Air raids on Düren
Massive air raids were carried out on Düren in North Rhine-Westphalia during World War II .
background
Düren was an important railway junction, but apart from a barracks there were no war-important industrial companies or other militarily relevant repair companies or production facilities in the city.
consequences
Due to the almost complete destruction of Düren - only four houses were still habitable after the devastating bombardment of November 16, 1944 - it was initially considered to completely rebuild Düren south of the old location. However, the city was then rebuilt in its old ground plan.
Destroyed on November 16, 1944
The Royal Air Force (British Air Force) bombed Düren with 474 aircraft from 3:23 pm to 3:44 pm. 95 target markers, 5,477 explosive bombs and 148,980 incendiary bombs with a total weight of 2,751.9 tons were dropped. There were probably 3,126 deaths. The inner city was completely destroyed. Only four houses were still habitable. Most of the population fled the city after the attack.
Air strikes
From mid-1944, the air raids served as preparation for Operation Queen . A total of 51 air raids were carried out until Düren was almost completely destroyed on November 16, 1944.
It is not possible to determine exactly which Western Allied air force flew the individual attacks, but it can mostly be assumed that the Royal Air Force .
| date | attacker | Attack number | dead | Injured | aims | destruction | Bomb load |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 22, 1940 | RAF (?) | 2 | 1 | 2 | Z | 5 houses | 21 pcs. |
| May 12, 1940 | RAF (?) | 1 | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | 1 piece. |
| June 10, 1940 | RAF (?) | 3 | 0 | 0 | IS | n / A | 5 pcs. |
| June 20, 1940 | RAF (?) | 4th | 0 | 0 | IS, Z | n / A | 7 VP, 20 BB |
| July 30, 1940 | RAF (?) | 5 | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | 6 VP, 20 BB |
| October 21, 1940 | RAF (?) | 6th | 0 | 0 | IS | n / A | 6 VP, 40 BB |
| November 7, 1940 | RAF (?) | 7th | 0 | 0 | IS | n / A | 2 BB |
| November 13, 1940 | RAF (?) | 8th | 0 | 0 | IS | n / A | n / A |
| January 10, 1941 | RAF (?) | 9 | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | 1 BB |
| February 26, 1941 | RAF (?) | 10 | 0 | 0 | Z | 1 house | 1 BB |
| June 17, 1941 | RAF (?) | 11 | 0 | 0 | Z | 1 house | 1 BB |
| June 18, 1941 | RAF (?) | 12 | 0 | 0 | IS, Z | n / A | 3 SB,? BB |
| July 8, 1941 | RAF (?) | 13 | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | 5 SB |
| July 11, 1941 | RAF | 14th | 19th | 45 | IS, Z | 20 industrial plants, 525 houses | 460 SB, 1000 BB |
| July 21, 1941 | RAF (?) | 15th | 0 | 0 | Z | 1 house | 1 BB |
| August 31, 1941 | RAF (?) | 16 | 0 | 0 | Z | 1 house | 1 BB |
| October 11, 1941 | RAF (?) | 17th | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | 3 SB |
| October 15, 1942 | RAF (?) | 18th | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | 1 SB, 20 BB |
| January 14, 1943 | RAF (?) | 19th | 0 | 0 | Z | 24 houses | 75 BB |
| October 9, 1943 | RAF (?) | 20th | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | 3 SB |
| October 20, 1943 | USAAF | - | - | - | - | - | 209 t |
| January 30, 1944 | RAF (?) | 21st | 6th | 6th | Z | 3 houses | 8 SB |
| April 13, 1944 | RAF (?) | 22nd | 3 | 2 | Z | 2 houses | 27 SB, 870 BB |
| April 21, 1944 | RAF (?) | 23 | 1 | 4th | Z | 11 houses | 15 SB |
| April 30, 1944 | RAF (?) | 24 | 1 | 3 | IS, Z | 9 houses | 5 SB |
| May 27, 1944 | RAF (?) | 25th | 4th | 7th | Z | n / A | n / A |
| June 14, 1944 | RAF (?) | 26th | 1 | 17th | Z | 10 houses, 8 businesses | 3 SB,? BB |
| July 6, 1944 | RAF (?) | 27 | 23 | 70 | Z | 15 houses | 7 SB |
| July 19, 1944 | RAF (?) | 28 | 123 | 122 | Z | 60 houses | 67 SB |
| July 21, 1944 | RAF (?) | 29 | 12 | 37 | Z | 12 houses | 98 SB, 120 BB |
| July 24, 1944 | RAF (?) | 30th | 0 | 0 | IS, Z | n / A | n / A |
| September 3, 1944 | RAF (?) | 31 + 32 | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | n / A |
| September 9, 1944 | RAF (?) | 33 | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | n / A |
| September 10, 1944 | RAF (?) | 34 | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | n / A |
| September 11, 1944 | RAF (?) | 35 | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | n / A |
| September 16, 1944 | RAF (?) | 36 | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | n / A |
| September 19, 1944 | RAF (?) | 37 + 38 | 15th | n / A | IS, Z | n / A | n / A |
| September 22, 1944 | RAF (?) | 39 | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | n / A |
| September 27, 1944 | RAF (?) | 40 | 1 | n / A | Z | n / A | n / A |
| October 4, 1944 | RAF (?) | 41 | 3 | n / A | IS, Z | n / A | n / A |
| October 6, 1944 | RAF (?) | 42 | 18th | n / A | Z | n / A | n / A |
| October 9, 1944 | RAF (?) | 43 | 0 | 0 | Z | n / A | n / A |
| October 12, 1944 | RAF (?) | 44 | n / A | n / A | IS | n / A | n / A |
| October 18, 1944 | RAF (?) | 45 | 9 | n / A | Z | 3 houses | n / A |
| October 29, 1944 | RAF (?) | 46 | n / A | n / A | Z | n / A | n / A |
| November 4, 1944 | RAF (?) | 47 | n / A | n / A | Z | n / A | n / A |
| November 5, 1944 | RAF (?) | 48 | 5 | n / A | IS, Z | n / A | n / A |
| November 9, 1944 | RAF (?) | 49 | 0 | 0 | IS, Z | n / A | n / A |
| November 11, 1944 | RAF (?) | 50 | 0 | 0 | IS, Z | n / A | n / A |
| November 16, 1944 | RAF, USAAF | 51 | 3,106 | n / A | Z | 90-100% | 5,477 SB, 148,980 BB (2,751.9 t) |
See also
literature
- Hans J. Domsta, Helmut Krebs, Anton Krobb: Timeline of the history of Düren. 747–1997 (= contributions to the history of the Dürener Land. Vol. 23, ISSN 0343-2971 ). Düren history association. Düren 1998.
- Hans J. Domsta: Düren 1940–1947. War, destruction, new beginnings. A documentation of diaries, letters, files and reports of the time (= contributions to the history of the Düren country. Vol. 21). With a contribution by Heinz Engelen. Düren history association. Düren 1994.
- Horst Wallraff: Düren and November 16, 1944. Tragedy of the "total war". Düren 1994.
Web links
- RAF attack on historicum.net
- Report on ZDF on May 5, 2020
Notes / sources
- ↑ "A bombardment of unimaginable proportions began"
- ↑ Military (M) / Industry (I) / Infrastructure (IS) / Civil (Z)
- ↑ Explosive bombs (SB) / incendiary bombs (BB)
- ↑ 2,392 Dürener, 394 foreigners, 320 soldiers