Air raids on Plauen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A total of fourteen air raids on Plauen were carried out by the British RAF Bomber Command and the 8th Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II . In the period from September 12, 1944 to September 10, 11. April 1945, 1,689 heavy, four-engine bombers and 50 high-speed bombers dropped 4,925 tons of bombs on the city. The goals were traffic facilities, industrial plants and the residential area. More than 75% of the buildings in Plauen were destroyed, over 2,358 fatalities (incomplete number), 54% of them female, were recorded.

Location, industry and transport

Plauen, the capital of Vogtland , was a large city with 111,000 inhabitants in 1942, located on a slope of the White Elster . Plauen was the center of the traditional Saxon white goods industry ( Plauener Spitze ) and had a highly developed metal processing industry. The large related plants were located southwest of the city on the Elster: the Sächsische Zellwolle AG , the Vogtland machine factory ("VOMAG", which had been converted from machine and vehicle production to the manufacture of tanks) and Vometall (subsidiary of Vomag, aircraft parts -Production). Plauen had a lower train station in the south-west and an upper train station in the north-west of the city.

In the corridors of Kauschwitz and Syrau there was a Plauen airfield from 1925, which was used by the military from 1936. From the end of 1943 onwards, the final assembly of Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter planes took place there in an outsourcing facility of the Leipzig Erla-Werke .

Civil air defense

Until 1943 the region was relatively protected from air raids due to its geographical location.

Plauen had 25 rock cellars (e.g. under the Malzhaus), tunnels and bunkers, as well as 20 public air raid shelter.

The larger industrial companies had their own shelters and a factory air raid shelter. The largest such facilities were in the Vomag area , three under the high-rise buildings of the plant and from 1944 in an extensive underground facility (under the rocky slope on the left side of the Elster between Weißer Stein and the former Härtel quarry, now the vocational school center eo plauen). This facility accommodated 7,000–8,000 people (workforce at the end of 1944: 6,500 people, including foreign and forced laborers). It had 4–5 paved / gas-secured entrances and exits and its own electricity and water supply. The facility was blown up by the Red Army.

There is an air raid protection museum "Meyerhof" in Syratalstrasse on the hillside of the castle, with exhibits from the war. It is a former beer cellar that was incorporated into the city's air raid shelter system in 1940.

As protection against air raids, the city archives relocated valuable archive material, the Luther Church its historical altar.

The air strikes

The 8th Air Force led 1,385 heavy long-range bombers of the types B-17 “Flying Fortress” and B-24 “Liberator” , accompanied by a large number of long-range fighters / fighter-bombers ( P-47 “Thunderbolt” , P-51 “Mustang “ ), Carried out eleven daytime attacks from September 12, 1944 to April 8, 1945. They dropped 3,697 tons of bombs on Plauen.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command participated in three night raids from April 4 to 10/11. April 1945 with a total of 50 high speed bombers of the type de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito and 304 heavy long-range bombers of the type Avro Lancaster . Their area bombing in the night of April 10th to 11th was the worst that Plauen experienced. The RAF dropped a total of 1,227 tons of bombs over Plauen.

The RAF kept a list of 94 German cities that it considered particularly suitable for area attacks. "Fish aliases" were assigned to the cities. Plauen had the code name "Brisling" ( sprat ).

The individual attacks

American B-17 bombs
American B-24 in formation

The 14 attacks are presented based on Gerd Naumann (2011).

  • September 12, 1944: From 12:50 pm to 1:12 pm, the 1st Air Division of the 8th Air Force attacked Plauen as a "target of opportunity" with 30 B-17s, accompanied by P-47 and P-51 fighters. 82.5 tons of explosive bombs were thrown. Aiming was done visually according to the scout method using the north aiming device. The damage areas were in the Südvorstadt, Reinsdorf , the eastern and northern Bahnhofvorstadt (the upper station) and in the Vomag area. There were 130 deaths. The result was classified as "poorly satisfactory" in the report of the 8th Air Force.
  • January 16, 1945: From 12:40 pm to 12:53 pm, 36 B-17s of the 3rd Air Division of the 8th Air Force attacked Plauen as a "secondary target" using the H2X ground radar. The escort consisted of P-51 fighters. 97.2 tons of general purpose (GP) explosive bombs and stick incendiary bombs were thrown. Areas of damage were Oberer Bahnhof, Bärensteinviertel, southern Haselbrunn and southeastern station suburb, next to cemeteries 1 and 2. There were 132 fatalities.

On February 8, 1945, the chiefs of staff issued an order to the 8th Air Force and the British Bomber Command that Plauen was one of the ten main targets for attacks against military transports and refugees.

  • February 23, 1945: From 12:03 to 12:10, Plauen was attacked as a primary target as part of Operation Clarion (war trumpet) against transport facilities in Germany. 110 B-17s of the 1st Air Division of the 8th Air Force dropped 325 tons of GP high-explosive bombs with no ground visibility using the H2X ground penetrating radar. The areas of damage were particularly in the south-eastern suburb of the station (Pauluskirchviertel) and in the Syratal area , but also in the west of the city center. 387 deaths had to be counted, 147 male and 240 female.
  • March 3, 1945: From 12:03 to 12:05, the city was attacked by eleven B-17 bombers of the 1st Air Division of the 8th Air Force as a "target of opportunity". Aiming was done visually with the aid of the H2X ground penetrating radar and a Norden targeting device . 27.5 tons of GP explosive bombs were thrown. The damaged area was a small area northwest of the upper station, the western Haselbrunn and a railway signal box, and open area next to it. There were 21 dead.
  • March 5, 1945: From 11:07 am to 11:41 am, 24 B-17 bombers with P-51 escorts of the 3rd Air Division of the 8th Air Force attacked Plauen as a "target of opportunity". 59 tons of GP high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs were thrown, using the scout method and H2X ground penetrating radar. The damaged areas were the eastern suburb of the station, the old town and the hospital area. 74 dead were counted, including 51 women.
  • March 17, 1945: From 12:03 to 13:05, 125 B-17s attacked Plauen as a "target of opportunity", escorted by P-51 fighters. The Association of the 3rd Air Division of the 8th Air Force dropped 350.9 tonnes of GP explosive bombs and cluster bombs on the city using the Boy Scout method and H2X ground penetrating radar. The damaged areas were widely scattered: inner city ( town hall , Luther Church ) and to the west of it, south-western outskirts, eastern suburbs to Reusa forest, reserve hospital “Recreation”, Tauschwitz water reservoir , Syrau airfield . The planned Vomag tank factory was not hit. 52 fatalities were recorded.
  • March 19, 1945: From 2:06 pm to 2:39 pm, the 1st and 3rd Air Divisions of the 8th Air Force attacked Plauen as a "secondary target". 436 B-17s escorted by P-51 dropped 1,103 tonnes of GP bombs and cluster bombs using H2X ground penetrating radar and Norden targeting devices. The extensive damage areas were in the city center (which was also the target area) and in the south of the city including Südvorstadt to Taltitz . 394 deaths were to be mourned.
  • March 21, 1945: From 9:50 a.m. to 10:05 a.m., Plauen was attacked as a secondary target by 107 B-17s of the 3rd Air Division of the 8th Air Force. Norden target devices were used as targeting methods. 312 tons of GP explosive bombs were dropped. Damage occurred in the Vomag plant and in the Vomag tank plant, in the vicinity of the lower train station to the southern suburb, in the eastern suburb to the Reusa forest, in the hospital area and the eastern suburb. 43 dead were recovered.
  • March 26, 1945: At 2:07 p.m. to 2:14 p.m. and between 2:28 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., Plauen was placed 1st and 3rd as a "secondary target" under visual targeting with Norden targeting devices of 281 B-17 and 98 P-51 Air Division of the 8th Air Force attacked in clear "bombshell weather". 734 tons of GP bombs of various calibres, cluster bombs, and stick and liquid incendiary bombs were thrown. The Vomag tank factory was totally destroyed, Vomag hit, as well as other industrial plants near Elstern, the southern old town and the southern suburb. 45 dead had to be recovered.
British high speed bomber Mosquito
  • 3rd / 4th April 1945: At night from 0:06 a.m. to 0:24 a.m., eight mosquitos of No. 8 Group of the RAF Bomber Command with 7.1 tons of high-explosive bombs (32 of 250 kg each) using the OBOE targeting method to attack the city center. It was a beam-guided interference attack, which was probably the preparation for the area bombing on 10/11. April served (an "experiment"). There were 5 dead.
  • April 5, 1945: From 11:37 a.m. to 11:47 a.m., Plauen was the target of an attack by the 2nd Air Division of the 8th Air Force with 151 B-24s , using on-board H2X ground penetrating radar in poor visibility. 384.4 tons of GP explosive bombs, container, stick and liquid incendiary bombs were thrown, with an extremely wide range of drops. Areas of damage were the old town, the rest of the inner city, the eastern suburb to Reusa, the western suburb of the station (lower station) and the Syratal. 85 dead were recovered. Some of these bombers are said to have had Bayreuth as their target and to have vanished due to navigation errors.
British Lancaster throwing radar decoys and then throwing bombs (air mine and incendiary bombs)
  • April 8, 1945: From 12:13 to 12:26 p.m., the 3rd Air Division of the 8th Air Force attacked Plauen with 86 B-17s and P-51s as escort. 258.3 tons of GP explosive bombs, container, stick and liquid incendiary bombs were dropped using H2X ground penetrating radar and Norden aiming devices. The damaged areas were in the city center, the Neundorfer suburb, in the Pauluskirchviertel and the western old town. 60 dead, including 40 women, had to be rescued.
  • April 9, 1945: From 10:23 p.m. to 10:38 p.m., 37 mosquitos of No. 8 bomber group of the RAF Bomber Command with 51.1 tons of mine and high-explosive bombs scattered across the city center of Plauen. The high-speed bombers used the OBOE target guidance system. The beam-guided interference attack served as a navigational preparation for the area bombing the next night. 40 deaths were recorded.
  • 10/11 April 1945: 304 heavy long-range bombers of the Avro Lancaster type and six Mosquitos of the No. 1 and No. 8 RAF bomber group, assisted by eight radar-equipped Handley Page Halifax , had started in the evening in south-east England and then saw their target area Plauen with the White Elster and the built-up area below them on a clear night. The OBOE lead procedure led the scouts and the master bomber safely to the target area. The area to be bombed was precisely marked out by numerous sets of illuminations on parachutes and 756 green glowing "Christmas trees". From 11:02 pm to 11:24 pm, the bombers dropped 1,167.7 tons of mine bombs ( blockbusters , "blockbusters"), explosive devices and incendiary bombs into the target area. Specifically, there were 248 4,000 lb HC mine bombs, 261 1,000 lb high explosive bombs and 2,500 500 lb high explosive bombs, plus 87 containers with incendiary devices, 756 flares (Christmas trees) and 12 light bombs . There were heavy explosions and huge wildfires, smoke development up to four kilometers in height. From 100 miles away, the bomber crews could see the red of the fires on the return flight. For days, smoke and dust lay on the entire ruined city. Extensive devastation and major fires had occurred almost everywhere, but especially in the Bärenstein area, the western and eastern Bahnhofvorstadt (Pauluskirchviertel), in Haselbrunn, in the city center, the Neundorfer suburb, the Hammervorstadt and the eastern suburb to Reusa. Over 890 registered residents of Plauen alone died in this extermination attack by the RAF, i.e. more from refugees and other people. It was about "... a night operation against Plauen with the intention of erasing the city from the map." In this attack alone "... 365 acres (164 hectares), corresponding to 51% of the city area, were destroyed."

On April 16, 1945, US troops marched into Plauen.

Bomb load

4,925 tons of bombs were thrown on Plauen (according to Naumann 2011). Naumann previously stated 5,740 tons. The difference can be explained by the insight into the War Diary of the British Bomber Command that has since been possible (2009). Groehler (1990) named 4,844 tons of bomb load. The entire available arsenal of bomb types, GP all-purpose high-explosive bombs, cluster bombs, mine bombs (blockbusters), incendiary bombs, phosphorus incendiary bombs, containers with various incendiary devices and differentiated bomb cocktails were used. Plauen received the highest bomb load per square kilometer of 159 tons in a comparison of the major Saxon cities.

12,600 bomb craters had to be removed. In the period from July 1945 to August 1946 alone, 523 high-explosive, fragment and mine bombs and 360 incendiary bombs were rendered harmless as duds in Plauen-Stadt and -Land : a total of 70 tons of bomb load in these 14 months.

Loss of buildings

Around 75% of Plauen's building stock was destroyed. 6,500 residential buildings were destroyed or damaged (77%), only 1,925 remained undamaged. The degree of destruction in the upper station suburb was 99%, in the city center 40%. In eight of the 14 attacks, the urban area was the target of the operations. Some of the preserved buildings were then claimed by the occupying powers. The population of Plauen fell from 111,000 in 1942 to 77,700 in July 1945. The population lived crammed together, sometimes in houses without a roof, in damp cellars and barns.

The Vomag tank smithy as a target was only severely attacked several times from March 17, 1945; on March 26, the tank factory had to stop production due to the destruction. In total, 50% of the building and 20% of Vomag's machines were destroyed by the USAAF dropping 1,545 tons of bombs. Part of the production had been outsourced.

Plauen-Kauschwitz airfield received several bomb hits on March 17, 1945 and was attacked by fighter bombers on April 14. Both attacks did not damage the building.

Loss of and damage to cultural buildings

Syratal Viaduct Plauen 1945

This section is essentially based on the standard work: Fate of German Architectural Monuments in the Second World War .

  • Johanniskirche : On April 10th the roof and south tower were destroyed by bombs. Further damage was caused to the masonry, especially the vault and the furnishings. Reconstruction from 1951 to 1963.
  • Luther Church : The roof was particularly damaged in the air raids. The altar was relocated for reasons of protection and thus preserved. Reconstruction immediately after the war.
  • Convent building of the Teutonic Order : it was destroyed in 1945 except for a few enclosing walls.
  • Kantorei and Kirchnerei: 1945 destroyed except for the surrounding walls, ruins removed. Only the gate and some adjoining parts of the city wall will be preserved.
  • Hospital St. Elisabeth: 1945 destroyed except for the surrounding walls. Ruin demolished in 1949.
  • Castle of the bailiffs : destroyed on April 10, 1945 except for the surrounding walls. 1954/55 Red Tower rebuilt with a modified roof finish.
  • Dobenau-Gut: destroyed in 1945.
  • Nun tower: badly damaged in 1945. Restored in the 1950s. The bastion was demolished in 1962.
  • Old Town Hall : Roof badly damaged by bombs in 1945 and the masonry partially torn up.
  • District school building (Schulberg 4): 1945 destroyed except for the surrounding walls. 1953 ruins demolished.
  • Citizens' School (Syrastraße): Badly damaged in 1945. Dismantled in 1948 for traffic reasons.
  • Residential building at Kirchplatz 8: destroyed in 1945, later the ruins removed and the cellar filled.
  • Residential and commercial building Nobelstrasse 9–13: damaged or destroyed.
  • House at Straßberger Strasse 13 (corner of Teichgasse): damaged in 1945, restored.
  • Alte Elsterbrücke : south side badly damaged by a bomb hit. A board on the bridge from 2001 informs: "Badly damaged by the war in the spring of 1945".

Fatalities

Grave field for bomb victims at the main cemetery in Plauen
Memorial for bomb victims at the main cemetery in Plauen

A total of over 2,358 fatalities had to be determined. The actual number is higher, however, because after the particularly heavy British night attack on 10/11. April 1945 only the registered residents of Plauen were registered. 1,284 fatalities were female, which corresponds to 54%. It is not known how many children were affected. Some of the children and adolescents had been evacuated via the Kinderland deportation or family initiatives.

Sorry from Frank Clark

In 1987, the American Frank Clark apologized in a letter to the then Mayor of Plauen for having participated in the bombing of the city on March 26, 1945 as a gunner of a “Flying Fortress”. He was also involved on March 19, 1945 via Plauen and in a total of 35 bomb attacks on German cities.

Grave and memorial site

On the main cemetery Plauen Reusa north of the crematorium on the slope there is a “ grave and memorial for the bomb victims of the air raids 1944–1945 ” (so named on the map of the cemetery). There you will find a lawn without gravestones and a memorial with the inscription “ Our dead admonish. 1944-1945. Ban the war ” . The inexperienced cemetery visitor cannot see on site that it is a cemetery for the Plauen bomb victims.

literature

  • Walter Bachmann: The old Plauen . 2nd Edition. Vogtländischer Heimatverlag Neupert, Plauen 1994. ISBN 3-929039-43-5 .
  • 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 .
  • Heinrich Magirius : Plauen (city district) . In: Götz Eckardt (ed.) Fate of German monuments in the Second World War. A documentation of the damage and total losses in the area of ​​the GDR . Henschel-Verlag, Berlin 1978. Volume II, pp. 461-463.
  • Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war 1944/1945 . 2nd Edition. PG Verlag, Plauen 2011.
  • Rudolf Laser, Joachim Mensdorf, Johannes Richter: Plauen 1944/45 - a city is destroyed . Vogtländischer Heimatverlag Neupert, Plauen 1995.

Film documentary

  • Film documentation "Codename Brisling", MPC-Filmproduktion Plauen 2009
  • Film documentation "Codename Brisling 2", MPC-Filmproduktion Plauen 2016

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war 1944/1945 . Plauen 2011. pp. 24-27
  2. ↑ Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war 1944/1945 . 2011. p. 179 ff
  3. ^ Olaf Groehler: Bomb war against Germany . Berlin 1990. p. 35
  4. ↑ Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war 1944/1945 . Plauen 2011. pp. 51–115, summary p. 140
  5. ^ Olaf Groehler: Bomb war against Germany . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1990. p. 389
  6. ↑ 156th Squadron FAF LOG. Quoted from Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war of 1944/1945 . Plauen 2011. pp. 116/117
  7. ↑ RAF Bomber Command War Diaries 10/11 April 1945. Cited by Gerd Naumann: Plauen bombing 1944/1945 . Plauen 2011. pp. 118/119
  8. ↑ Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war 1944/1945 . Plauen 2011. p. 140
  9. ↑ Air 14/3422, Bomber Command Summary of Operations Night 3 / 4th April 1945 and Night 9 / 10th April 1945
  10. ↑ Air 14/2680, BC Summary of Operations Night 10 / 11th April 1945
  11. ^ Olaf Groehler: Bomb war against Germany . Berlin 1990. p. 449
  12. ↑ Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war 1944/1945 . Plauen 2011. S. 34/35, S. 141
  13. ↑ Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war . Plauen 2011. p. 140
  14. ↑ Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war 1944/1945 . Plauen 2011. p. 147, p. 220-221
  15. ↑ Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war 1944/1945 . Plauen 2011. p. 6
  16. ↑ Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war 1944/1945 . Pp. 144/145
  17. ↑ Illustrative material from the Plauen City Archives, on the occasion of the exhibition "Plauen 70 Years Ago" (2015)
  18. ^ Heinrich Magirius: Plauen in Fates of German Architectural Monuments in the Second World War (Ed. Götz Eckardt), Henschel-Verlag, Berlin 1978, Volume 2, pp. 461–463
  19. ↑ Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war 1944/1945 . Plauen 2011. p. 140
  20. ↑ Gerd Naumann: Plauen in the bombing war 1944/1945 . 2011. pp. 226-228

Web links

Commons : Air raids on Plauen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files