Air raid on Friedrichroda
During the Second World War , the Thuringian spa town of Friedrichroda was attacked on February 6, 1945 by 11 B-17G "Flying" Fortress bombers of the 8th Air Force of the United States Army Air Force with 27.5 tons of bombs as a "target of opportunity". 425 houses were destroyed or damaged, 135 residents died. The artillery fire when the US ground troops moved in on 7/8 April 1945 more buildings and 40 people fell victim.
The city of Friedrichroda
Friedrichroda is a climatic health resort and winter sports area, besides it has smaller industrial companies (furniture, metal processing). The place is located in a sheltered basin at the northern foot of the Thuringian Forest , on the pass road between Gotha and Schmalkalden . The small town had 6,500 inhabitants in the late 1930s. During the war it then had to take in large numbers of air war evacuates from West Germany, and from the end of 1944 there were refugees from the eastern regions. In addition to the hospital, there were military hospitals occupied by the wounded in hotels (as in the Kurhaus), the roofs of which bore the Red Cross signs that could be seen from afar. Friedrichroda was a "hospital town".
The attack in detail
On February 6, 1945, 414 B-17Gs of the 1st Air Division of the 8th Air Force of the US Air Force launched in England to attack targets in central Germany. They were accompanied by hundreds of long-range fighter planes / fighter bombers as "escorts". The "primary targets" should be oil refineries in Lützkendorf , Magdeburg-Rothensee and marshalling yards in Dresden and Chemnitz . Because of the heavily overcast sky, "secondary targets" were used and these were sought in Thuringia.
The 303th Bombardment Group from the association of the 41st Bombardment Wing consisted of 39 B-17G. During the mission she received the order to attack various "secondary targets". 11 of the 13 bombers of the “lower level” unloaded their load of 27.5 tons of high- explosive explosive bombs over Friedrichroda from a height of 7,200 meters from 11:43 am to 11:50 am , plus 10 bales of leaflets . The remaining two B-17s dropped 6.7 tons of explosive bombs on Schweina near Bad Liebenstein . the scouts' smoke signals were driven off in the direction of Schwarzbach by the updraft of the mountains around Friedrichroda. The specified goal, the facilities of the Reichsbahnhof , was missed. The railway line received only one hit. About 60 explosions occurred east of the city, in the open field behind the Schwarzbach. At least 90 high-explosive bombs detonated in the city center. There was severe damage to residential and commercial buildings. Hauptstrasse, Struthsgasse, Bahnhofstrasse, Marktstrasse and Lindenstrasse were particularly hard hit. 74 buildings were totally destroyed and 350 damaged: including hotels, spa houses, public buildings and factories. The bomber crews rated their success as mediocre.
On the same day, February 6, 1945, the 303rd Bombardment Group attacked with their B-17s, in addition to Friedrichroda, Ostheim (all missiles into the open air ), Schweina and Waltershausen . Other bomber groups of the 1st Air Division bombed Gotha , Arnstadt , Schmalkalden , Ohrdruf , Crawinkel and Saalfeld as "secondary targets" .
On 7./8. April US ground troops occupied the city of Friedrichroda accompanied by artillery fire. The building was again damaged, and the large Kurhaus, which is dominant on a hill, was particularly hard hit .
The Americans captured essential parts of the almost finished prototype 3 of a flying wing jet fighter Go 229 and the construction documents of the Horten brothers in the Ortlepp furniture factory and in the buildings of Kohlen-Fischer, a top secret branch of the Gotha aircraft factory .
The Friedrichrodaers had their first aerial warfare experience in the vicinity on February 24, 1944, when a shot down heavy bomber of the type B-24 Liberator crashed on the Körnberg (Salzschlag).
Fatalities
The attack on February 6, 1945 killed 135 residents. Most of them were women and old people, but also 29 children.
The occupation of Friedrichroda by US troops with prior artillery bombardment on 7/8. April 1945 and low-flying attacks claimed another 40 victims.
Burial and memorial sites
After a public memorial service, the 135 bomb victims on February 6, 1945 were buried in a communal grave in the cemetery. It does not have any name boards or crosses (anymore), but since 1990 a memorial to the Friedrichroda artist Günter Reichert (see Friedrichroda # Culture and Sights ) and explanatory metal information boards.
In a door niche in the church of St. Blasius is a memorial plaque for all victims of the Second World War in and from Friedrichroda, including “the victims of the two bomb attacks from 6.2. and 7.4.1945 (over 140 people) ".
literature
- Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary . JANE'S. London, New York, Sydney 1981. ISBN 0-7106-0038-0
- Lothar Günther: Missions and Fates in the Air War over Southwest Thuringia 1944/45 . Wehry-Verlag, Untermaßfeld 2014. ISBN 978-3-9815307-6-6
Individual evidence
- ^ Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary. 1981. pp. 434-435
- ↑ Lothar Günther: Missions and Fates . 2014. p. 304
- ↑ Lothar Günther: Missions and Fates . 2014. pp. 319–322
- ^ Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary . 1981. pp. 434-435
- ↑ Lothar Günther: Missions and Fates . 2014. pp. 322–323
- ↑ Local history museum
- ↑ Lothar Günther: Missions and Fates. 2014. p. 322
- ↑ Local history museum
- ↑ Local history museum
