reports claimed that civilians were being strafed by U.S. aircraft as they fled, but a recent book by historian G?tz Bergander refutes this. this view. During the air raid, U.S. and German fighter planes engaged in a brief, but probably fierce, aerial battle around Dresden. Some of the fighting rounds may have invaded the ground and fired accidental fire. The US bombing continued until February 15, dropping 466 tons of bombs. The total number of bombs dropped in the four rounds of air strikes was approximately 3,900 tons.

The incendiary bombing was carried out according to the standard procedures at the time: first, a large number of high-explosive bombs were dropped to blow open the roof and expose the wooden structure inside the house. Then a ignition device (burning rod) was used to burn the timber structure, and then more high-explosive bombs were used to hinder the fire brigade's actions. It all culminates in a firestorm that lasts for a while, with temperatures soaring to 1,500 degrees. After the bombing area catches fire, the temperature of the air above the burning area skyrockets and a high-speed updraft is generated. The cold air from the outside is brought in at a high speed and people on the ground are also sucked into the fire.

Later, the U.S. Army Air Forces launched two more deep air raids on the Dresden railway yards. The first time was on March 2, when 406 B-17s bombers dropped 940 tons of high-explosive bombs and 141 tons of incendiary bombs; the second time was on April 17, when 580 B-17s bombers dropped 1,554 tons of high-explosive bombs and 164 tons of incendiary bombs.