Bombing of Kassel in World War II

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Kassel World War II bombings
Part of Strategic bombing campaign in Europe
Fires in the Bettenhausen district
Two people observing fires ravaging the Bettenhausen district after bombing
Date1942–1945
Location
Kassel, Germany
Belligerents
 United States
 United Kingdom		  Nazi Germany
Commanders and leaders
Carl Spaatz (May 1942 – )
Arthur Harris (1941–)		 Gauleiters, Karl Weinrich,
Karl Gerland

The Kassel World War II bombings were a set of Allied strategic bombing attacks which took place from February 1942 to March 1945. In a single deadliest raid on 22–23 October 1943, 150,000 inhabitants were bombed-out,[citation needed] at least 6,000 people died,[citation needed] the vast majority of the city center was destroyed, and the fire of the most severe air raid burned for seven days. The US First Army captured Kassel on 3 April 1945, where only 50,000 inhabitants remained, versus 236,000 in 1939.[citation needed]

Targets[edit]

Bomb damaged buildings in Kassel, Untere Königsstraße

As well as being the capital of the provinces of Hesse-Nassau and Kurhessen, Kassel had some important targets:

  • Fieseler aircraft facility
  • Henschel & Sohn facilities, maker of the Tiger I and King Tiger heavy tanks
  • The Henschel & Sohn firm's locomotive plant
  • engine plant
  • motor transport plant
  • railway works
  • Military HQs at Wehrkreis IX, and Bereich Hauptsitz Kassel
  • Central Germany HQ, highway & railway construction
  • Regional Supreme Court

Bombing raids[edit]

Bombing raids on Kassel during World War II
Date Target
17/18 February 1942 [specify] 10 Wellingtons and 3 Stirlings to Emden, Hamburg, Kassel and Aachen.
27/28 August 1942 Henschel 306 aircraft destroyed/seriously damaged 144/317 buildings, particularly in the city southwest. Three Henschel buildings were seriously damaged, and 43/251 were killed/injured.[1]
8/9 September 1942 [specify] Nearly 100 aircraft hit several armament factories, and destroyed the railway station, the Red Palace, and the Museum Fridericianum, home of the Kassel State Library, along with 350,000 books, seven-eighths of the library's entire book collection.[2]
2/3 October 1943 [specify] The Pathfinder Force (PFF) was not able to find the center of the city, and most bombs into Ihringshausen and Bettenhausen. In addition to considerable damage, an ammunition store was hit.
3/4 October 1943 [specify] 547 aircraft used H2S radar; the main weight of bombs fell on the western suburbs and outlying towns and villages.
22/23 October 1943 city centre 569 bombers dropped more than 1,800 tons of bombs (including 460,000 magnesium fire sticks) in a concentrated pattern.[3] For deception, the attack used Operation Corona radio spoofing and a Frankfurt diversionary raid. The blaze caused a minor firestorm similar in nature to that at Hamburg. Damage to the main telephone exchange and the city's water pipes hindered firefighting efforts.
18/19 March 1944 [specify] 11 Mosquitos on a diversionary raid.
30/31 March 1944 [specify] 34 Mosquitos on diversionary raids to Aachen, Cologne and Kassel.
27/28 September 1944 [specify] 46 Mosquitos on a diversionary raid.
28 September 1944 Henschel motor transport plant Mission 652: 243 of 262 dispatched B-24s bombed the Kassel/Henschel motor transport plant.[4]
3/4 October 1944 [specify] 43 Mosquitos.
15/16 October 1944 [specify] 2 Mosquitos on a diversionary raid.
9/10 November 1944 [specify] 3 Mosquitos.
27/28 December 1944 [specify] 7 Mosquitos on Oboe (navigation) trials (some flew over Kassel).[citation needed]
6/7 January 1945 [specify] 20 Mosquitos.
18/19 January 1945 [specify] 12 Mosquitos.
21/22 January 1945 [specify] 76 Mosquitos
2/3 March 1945 [specify] 67 Mosquitos on a training raid.
8/9 March 1945 [specify] 176 aircraft; the last heavy raid by the RAF on Kassel.
18/19 March 1945 [specify] 24 Mosquitos.
20/21 March 1945 [specify] 16 Mosquitos on a diversionary raid.
External images
Before and after the bombings
After the bombing in 1943

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Campaign Diary". Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary. UK Crown. Archived from the original on 2009-04-17. Retrieved 2009-03-22. February 1942 Archived June 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, August 1942 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, October 1943 Archived March 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, November 1943 Archived June 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, December 1943 Archived March 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine January 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, February 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive March 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, September 1944 Archived 2004-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, October 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, November 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, December 1944 Archived June 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine January 1945 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, February 1945 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive March 1945 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, April 1945 Archived 2012-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Popa, Opritsa D. (2003). Bibliophiles and bibliothieves : the search for the Hildebrandslied and the Willehalm Codex. Berlin: de Gruyter. p. 12. ISBN 3-11-017730-7.
  3. ^ Bomber Command October 1943 Archived March 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ McKillop, Jack. "Combat Chronology of the USAAF". usaaf.net. Archived from the original on 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
    1942: January Archived 2009-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, October Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, November Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, December Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
    1943: January Archived 2012-05-31 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2009-02-28 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-28 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-12 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, October Archived 2012-05-31 at the Wayback Machine, November Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, December Archived 2006-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
    1944: January Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2014-12-27 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2012-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2013-05-27 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, October Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, November Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, December Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
    1945: January Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2013-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2013-06-02 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine


Sources[edit]

  • Werner Dettmar: Die Zerstörung Kassels im Oktober 1943. Hesse, Fuldabrück 1983, ISBN 3-924259-00-3
  • Gebhard Aders: Bombenkrieg/Strategien der Zerstörung. licoverlag 2004

External links[edit]

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