Air raid on Zweibrücken on March 14, 1945
On March 14, 1945 Canadian and British bombers flew an air raid on Zweibrücken . Because of him and two previous bombings on January 3 and 7, 1945, Zweibrücken was one of the most severely damaged German cities in the Second World War, with a destruction rate of over 90% . There had already been minor attacks on the city on November 30, 1944 and December 28, 1944. The attacks were carried out in accordance with the British Area Bombing Directive .
The attack
On March 14, 1945 from around 8:00 p.m., Zweibrücken was opened by No. 6 Bomber Group of the Royal Canadian Air Force and Boy Scouts of No. 8 bomber group bombed. In the early afternoon of the day, five mosquito bombers carried out a weather reconnaissance flight over the city. The weather that day was good and cloudless due to a high pressure area over the whole of Central Europe, the temperatures were -2 degrees at 8 a.m., 10 degrees during the day and 2 degrees in the evening. So there was good flying weather. About 220 Handley Page Halifax , Avro Lancaster and de Havilland Mosquito aircraft were involved in this air strike. During the twelve-minute attack, 3,087 high- explosive bombs with a total weight of 816 tons were dropped on the city area.
The bombers took off from their airfields in England at around 5:20 pm and flew to the meeting point near Reading , from there across the English Channel towards the Somme estuary , then guided by the Oboe , H2S and GEE radar systems to their destination via France. The Saarland and the West Palatinate were in an arc in the front line because of the Siegfried Line, so the bombers only flew the last 20 miles of the approach over German territory. Ten Halifax bombers of the No. 100 bomber groups serve as jamming planes and jamming the German radar with mandrel jammers from 7:35 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. in the area from Malmedy to Metz . Up to 6 degrees east there was radio silence in the entire association during the approach and also again during the departure from this longitude. In addition, three mosquito bombers dropped shortly before the target Düppel for radar interference in front of the main unit. The attack, and especially the mosquitos that took over the marking, were directed by the master bomber circling over the city. The German air defense was surprised by this attack, a total of 89 people lost their lives.
On the same evening there was an attack on the neighboring town of Homburg and a diversionary attack on Wiesbaden . The attack on Homburg took place about 15 minutes later by another unit, but the slight time difference could give the impression that the same machines had attacked Homburg after the attack on Zweibrücken. Another major attack that night was aimed at the hydrogenation works in Leuna .
The types of bombs used in the attack were HC4000 air mines, GP1000, GP500, GP250 high explosive bombs and marker bombs. Incendiary bombs were not carried in Zweibrücken because of the low-wood construction, but the marker bombs also had a fire rating. The Lancaster carried one HC4000 and 14 500-pound bombs each , three squadrons each carried one HC4000, 12 500-pound and 4 250-pound bombs. The Halifax only carried 500 pound bombs. In total, the association had 801.9 ts high explosive bombs and 12.2 ts marker bombs on board the bombers.
Four Halifax could not drop their bomb load over the city. Three machines had to turn around due to technical problems and a bomber could not make out a target marker over Zweibrücken.
Participating squadrons:
- No. 8 (Pathfinder Force) Bomber Group (Huntington)
- 105th Squadron (Bourn): 4 mosquitos
- 109th Squadron (Little Staughton): 4 mosquitos
- 405th Squadron (Gransden Lodge): 12 Lancaster
- 608th Squadron (Downham Market): 3 mosquitos
- 635th Squadron (Downham Market): 11 Lancaster
- No. 6 (RCAF) Bomber Group (Allerton)
- 419th Squadron (Middleton St. George): 15 Lancaster
- 424th Squadron (Skipton on Swale): 12 Lancaster
- 427th Squadron (Leeming): 12 Lancaster
- 428th Squadron (Middleton St. George): 15 Lancaster
- 431st Squadron (Croft): 14 Lancaster
- 433rd Squadron (Skipton on Swale): 15 Lancaster
- 434th Squadron (Croft): 14 Lancaster
- 408th Squadron (Linton): 14 Halifax
- 415th Squadron (East Moor): 14 Halifax
- 420th Squadron (Tholthorpe): 14 Halifax
- 425th Squadron (Tholthorpe): 14 Halifax
- 426th Squadron (Linton): 14 Halifax
- 429th Squadron (Leeming): 14 Halifax
- 432nd Squadron (East Moor): 14 Halifax
On March 15, a British mosquito of the 542nd Squadron carried out a reconnaissance flight over Zweibrücken and was able to take pictures of the damage during four overflights over the city area.
Six days later, the first American ground troops of the 7th US Army moved into Zweibrücken as part of Operation Undertone . At the time of the attack, the US Army units were still approx. 20 km south of Zweibrücken, near Bitche . The front line was (from east to west) from Haguenau , Schönau (Pfalz) , Bitche, Sarreguemines , further following the Saar and Moselle to Koblenz .
Air protection in Zweibrücken
The air raid protection in Zweibrücken was well organized and had been in place since 1932. From 1934 to 1935 an empty bomb stood on the market square as an advertisement for air raid protection. Each house had an air raid guard, cellars were supported with wood, openings to neighboring cellars were made and cellar windows were provided with iron doors. In addition, some rock cellars were used as air raid shelters, including the large rock cellar on Himmelsberg , which was only rediscovered in 1944 and then expanded in summer and autumn 1944. This rock cellar had an area of 2300 m² and offered space for 1500 people. In addition, some west wall tunnels were used on the outskirts. In addition, the drinking water supply in Zweibrücken was well regulated due to the many wells in the gardens, at that time 142 wells in the city and another 123 wells in the suburbs are listed in a well directory. In addition, the wells were marked on the outside of the house wall with a sign "drinking water" in phosphor color. Splinter protection trenches were dug in the squares, as there was often no time left to escape to the next bunker in the event of fighter bomber attacks.
Another advantage was that from September to November 1944 most of the population was evacuated and only about 4000 residents and about 1000 forced laborers and members of the Wehrmacht lived in the city. The Zweibrücker industry had already been outsourced, and the military hospital in the Niederauerbach barracks had also already been cleared. Medical care was guaranteed by the Catholic hospital and a medical area in the Himmelsberg Tiefkeller. The food supply was regulated by the economic office in the Himmelsberg Tiefkeller. Fuel was rationed and only available for important services such as the fire brigade, Red Cross and technical emergency aid . Fuel tanks were located on Kohlenhofstrasse, in the Himmelsberg Tiefkeller and two petrol stations.
24 electric sirens were used for air warning, which had been mounted on the roofs at a distance of 200 - 250 m since 1935. Going to the shelters in the event of an alarm was compulsory and could result in penalties for violations.
At the beginning of the air raids, the air raid shelters were only used when there was immediate danger. At the end of the war this had changed and people lived in the shelters. Companies and offices in Zweibrücken worked in the Himmelsberg cellar.
Zweibrücken did not have its own anti-aircraft gun , only army flak units were located around the city.
Balance of damage
The extent of the destruction can be quantified on the basis of the official damage report from the city of Zweibrücken as follows:
- of the more than 3,527 residential buildings, 1,587 were totally destroyed, 546 badly and 1,128 slightly damaged. Only 248 buildings survived the war undamaged.
- Of 58 public buildings, 4 were slightly and 14 heavily damaged and 40 were totally destroyed.
- Of 15 industrial plants, 2 were slightly and 10 severely damaged, and 3 were completely destroyed.
- Of 761 craft businesses, 215 were seriously damaged and 285 were totally damaged.
- 28 km of 48 km of sewers were destroyed or badly damaged.
- 36 km of 90 km of electrical lines were damaged and 44 km were totally destroyed.
- 25 km of 55 km of gas pipelines were damaged and 16 km were totally destroyed.
- 44 km of 80 km of water supply network were slightly to severely damaged and 28 km were totally destroyed.
- Of 34 km of roads, 10 km were lightly damaged, 7 km badly damaged and 17 km completely destroyed.
- Of 21 bridges and footbridges, 2 road bridges and one railway bridge were badly damaged, 9 road bridges, 1 railway bridge and 3 footbridges were totally destroyed.
The damage and total destruction to all buildings and other facilities in the entire city area was almost 90%.
Rebuilding the city
The destruction in Zweibrücken was so great that a rubble path had to be set up to remove the consequences . In Germany there are only 28 cities that needed such a railway to deal with the destruction. The tracks of the rubble railway ran from Hauptstrasse and Lammstrasse across Schloßplatz to the small parade ground, and there the area was filled with rubble.
Due to the rubble, the city center is 1.5 meters higher after the reconstruction. This difference in height can still be seen today at the corner of Hauptstrasse Poststrasse. The biggest change in the reconstruction of the city center was the diversion of the Bleicherbach, which used to flow through the city center.
The Castle Two Bridges was restored only from 1962 to 1964.
Trivia
One of the 434th Squadron Lancaster bombers involved in the attack is now a memorial in a museum on Calgary Airfield, Canada .