The German city of Cologne was bombed in 262 separate air raids[1] by the Allies during World War II, all by the Royal Air Force (RAF). A total of 34,711 long tons (35,268 t) of bombs were dropped on the city,[2] and 20,000 civilians died during the war in Cologne due to aerial bombardments.[3]
While air raid alarms had gone off in the winter and spring of 1940 as British bombers passed overhead, the first bombing took place on 12 May 1940.[4] The attack on Cologne during the night from 30 to 31 May 1942 was the first thousand-bomber raid.
First thousand-bomber raid
The first ever thousand-bomber raid by the RAF was conducted on Cologne during the night of 30–31 May 1942. Codenamed Operation Millennium, the massive raid was launched for two primary reasons:
It was expected that the devastation from such raids might be enough to knock Germany out of the war or at least severely damage German morale.[5]
The raids were useful propaganda for the Allies and particularly for RAF Bomber Command head Arthur Harris's concept of a Strategic Bombing Offensive. Bomber Command's poor performance in bombing accuracy during 1941 had led to calls for the force to be split up and diverted to other urgent theatres, such as the Battle of the Atlantic. A headline-grabbing heavy raid on Germany was a way for Harris to demonstrate to the War Cabinet that given the investment in numbers and technology Bomber Command could make a vital contribution to victory.
At this stage of the war Bomber Command only had a regular front line strength of around 400 aircraft, and were in the process of transitioning from the twin engined medium bombers of the pre-war years to the newer more effective four-engined heavy bombers such as the Short Stirling, Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster. By using bombers and men from Operational Training Units (OTUs), 250 from RAF Coastal Command and from Flying Training Command, Harris could easily make up the 1,000 aircraft. However, just before the raid took place, the Royal Navy refused to allow the Coastal Command aircraft to take part in the raid.[6] The Admiralty perceived the propaganda justifications too weak an argument against the real and pressing threat of the U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic. Harris scrambled around and, by crewing 49 more aircraft with pupil pilots and instructors, 1,047 bombers eventually took part in the raid, two and a half times more than any previous raid by the RAF. 58 bombers were from Polish units.[7] In addition to the bombers attacking Cologne, 113 other aircraft on "intruder" raids harassed German night-fighter airfields.[citation needed]
Cologne was not Harris's first choice; he wanted to bomb Hamburg. However, poor weather made Hamburg a poor choice,[6] and, in addition, Harris was advised by Basil Dickins, a scientist who was section head of RAF's Bomber Command's Operations research, to choose Cologne, which was within range for use of the GEE navigation system.[8]
This was the first time that the "bomber stream" tactic was used and most of the tactics used in this raid remained the basis for standard Bomber Command operations for the next two years, with some elements remaining in use until the end of the war. It was expected that such a large number of bombers flying in a bomber stream through the Kammhuber Line would overwhelm the German night fighters' ground-controlled interception system, keeping the number of bombers shot down to an acceptable proportion. The recent introduction of GEE allowed the bombers to fly a given route at a given time and height. The British night bombing campaign had been in operation for some months, and a statistical estimate could be made of the number of bombers likely to be lost to enemy night fighters and anti-aircraft guns (flak), and how many would be lost through collisions. Minimising the former demanded a densely packed stream, as the controllers of a night fighter flying a defensive 'box' could only direct a maximum of six potential interceptions per hour, and the flak gunners could not concentrate on all the available targets at once. Earlier in the war, four hours had been considered acceptable for a mission; for this raid all the bombers passed over Cologne and bombed it in a window of 90 minutes, with the first having arrived at 0:47am on 31 May. It was anticipated that the concentration of bombing over such a short period would overwhelm the Cologne fire brigades and cause conflagrations similar to those inflicted on London by the Luftwaffe during the Blitz.
In the raid, 868 aircraft bombed the main target with 15 aircraft bombing other targets. The total tonnage of bombs dropped was 1,478 tonnes (3.3 million pounds) with two-thirds of that being incendiaries. Two and a half thousand separate fires were started with 1,700 classed by the German fire brigades as "large". The action of fire fighters and the width of the streets stopped the fires combining into a firestorm, but nonetheless most of the damage was done by fire and not directly by the explosive blasts. 3,330 non-residential buildings were destroyed, 2,090 seriously damaged and 7,420 lightly damaged, making a total of 12,840 buildings of which 2,560 were industrial or commercial buildings. Among the buildings classed as totally destroyed were: 7 official administration buildings, 14 public buildings, 7 banks, 9 hospitals, 17 churches, 16 schools, 4 university buildings, 10 postal and railway buildings, 10 buildings of historic interest, 2 newspaper offices, 4 hotels, 2 cinemas and 6 department stores. The only military installation damaged was the flak barracks. The damage to civilian homes, most of them apartments in larger buildings, was considerable: 13,010 destroyed, 6,360 seriously damaged, 22,270 lightly damaged. The devastation was recorded by Hermann Claasen from 1942 until the end of the war, and presented in his exhibition and book of 1947 Singing in the furnace. Cologne – Remains of an old city.[9]
The RAF lost 43 aircraft (German sources claimed 44[10]), 3.9% of the 1,103 bombers sent on the raid; 22 aircraft were lost over or near Cologne, 16 shot down by flak, four by night fighters, two in a collision, and two Bristol Blenheim light bombers lost in attacks on night fighter airfields. A posthumous Victoria Cross was awarded to Flying Officer Leslie Manser who sacrificed himself so his crew could abandon the Avro Manchester aircraft.
39 aircraft encountered ice and cloud, poor bombing results reported.[14]
1942-03-1313/14 March 1942
RAF
135 aircraft involved in the raid. The raid killed 62 and injured a further 84. 237 separate fires were started and the RAF estimated the raid to be five times more effective than average of recent raids on Cologne. This is considered to be the first successful GEE raid. The RAF lost one Avro Manchester.[15]
1942-04-055/6 April 1942
RAF
263 aircraft. 179 Wellingtons, 44 Hampdens, 29 Stirlings, and 11 Manchesters against Humboldt works. 4 Wellingtons and 1 Hampden lost. Bombing photographs showed five miles from target.[16]
1942-04-2222/23 April 1942
RAF
69 aircraft (64 Wellingtons and 5 Stirlings) on experimental raid. All aircraft were using Gee as blind-bombing aid. Two Wellingtons lost.[16]
1942-04-2727/28 April 1942
RAF
97 aircraft (76 Wellingtons, 19 Stirlings, 2 Halifaxes). 6 Wellingtons and 1 Halifax lost. "Considerable number of bombs" landed outside city to east. "150 hectares of the Tannenwald destroyed by fire"[16]
1942-05-3030/31 May 1942
RAF
868 aircraft bombed Cologne during the first 1000 bomber raid (1,047 aircraft),[14] laden with over 3,000 tonnes of ordnance.
This was the first raid on Cologne using Oboe blind bombing radio navigation, two Mosquitoes damaged 55 houses, killing 5 people and 22 injured. This showed that, using electronic aids, a few bombers were able to inflict as much damage as 100-bomber raids in poor weather in the previous years.[14]
653 aircraft attacked Cologne's industrial area on the east bank of the Rhine. A new German unit, Jagdgeschwader 300, used the Wilde Sau tactic with single-engined fighters for the first time. The German fighters, taking advantage of the illumination from searchlights, target indicator flares and fires claimed that they shot down 12 aircraft, but had to share their claims with the Anti-aircraft artillery who also claimed the bombers. To avoid friendly fire, anti-aircraft batteries restricted the height of their flak and the fighters operated above that ceiling.[18]
Four Mosquitoes equipped with Oboe, with another four to Duisburg, in a nuisance raids. One Mosquito lost.[19]
1943-09-011 September 1943
RAF
8 Mosquitoes were sent to Cologne and Duisburg. No Mosquitoes lost.[20]
1943-09-044/5 September 1943
RAF
8 Mosquitoes were sent to Cologne and Duisburg. No Mosquitoes were lost.[20]
1943-09-1313/14 September 1943
RAF
5 Mosquitoes equipped with Oboe with another 5 to Duisburg, in a nuisance raids. No Mosquitoes were lost.[20]
1943-09-1918/19 September 1943
RAF
5 Mosquitoes on a nuisance raid. No Mosquitoes were lost.[20]
1943-09-2424/25 September 1943
RAF
8 Mosquitoes to Cologne and Düsseldorf on nuisance raids. No Mosquitoes were lost.[20]
1943-09-2626/27 September 1943
RAF
4 Mosquitoes to Cologne on a nuisance raid. No Mosquitoes were lost.[20]
1943-09-2626/27 September 1943
RAF
8 Mosquitoes attacked Cologne and Gelsenkirchen on nuisance raids. These were the only Bomber Command sorties of the night. No Mosquitoes were lost.[20]
1943-10-022/3 October 1943
RAF
8 Mosquitoes to Cologne and Gelsenkirchen on diversionary raids. The main raid was to Munich. No aircraft lost on the diversionary raids.[21]
1943-10-033/4 October 1943
RAF
12 Oboe Mosquitoes bombed the Knapsack power-station near Cologne. No aircraft lost.[21]
1943-10-1313/14 October 1943
RAF
4 Mosquitoes to Cologne on a nuisance raid. No Mosquitoes were lost.[21]
1943-10-2020/21 October 1943
RAF
28 Mosquitoes to Berlin, Cologne, Brauweiler and Emden, 2 Mosquitoes lost. The main raid of the night was to Leipzig.[21]
1943-12-2222 December 1943
USAAF
VIII Bomber Command Mission 163: 1 B-17 dropped two 2,000-pound (907 kF) general-purpose bombs and 1 photo-flash at 2020 hours; no casualties.[citation needed]
1944-01-011/2 January 1944
RAF
1 Mosquito on a diversionary nuisance raid and returned safely to base (main raid to Berlin)[22]
1944-01-044/5 January 1944
RAF
2 Mosquitoes on a nuisance raid, both returned to base.[22]
1944-02-022/3 February 1944
RAF
3 Mosquitoes on a nuisance raid, all returned to base.[23]
1944-03-1616/17 March 1944
RAF
8 Mosquitoes on a diversionary nuisance raid, all returned to base (main raid Amiens)[24]
1944-03-1717/18 March 1944
RAF
28 Mosquitoes bombed Cologne, all returned to base.[24]
1944-03-2121/22 March 1944
RAF
27 Mosquitoes bombed Cologne, all returned to base.[24]
1944-03-2929/30 March 1944
RAF
4 Mosquitoes on a diversionary nuisance raid, all returned to base (main raids Vaires, near Paris, and Lyons).[24]
1944-03-2929/30 March 1944
RAF
34 Mosquitoes on diversions to Aachen, Cologne and Kassel, all returned to base, (but the main raid to Nuremberg resulted in the biggest Bomber Command loss of the war).[24]
6 Mosquitoes on a diversionary raid, part of a night when the RAF made four substantial attacks and a number of small raids like that on Cologne. They attacked the synthetic oil plants at Wesseling and Scholven/Buer, railway junctions at Aulnoye and Revigny and a flying-bomb launching site at Acque.[26]
Mission 677: As part of Operation Hurricane (1944) a round-the-clock bombing operation, PFF attacks were made on Cologne marshaling yards at Gereon, Gremberg, and Eifeltor; as well as Euskirchen 22 mi (35 km) outside Cologne.[27]
Mission 681: 1,338 bombers and 811 fighters are dispatched on PFF attacks in the Cologne, Germany area; 465 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Cologne/Eifeltor (216) and Cologne/Gremberg (34); the targets of opportunity were Cologne/Kalk marshalling yard (151), 453 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Cologne/Gereon (295) and Cologne/Kalk (142)[29]
1945-02-1212/13 February 1945
RAF
3 Mosquitoes on H2S radar trials. No aircraft lost.[30]
1945-03-022 March 1945
RAF
In the last RAF raid on Cologne, 858 aircraft bomb in two waves. Only 15 of the 155 aircraft in the second wave dropped their bombs. A daylight raid in good weather, the bombing was "highly destructive".[31]
1945-03-022 March 1945
USAAF
A single B-17 bombed Cologne as a target of opportunity.[27]
^Although produced to a specification for a "medium bomber", the Manchester used two powerful engines and was closer to a heavy bomber. The design was developed with four engines to replace the two and became the Lancaster.[12]
^Dates such as 5/6 April denote a night raid, the mission starting on the first date and ending on the following date.
^Nuisance raids forced the population into air raid shelters and activated other defence measures at little cost to the RAF.[citation needed]
^Sending bombers to different places was intended to confuse the German defences and so helped to make it more difficult for the defenders to direct fighters onto the main attack.[citation needed]
^"[The GB-1 Glide Bomb] was made from a M34-2000lb bomb fixed to a 12-foot span glider unit and attached to a B-17 underwing shackle." Two could be carried per plane. "Essentially free fall, the bomb had a stabilizing device that allowed control of direction. The bomb proved to be unreliable on the only occasion it was used on Cologne in April 1944."[25]
^The VIII Bomber Command had been redesignated as the US Eighth Air Force.
^Bishop, Patrick (1 October 2012). Wings: The RAF at War, 1912–2012. Atlantic Books Ltd. p. 24. ISBN978-1-84887-892-1.Terry Copp (September 1996), "The Bomber Command Offensive: Army, Part 11", Legion Magazine, retrieved 9 November 2016, Mr Justice Singleton concluded that Germany would not be able to "stand 12 or 18 months' continued, intensified and increased bombing..."
^Winkelnkemper, Toni (1942). "Der Großangriff auf Köln" [The Attack on Cologne]. Retrieved 20 March 2009 – via German Propaganda Archive at Calvin University.
^Facon, Patrick (May 2012), "Opération Millénium", Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French), no. 510, p. 43, ISSN0757-4169
^"Avro Manchester". Bomber Command 60th Anniversary – via National Archives.
^Mueller, Robert; Carter, Kit (1975). The Army Air Forces in World War II: Combat Chronology, 1941-1945. Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Center. p. 475.
Cooper, M. (1981). The German Air Force 1933–1945: An Anatomy of Failure. London: Jane's. ISBN07106-0071-2.
Middlebrook, Martin; Everitt, Chris (1985). The Bomber Command Diaries: An Operational Reference Book, 1939–1945 (1st ed.). New York: Viking. ISBN978-185780-033-3.
Webster, C.; Frankland, N. (2006) [1961]. Butler, James (ed.). The Strategic Air Offensive against Germany 1939–1945: Annexes and Appendices. History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. IV (facs. pbk. repr. Naval & Military Press, Uckfield ed.). London: HMSO. ISBN978-1-84574-350-5.
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