Bombing of Berlin in World War II

Aftermath of the bombings

Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany, was attacked with 363 air raids during the Second World War.[1]

It was bombed by the RAF Bomber Command between 1940 and 1945, by the USAAF Eighth Air Force between 1943 and 1945, and the French Air Force between 1944 and 1945 as part of the Allied campaign of strategic bombing of Germany.

It was also attacked by aircraft of the Red Air Force, in particular in 1945 as Soviet forces closed on the city. British bombers dropped 45,517 tons of bombs,[2] while American aircraft dropped 23,000 tons.

As the bombings continued more and more people left the city. By May 1945, 1.7 million people (40% of the population) had fled.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Taylor, Chapter "Thunderclap and Yalta" Page 216
  2. ↑ http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1945/1945%20-%201571.html
  3. ↑ Richard Overy, The Bombers and the Bombed: Allied Air War Over Europe 1940–1945 (2014), pp 301, 304