236 ENDGAME AND AFTERMATH 194 4 –1955
Known as Operation Thunderclap, the attack began
with 244 RAF Lancasters dropping more than
890 tons (810 tonnes) of high explosive and
incendiary bombs on the center and inner
suburbs of the city. After a 25-minute pause,
a further 529 bombers arrived, dropping over
2,000 tons (1,800 tonnes) of bombs to fuel
the firestorm the initial attack had kindled.
The second attack lasted 40 minutes. By the
time it ended, Dresden had been utterly
devastated. The following morning, as
the surviving residents stumbled into the
streets to survey the damage, the air-raid
sirens wailed again. Some 311 USAAF Flying
Fortresses dropped a further 860 tons (770
tonnes) of bombs on the stricken city.
Around 25,000 Dresdeners were killed.A display of might
Whether such a destructive attack on Dresden was justified has
provoked debate ever since. The Allies bombed eastern German
cities in order to aid the Soviet advance and prevent a German
retreat to an Alpine redoubt (or fortress). However, RAF Bomber
Command’s Arthur Harris briefed his aircrews to bomb densely
packed residential zones, causing huge numbers of civilian deaths.THE BOMBING
OF DRESDEN
From around 10 pm on February 13, 1945, until noon
the following day, the historic city of Dresden in eastern
Germany was subjected to one of the most intensive
bombing raids of the war. The savage attack was sudden
and unexpected, and the results were devastating.
△ Air-raid warning
A handheld air-raid siren
of the type used in Dresden.
The city’s citizens had little
warning of the initial attack.△ The second attack
Two months after the initial attack on Dresden by the RAF Lancasters, B-17 Flying Fortresses of
the US 8th Air Force bombed Dresden by daylight on April 17, 1945. The aim of the mission was
to sever the city’s southeastern rail links. It was the final attack on Dresden, an ancient cathedral
city that Germans referred to as “Florence on the Elbe.”US_236-237_F_The_bombing_of_Dresden.indd 236 04/03/19 10:47 AM