Air raids on Anklam
The air raids on Anklam during the Second World War led to severe destruction of the city and in particular of the old town center. From 1943 to 1945 there were a total of four bombing raids on Anklam, the first three of which were carried out by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in October 1943 and August 1944 , and the last in April 1945 by the German Air Force . A targeted bombing raid on a German city by the Luftwaffe only took place on Eberswalde (also in April 1945). The attacks resulted in a total of over 800 deaths and permanently changed the appearance of the city.
Importance as a target
In the wake of German rearmament before the Second World War in 1936 in Anklam one were garrison and an air base of the Air Force created on the southern edge of the city. In the immediate vicinity of the Anklam train station , a branch of the Warnemünder Arado-Flugzeugwerke was opened in 1937 and expanded steadily until 1943. This made Anklam one of the company's main locations. In the Arado plant, the main production was the wings and tail units for the Fw 190 fighter aircraft as well as parts for the Ar 196 maritime patrol aircraft , the Ar 232 transport aircraft , the Ju 88 bomber and components for the He 111 , the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and later for jet aircraft . This moved the city into the sights of the 8th Air Force as an armaments location, military base and transport hub , so that their reconnaissance department classified Anklam as their primary target in the spring of 1943.
USAAF 8th Air Force bombing raids in 1943/44
October 9, 1943
On October 9, 1943, the USAAF carried out daytime attacks against a number of German arms factories as part of a major offensive. The goals of this operation were, in addition to Anklam (Arado aircraft works), Marienburg in East Prussia (final assembly plant for the FW 190), Danzig ( Danziger Werft / Schichau works and port) and Gotenhafen (port facilities). According to American sources, Anklam was the main target of the attack. Of the 378 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers launched in England , 352 reached their target area. Within this formation, 115 machines of the 1st Bomb Division flew to Anklam in two waves of attack. Of these, 106 reached the destination. The city was considered relatively safe despite the military facilities and armaments factory, as it was smaller than other potential destinations such as Szczecin . For this reason, many children from Szczecin and the surrounding area were evacuated to Anklam.
At 11:30 a.m., an air alarm was triggered in Anklam . The population initially took this rather calmly, as air alarms during the day were still rare at that time and always aimed at other destinations such as Berlin . At 11:42 a.m. the first wave , coming from the south in the direction of Neubrandenburg , reached Anklam at an altitude of 4,000 meters with 57 bombers and dropped 243 tons of explosive bombs on the Arado works. Due to the rapid development of smoke as a result of the attack, the entire urban area was shrouded in thick smoke, which made it extremely difficult for the second wave of bombers to approach the target. The second group reached Anklam a few minutes later with 49 planes and dropped its bomb cargo, consisting of 175 tons of high explosive bombs and 22 tons of incendiary bombs, on the city. Since the goal, the Arado works, could no longer be made out under the thick smoke blanket, the bombs were simply dropped on the entire city below. This led to severe destruction in the old town and at the Marienkirche , which lost its spire . However, this was an unwanted side effect, since the USAAF preferred precision attacks on facilities essential to the war effort, in contrast to the Royal Air Force, which destroyed German cities according to plan with its strategy of area bombing . In addition to the Arado plant, the railway and port facilities were also badly hit, which is why the attack was rated a good success by the USAAF.
Over 400 people were killed in the attack and as many were injured again . Most of the corpses were buried in mass graves.
The USAAF lost 18 bombers in the attack, 13 of which were shot down by German Bf 109 and Fw 190 fighters and 5 were lost for other reasons ( e.g. flak fire ). The USAAF's high losses also resulted from the fact that they operated outside of their own hunt security. The official American air war report mentions "serious losses in the battle of Anklam". Together with the extremely high losses in the second attack on the ball bearing works in Schweinfurt on October 14, 1943 (77 of 291 B-17 bombers as total losses), this meant that the bombing raids on Germany were stopped for the next three weeks.
It is noteworthy that the bombing of Anklam on October 9, along with the other targets of that day, is a central component of the USAAF's training and educational film "Target for Today". This film shows the planning, preparation, implementation and evaluation of the air attack on Anklam as an example. The film was released a year later in October 1944.
4th August 1944
In August 1944 the USAAF carried out massive bombing raids on Anklam and Peenemünde . For this purpose, 401 B-17 bombers were used on August 4, 1944, 227 of them against the research institute in Peenemünde and 180 against Anklam. The attack on Anklam was aimed primarily at the Luftwaffe facilities and, in turn, the Arado works, the reconstruction of which had not escaped aerial reconnaissance . 110 bombers were used for the attack on the air base and 70 bombers were used for the Arado works and the city.
Between 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., the USAAF attacked the city in 4 waves with high explosive and incendiary bombs. At around 1:45 p.m., the alternate airfield near Lüskow was bombed with the first wave , the second wave attacked the air base in Anklam at 2:00 p.m. and caused severe damage, in particular to the halls of the airfield, which were almost completely destroyed. At 2:45 p.m., the third wave flew to the city itself and mainly dumped incendiary bombs over the target area. The fourth and last wave was again directed against the city itself, which was again mainly bombed. The destruction mainly affected the Arado works, the sugar factory and the south-eastern part of Anklam.
This time the attack cost 26 people their lives, also because the population quickly left the city in the event of an air alarm.
During the entire operation over Anklam and Peenemünde, the USAAF lost 3 B-17 bombers and 9 of 250 P-51 fighter aircraft that were in use as escorts.
August 25, 1944
On August 25th another air strike took place against Anklam, Peenemünde, Neubrandenburg and Parow . The goals were the research institute in Peenemünde and the airfields in Anklam, Neubrandenburg and Parow. Of the 376 B-17 bombers deployed, 146 flew to Peenemünde, 108 to Neubrandenburg airfield, 73 to Anklam airfield and 21 to Parow airfield. 5 other machines attacked targets at their own discretion. The attack on Anklam airfield almost completely destroyed it. The USAAF lost 5 B-17 bombers and 2 P-51 fighters out of a total of 147 escort machines (including P-47 fighters).
Bomb attack by the German Air Force in 1945
After Anklam was captured by the Red Army on April 29th, the same day the Air Force launched a devastating bomb attack on the city. For this purpose, incendiary bombs were mainly used, which further increased the degree of destruction of the city (among other things, the old town hall on the Peene was bombed) and killed over 370 people. Despite the massive destruction caused by the bombing of 1943–1945, the Nikolaikirche in the city center miraculously remained relatively intact, but still did not survive the war, as it was destroyed on the same day by German grenade fire on the tower. The spire collapsed into the nave and the church burned down completely. This fate could be prevented at the Marienkirche during the attack on October 9, 1943, when the spire also caught fire and threatened to fall into the nave. On April 30th, isolated low-flying attacks on Anklam were carried out by the Air Force.
consequences
The bombings, the battle for the city and the German artillery fire had cost the lives of more than 800 people and destroyed over 80% of the old town. The inner city, which was characterized by brick , baroque and renaissance gable buildings as well as half-timbered houses and buildings from other epochs, almost completely disappeared. Only a few streets remained (for example Steinstrasse or Wollweberstrasse) and the Hanseatic face of the city had largely been lost. The reconstruction in the GDR could not follow this Hanseatic tradition, so that the inner city is today largely characterized by prefabricated buildings . At the moment efforts are being made to make urban planning corrections and the construction of buildings that make the cityscape of Anklam more attractive again, for example in the case of the market square redevelopment.
See also
Literature and Sources
- Home calendar Anklam 1993
- Home calendar Anklam 1995 , Schibri-Verlag 1994 ISBN 3-928878-23-9
- Home calendar Anklam 1999 , Schibri-Verlag 1998 ISBN 3-928878-76-X
- Home calendar Anklam 2003 , Schibri-Verlag 2002 ISBN 3-933978-67-X