Bombing of Würzburg in World War II
- Bombing of Würzburg in World War II
During World War II, on 16 March 1945, 89% of the Würzburg was laid to ruins by a British Royal Air Force bombing raid. Most of the main artistic highlights were destroyed, such as the episcopal palace, the historic fortress and the major churches. The baroque city center was irrecoverably damaged. During the next 20 years, the historically important buildings would be painstakingly re-constructed to the way they originally were. Today, many of the historical relics are, in fact, high-quality replicas; something many visitors to the city do not realise. The famous Würzburg Residence, which was badly damaged, has a piece of the original architecture from 1945. To this day, the blackened bomb damage can still be seen on it.
Two hundred and twenty five Lancaster and eleven Mosquito bombers from No. 5 Group arrived over the city at about 21.30 hours (CET). The Mosquito Pathfinders were used to target the town centre with markers. The Lancasters released 1,127 tons of bombs (including around 370,000 incendiaries) in seventeen minutes. [ [http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/mar45.html Royal Air Force Bomber Command Campaign Diary March 1945] ] A firestorm developed, raising the temperature to around 1500°C and killing approximately five thousand people.
Detlef Siebert wrote in an article on "British Bombing Strategy in World War Two" for the BBC: "Some ... like Würzburg or Pforzheim were primarily selected because they were easy for the bombers to find and destroy. Because they had a medieval centre, they were expected to be particularly vulnerable to fire attack." [Detlef Siebert [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/area_bombing_04.shtml British Bombing Strategy in World War Two] Page 4 BBC 1 August 2001]
Würzburg was also the name of the German Würzburg radar system which formed part of the Kammhuber Line air defences. However the City of Würzburg had no direct connection to the radar system, the name being chosen simply because the project leader of the development team liked to use geographic names for the equipment his team developed.
Notes
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Bombing of Dresden in World War II — Dresden after the bombing raid The Bombing of Dresden was a military bombing by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) and as part of the Allied forces between 13 February and 15 Febr … Wikipedia
Bombing of Hamburg in World War II — History of Hamburg This article is part of a series Hamburg culture … Wikipedia
Bombing of Cologne in World War II — Cologne in 1945 The City of Cologne was bombed in 262 separate air raids[1] by the Allies during World War II, including 31 times[ … Wikipedia
Bombing of Belgrade in World War II — This article is about the bombings of Belgrade during WWII. For NATO bombings in 1999, see 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The city of Belgrade was bombed during two campaigns in World War II, the first undertaken by the Luftwaffe in 1941, and… … Wikipedia
Bombing of Mannheim in World War II — The German city of Mannheim in the state of Baden Württemberg saw bombing during World War II from December 1940 until the end of the war. Mannheim saw over 150 air raids. As part of Operation Abigail Rachel the first deliberate terror raid on… … Wikipedia
Bombing of Minsk in World War II — Minsk after the bombing. The Minsk Blitz was the heavy bombing of the city of Minsk (population was 270,000) in the USSR during the Second World War. During 24 June 1941 three waves of bombers, of 47 aircraft each, bombed Minsk. The anti aircraft … Wikipedia
Bombing of Nordhausen in World War II — Nordhausen WWII bombings Part of Strategic bombing campaign in Europe Location Nordhausen (district), Nazi Germany … Wikipedia
Bombing of Pforzheim in World War II — During the latter stages of World War II, Pforzheim, a town in southwestern Germany, was bombed a number of times. The largest raid, and one of the most devastating area bombardments of the war was carried out by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on the… … Wikipedia
List of World War II topics (B) — # B 17 Flying Fortress (video game) # B 17 Flying Fortress # B 17, Queen of the Skies # B 24 Liberator # B 29 Superfortress # B Reactor # Błyskawica radiostation # Błyskawica submachine gun # Børge Mathiesen # BA 10 # BA 11 # BA 20 # BA 21 # BA… … Wikipedia
Strategic bombing during World War II — For a list of notable strategic bombings in the European Theatre of World War II, see List of air operations during the Battle of Europe. Main article: Air warfare of World War II Strategic bombing during World War II Part of World War II … Wikipedia
