Air raids on Oschersleben (Bode)

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Oschersleben (Bode) aerial photo (2012)

The town of Oschersleben (Bode) in Magdeburg was in World War II six times the target of bomb attacks of the 8th Air Force of USSAF . From July 1943 a total of 2,156 explosive bombs and a very large number of incendiary bombs were dropped on Oschersleben. The AGO Flugzeugwerke , but also the city itself, suffered severe damage. 2,156 residents became homeless, 148 deaths were recorded and 373 people injured.

Oschersleben an der Bode was also an agricultural district town (20,000 inhabitants) in the Magdeburger Börde during the Second World War. From 1934, next to the “City of Aviators”, AGO Flugzeugwerke GmbH came into being, which in particular mass-produced the single-seat Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft .

Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane (1939)
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft , built by AGO (1944)

Air defense and air defense

By 1943, additional air raid shelters and fragmentation trenches had been built in the AGO factory . In the city, the cellars of the two local breweries (Germania brewery and Kühlesche brewery) have been converted into air raid bunkers . A new bunker was built in the city center, and cone bunkers were built in the station area. Until the first bombing in July 1943, only the AGO's “Industrie-Schutz-Staffel” (ISSt) with four fighters was available to ward off possible air raids on the plant and town. After the first attack in the summer of 1943, the 1st and 2nd Heavy Flak Divisions 537 were stationed near Oschersleben.

The individual air strikes

On September 6, 1940 in the night at 1:10 PM fell eight incendiary bombs of the RAF in the Halberstadt and the Protect-road from Oschersleben. On October 16, 1940, at 12:40 a.m., an RAF bomber dropped six heavy explosive and incendiary bombs east of Oschersleben in the Feldmark.

The 8th Air Force of the USAAF attacked from July 1943 to June 1944, a total of six times the aircraft factory, but also the city of. The attacks always took place during the day, from 1944 onwards under the protection of long-range fighter planes .

  • July 28, 1943 : US attack on the AGO works as part of Blitz Week , which was directed against German air armaments. 43 Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" bombers took off from England with the destination Oschersleben. The escort fighters could not protect the bombers as far as central Germany because of their limited range at the time. Already on the entry into the Reich area there were heavy air battles with German fighter squadrons, which disbanded the group and to which a total of 15 bombers fell victim. 28 Boeing B-17s finally set course for Oschersleben From 11:05 a.m. to 11:56 a.m., with good visibility, they dropped 67.9 tons of bombs on the AGO's production facilities and the city: 159 high-explosive bombs and over 3,000 incendiary bombs . The plant received 60 heavy hits and 25 fires raged. Some of the workforce fled to the surrounding area. Three workshops, 10 buildings (including the administration, archive, the Hollerith department), an air raid shelter and a fragmentation trench were badly hit, and 40 brand new Focke-Wulf fighters were devastated. However, the work was not destroyed and was therefore still on the USAAF target list. Production is said to have been little affected. There was also severe damage in downtown Oschersleben: 14 houses were destroyed and 22 heavily damaged. There were 46 dead (including 27 foreigners), three of which could not be identified, and 235 injured. The AGO outsourced destroyed areas, such as the mechanical workshop temporarily to the chocolate factory. Some bombers had not found Oschersleben and dropped 100 bombs on the small town of Dalldorf , 70% of which they destroyed and in which one child and five adults were killed.
American Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" throwing a bomb
American Consolidated B-24 "Liberator" in formation
US long-range fighter P-51 "Mustang"
AGO aircraft works after the air raid on April 11, 1944
  • January 11, 1944 : The attack of the 1st Bombardment Division of the 8th Air Force took place due to bad weather conditions, a recall campaign triggered by this and a strong German air defense "splintered". 139 Boeing B-17s were supposed to attack Oschersleben with 455 tons of bombs: 710 high explosive bombs (up to 800 kg mass) and 380 liquid incendiary bombs. Even though 36 of the bombers were shot down, the bombardment hit the aircraft factory and the city “in full force” from 11.42 am. In the AGO works, 50% of the buildings were destroyed and 14% badly damaged. The final assembly of the aircraft was particularly affected. 210 of the high explosive bombs and 300 of the incendiary bombs hit the urban area: 36 buildings were destroyed here, 58 heavily damaged and 232 slightly damaged. Numerous fires blazed, huge mushrooms shot up. The power failed due to hits on the overhead line. The Bode dam was also bombed, which led to the flooding of large areas. 59 residents were killed in the attack (33 adult civilians, 17 children, 4 prisoners of war, 2 foreigners, one soldier). The recovery of the buried dead took five days. 34 (36) US aircraft were lost and 83 others were damaged. The heavy flak division 537 stationed near Oschersleben also played a major role in this. The AGO is now increasingly relocating parts of its systems to other locations and underground, such as the former potash and rock salt mine systems of Siebenberg GmbH in Hadmersleben, 8 km away . Ultimately, only final assembly should remain at the main plant in Oschersleben. After the attack - despite the destruction - 67 Focke-Wulff aircraft were still delivered by AGO in January, the same number in February.
  • February 20, 1944 : During Big Week from February 20 to 25, Allied bombers, accompanied by American Mustang and Thunderbolt long-range fighters, flew massive attacks on production facilities of the German aircraft industry. Oschersleben was one of the targets of the 8th Air Force. The Börde was covered with snow and easily recognizable in the winter sun. 57 (44) “Flying Fortresses” Boeing B-17s and their escort fighters attacked the city from 1:32 p.m. to 1:45 p.m., gray smoke signals marked the targets. 79.5 tons of bomb load were dropped: 360 (310) "High Explosive" bombs and 12,000 incendiary bombs. There were 363 sources of fire and the city became a "glowing furnace". A huge cloud of dust and smoke rose over Oschersleben. Fire brigades from near and far and Wehrmacht soldiers hid and cared for victims. During the extinguishing work, five high-explosive bombs with long-term detonators exploded and destroyed a fire engine and three ambulances. The property damage was considerable: four “large buildings” were totally destroyed, 120 residential buildings totally destroyed, 147 badly damaged, 74 considerable and 98 slightly damaged. The district hospital (all hospitals and military hospitals were marked with large red crosses on the roofs) was totally destroyed, as were four schools and two churches , the Protestant orphanage and the Odesse machine factory. There were 37 dead, three missing, 108 injured and 2,100 homeless. 450 residents were evacuated because of the danger posed by long detonator bombs. The attack targeted the AGO aircraft factory, but mainly the civilian population was hit. It was the worst attack on Oschersleben
  • February 22, 1944: planned renewed US attack on Oschersleben, but canceled due to adverse weather. The 91st bomber group of the 8th Air Force, which was supposed to bomb Oschersleben, happened to be over the village of Bünde (north of Bielefeld ) at the time of the recall from the "Mission" with 32 "Flying Fortresses" B-17 and got rid of their 140 there High explosive bombs and 160 incendiary bombs. Five of these bombers were shot down
  • April 11, 1944 : 828 heavy US bombers and 819 escort fighters took off for use in Germany. Even before the target areas, 23 machines were shot down by Luftwaffe fighters. Of the entire force, 121 B-24 "Liberator" attacked Oschersleben as a primary target. From 11.12 to 11.22 a.m. they dropped 495 high explosive bombs and 2,295 AN-M47 phosphorus incendiary bombs . 54 bombs hit AGO premises and caused severe damage there; the plant was "almost completely destroyed". German and foreign workers did not rely on the shelters and splinter trenches, but fled - also organized "led out" - from the factory area in large numbers after the alarm sounded. The city also received a large number of hits, 90 of which were on residential buildings. A new fertilizer factory was badly damaged, the gas pipeline burst, and the Oschersleben-Magdeburg railway connection that was hit was out of order for two days. Six people were killed in the attack.
  • April 12, 1944: Unsuccessful planning of the attack. The 2nd bomber division of the 8th Air Force was to bomb Oschersleben and Zwickau with 184 B-24 "Liberators" and strong escorts . Because of bad weather, the planes were recalled when they reached the Reich border. The Air Force shot down five returning bombers, damaged 25 and also brought down five US escort fighters
  • May 30, 1944 : On this day the canceled and loss-making "mission" of the USAAF of April 12th was to be rescheduled. Of the 919 heavy bombers deployed, accompanied by 672 fighters, 51 Boeing B-17s set course for Oschersleben as their primary target. From 11:05 to 11:10 a.m. they dropped 118 tons of bombs (350 bombs). They destroyed AGO workshops, including the final assembly of FW 190, but also hit 70 residential buildings. 56 people became homeless and there were no deaths. Tilled fields and meadows suffered considerable damage from many bomb craters. Despite the considerable destruction, as a result of the decentralization of production, including the underground relocation to Hadmersleben, assembly of the FW 190 A-8 could quickly be resumed. From May 1st to May 30th the AGO had again manufactured 170 of these fighters.
  • June 29, 1944 : 74 (of 591 deployed against targets in central Germany) B-24 "Liberators" attacked Oschersleben while escorted by hunters and dropped 203 tons of explosive and incendiary bombs from 9.25 am to 9.32 am "It was the attack that hit the ruins finally turned into ruins ”. After the bomber pulks had flown and the workforce of the AGO works left the air raid shelters and fragmentation trenches, a low-level attack was carried out. Four brand-new FW 190 A-8 aircraft and one flak position were destroyed on the ground, and the city and the railway area were attacked again. When the assemblies were supplied from relocated production facilities, the final assembly of 200 FW 190 A-8 fighters could take place again in July 1944 under provisional roofs in the AGO factory, over the course of the year from 877 and from January to April 1945 of 340 aircraft
Focke-Wulf 190 in April 1945

No further air strikes on Oschersleben are recorded in the USAAF's war diary. In the case of “10 air raids on Oschersleben”, the two insignificant bombings by the British RAF in 1940 and the two planned, but aborted “missions” of the USAAF on February 22, 1944 and April 12, 1944 have been taken into account.

  • July 7, 1944: A US air armada that had bombed the armaments industry and hydrogenation plants in Central Germany led to the air battle over Oschersleben between US bombers with their escort fighter planes and German fighter planes Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 as "storm chasers ". 39 heavy bombers of the types B-17 and B-24 crashed over the Harz and Harz surrounding areas, especially the Egelner Mulde. According to other information, there were 30 bombers (28 B-24 "Liberator" and two B-17 "Flying Fortress") ")
  • February 14, 1945: At around 12:30 p.m., bomber units flew over the town from west to east. One of the planes detached itself from the formation, circled over the northern part of the city and dropped six high-explosive bombs and 300 incendiary bombs. They all fell between the houses in the open area, between the tax office and Neindorfer Strasse

At the end of the war, 80% of the AGO plant in Oschersleben had been destroyed. Nevertheless, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter planes were assembled there with supplied assemblies until a few days before the end of the plant on April 10, 1945. On April 10, the plant was officially closed and the “followers” ​​were on leave.

The occupation of Oschersleben

The occupation of Oschersleben by American ground troops took place on April 11, 1945. After a Hitler Youth had fired a bazooka at a US armored car, American soldiers shot at surrounding buildings and killed a bystander. When security officers at the AGO plant were interested in the advancing tanks, three of them were shot. Works security personnel, German and foreign workers had fled to the AGO storage facility. The building collapsed under fire, burying the people under it. The injured were rescued and cared for.

Victims of the air raids

The official death toll from air raids is 148. This number results from the details for four (of the six) attacks: on July 28, 1943 (n = 46), January 11, 1944 (n = 59), February 20, 1944 (n = 37) and April 11, 1944. Despite high tonnage of bombs dropped on May 30 and June 29, 1944, there are no casualties for either day. One can conclude that the real number of deaths was higher than 148. Also among the "victims of forced labor" on the burial grounds for prisoners of war, foreign workers and prisoners are likely to be quite a few bomb deaths.

373 people were injured and 2,156 lost their homes.

Burial place

The Hornhäuser Straße cemetery has graves and memorial stones for German and foreign victims of the bombing raids on Oschersleben.

  • Overview plan with the grave fields of the cemetery:

B 9/10: "German civilians bombing World War II"

C 5: "Poles, Czechs, Dutch, Belgians, French, Italians" (victims of the bombing)

B 5: "Russian forced laborers, World War II" (some victims of the bombing)

  • The actual grave field with the German bomb victims is now a lawn (B 9/10), some of which are newly covered with graves. On both sides of a crossing path there are two monuments (inscription: "To commemorate the victims of the bombing of January 11, 1944") and eight floor slabs with nine names of bomb victims each: from infancy to old age. About 70 names together. Of the nine dead on a record, six are children. A side tombstone for four people buried here shows the inscription “In memory of the victims of the AGO air raid of July 28, 1943” (which, however, claimed 46 victims).

  • Oschersleben plan cemetery, with war victims

  • Oschersleben memorial plaques for bomb victims

  • Oschersleben memorial for bomb victims

  • Cemetery name board with bomb victims, including children

  • Cemetery victims AGO air raid 1943

  • Cemetery victims from USSR 1943–1945

AGO after the end of the war

The US Army took away written documents from the AGO plants that had not been destroyed. After the occupation was changed by the Red Army , everything that could still be used was dismantled and transported to the Soviet Union as reparations, especially from the surviving branches in Hadmersleben and Bleiche . The AGO plant was wound up.

literature

  • Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary . JANE's. London, New York, Sydney. 1981. ISBN 0-7106-0038-0
  • Olaf Groehler : bombing war against Germany . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1990. ISBN 3-05-000612-9
  • Rudi Hartwig: Bombs on women and children. About the Anglo-American air raids on cities in the territory of today's Magdeburg district in World War II . Magdeburger Blätter: Annual publication for local and cultural history in Saxony-Anhalt. Volume 4, 1985, pp. 4-14
  • Karl Kellner : Bombs and grenades on Oschersleben (experience report of the local researcher). "Between Bode and Lappwald". Home magazine for the Oschersleben district. No. 2, February 1957. pp. 21-26
  • Rene Scheer: AGO Flugzeugwerke. From the lattice hull to the Me 262 . Harry Ziethen Verlag, Oschersleben 2014. ISBN 978-3-86289-078-1

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Rudi Hartwig: Bombs on women and children . 1985. pp. 4-5
  2. ^ Air raids on the Saxony-Anhalt region
  3. ^ Rene Scheer: AGO aircraft factories . Ziethen, Oschersleben 2014. P. 173 f
  4. ^ Olaf Groehler : Bomb war against Germany. 1990, p. 128
  5. ^ Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth Air Force . 1981, p. 165
  6. ^ Rene Scheer: AGO aircraft factories . Ziethen, Oschersleben, 2014. p. 181
  7. ^ Karl Kellner: Bombs and grenades on Oschersleben . 1957. p. 24
  8. ^ Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth Air Force . 1981, p. 183
  9. ^ Karl Kellner: Bombs and grenades on Oschersleben . 1957. p. 24
  10. ^ Air raids on Oschersleben
  11. ^ Rene Scheer: AGO aircraft factories . Ziethen, Oschersleben 2014. p. 187
  12. ^ Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth Air Force . 1981. p. 217
  13. ^ Rene Scheer: AGO Flugzeugwerke . Ziethen, Oschersleben 2014. p. 209
  14. ^ Rene Scheer: AGO aircraft factories . Ziethen, Oschersleben 2014. p. 210
  15. ^ Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth Air Force . 1981. p. 254
  16. ^ Rene Scheer: AGO aircraft factories . Ziethen, Oschersleben 2014. p. 213
  17. ^ Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth Air Force . 1981. p. 282
  18. ^ Rene Scheer: AGO aircraft factories . Ziethen, Oschersleben 2014. P. 216 f
  19. ^ Rene Scheer: AGO-Fluzeugwerke . Ziethen, Oschersleben 2014. p. 343
  20. ^ Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary . 1981
  21. ^ Air battle of Oschersleben on July 7, 1944
  22. ^ Rene Scheer: AGO aircraft factories . Ziethen, Oschersleben 2014. pp. 219–223
  23. ^ Karl Kellner: Bombs and grenades on Oschersleben . 1957. p. 26

Web links

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