Air raids on Aschaffenburg
The Allied air raids on Aschaffenburg during the Second World War took place between September 27, 1944 and March 20, 1945. 671 people lost their lives in a total of 20 attacks and more than 20,000 residents were left homeless. The historic city center of Aschaffenburg was completely destroyed.
Chronology of the greatest attacks
The first attack took place on September 27, 1944 by the British RAF . A large number of air mines were dropped over Aschaffenburg during the attack . The most damaging air raid was the air raid of November 21, 1944. That night, British bomber units dropped over 27,600 quintals of high explosive bombs over the city. The actual aim of the attack, the railway facilities of the Aschaffenburg main station , were missed. Instead, Aschaffenburg's old town and in particular the Damm district were destroyed . 344 people died in this attack and 20,000 residents (almost half of Aschaffenburg's population) were made homeless. The first daytime attack took place on December 12, 1944. It was carried out by 8th Air Force bombers . They dropped around 500 high-explosive bombs and around 3,000 incendiary bombs over Aschaffenburg .
After Aschaffenburg was declared a fortress at the beginning of 1945 , further air raids followed. The last major air raid took place on March 20, 1945. Up until the capitulation on April 3, 1945, there were other smaller air raids and heavy artillery fire.
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://der-weltkrieg-war-vor-deiner-tuer.de.tl/Aschaffenburg.htm
- ↑ ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) FAZ.net
- ↑ http://www.main-echo.de/regional/stadt-kreis-aschaffenburg/art21129,1461322
- ↑ http://www.mainpost.de/regional/main-spessart/Erster-Weltkrieg-1914-1918-Kriegsgeschehen-Luftangriff-Luftkrieg-Unterfranken-Weltkriege-Zivilbevoelkerung;art774,8334289
- ↑ Markus Lenz: The Trolley Mission of the US Air Force from May 7 to 12, 1945. On Demand Publishing LLC, 2014, ISBN 978-1-503-28573-6 , p. 44 ( limited preview in the Google Book search).