Air raid

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Air raiders in Worms, 1939
The medical service of the security and auxiliary service (SHD), autumn 1941
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Article refers purely to German measures before and during World War II; neither other countries nor air protection measures during the Cold War, etc. are highlighted
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Air protection is a collective term for measures to protect against air attacks , especially against bomb attacks. A distinction must be made between state and private measures, the latter often based on legal requirements, active ( military air defense ) and passive measures (civil air defense ), a local civilian (e.g. caretaker) and supra-local air defense (air raid regiments). In Austria this term is no longer used today. Measures that correspond to this are included in the term civil protection .

prehistory

During the First World War it became clear that parts of the civilian population were at greater risk than before during acts of war, since for the first time cities deep in the hinterland were also bombed by zeppelins and later by airplanes. As a result, this technological innovation was often overestimated; it was assumed that the will of the civilian population could be broken in a relatively short time with enough bombs, which is why all states were looking for a way to meet the hostile population as well as finding ways in order to avoid the predicted extremely high number of victims in their own country. In the interwar period , some military and politicians assumed that in future not only explosives and incendiary agents but also poison gas would be dropped, as was the case in the Rif War 1921–1926 and the Italo-Ethiopian War 1935/36 . In 1927 the German Reich government ( Marx IV cabinet ) decided to take measures for civilian air protection. The right to do so was recognized in the Paris Agreement of May 22, 1926.

The "Luftschutzamt" was the highest authority in military aviation until 1933. In April, the Reichswehr Minister Werner von Blomberg transferred the air protection office from his area of ​​responsibility to the Reich Aviation Ministry ( Hermann Göring ). Soon after it came to power , the Nazi regime introduced the first state measures and thus prepared the population for the imminent war that the Nazi regime was working towards (see arming the Wehrmacht ). The (d. H. Training and management of the population in use) with the practical implementation commissioned Reichsluftschutzbund also served the Nazi propaganda (political influence and Be sharp development of the population).

In Germany, air raid protection was of particular importance during the Second World War .

activities

Wall writing in Greiz (Thuringia): "Are you ready for air raid protection?"

Active air defense:

  • Airspace monitoring by observers, sound location, radar in order to be able to issue warnings at an early stage
  • Shielding of the airspace by interceptors
  • Fighting attack aircraft with anti-aircraft guns ( flak ) and anti-aircraft missiles ( in testing in 1945 )
  • unmanned impact airships ( blimps ) on long ropes to protect against low- flying aircraft ( e.g. in the case of Allied forces during the landing in Normandy) and blocking balloons

Passive air defense, technical measures:

  • Systems for warning the population ( sirens , radio announcements - in the Second World War, later in the war, increasingly secure against eavesdropping via wire radio )
  • State obligation in the construction of new residential buildings to install “bombproof” basement ceilings
  • Provision of air raid shelters
  • Structural measures in residential and commercial buildings
    • Dark camouflages
    • Establishment of air raid shelters with fire-proof steel doors
    • Escape tunnel between the air raid shelters of neighboring houses
    • Additional supports for the basement ceilings
    • Covering of light shafts to the cellars with steel plates (these can still be seen today, e.g. in Bonn's old town)
    • Additional stairs to the cellars
    • It was experimented with prototypes for "bomb-proof" houses. Their roof and outer walls consisted of approximately 1 m thick reinforced concrete. These were never built because the end of the war came before the production models were completed.
  • Fire protection by painting and providing extinguishing agents (bucket, fire engine, fire extinguisher, extinguishing sand)
  • Issue of simple folk gas masks in various sizes
  • Distribution of luminescent illuminated plaques to be attached to clothing
  • Fogging systems
  • Construction of ghost towns
  • Construction of sham facilities ("decoys"), e.g. B. bogus airports or bogus factories
Air Defense Medal , founded in 1938

In the event of an air-raid alarm, the window sashes should be opened and the shutters or roller shutters should be closed in order to protect the window panes against the pressure waves from explosive bombs.

Passive air protection, organizational measures:

  • 1933 Establishment of the Reich Air Protection Association to train the resident population in air raid protection measures and for psychological guidance, appointment of air raid protection stations to guide the resident population in the event of air raids.
  • 1936 Integration of the professional fire brigades into the police as technical auxiliary police , training of police officers to become air protection officers
  • further measures until 1939
further legal measures, e.g. B. Air protection regulations, classification of municipalities according to their air hazard.
Establishment and expansion of operational units: Obligation of companies to establish factory air protection, establishment of special air protection for the administrations (post, rail, waterway administration, Wehrmacht, SS), reinforcement of technical emergency aid . Construction of motorized air protection units of the air force to be deployed in association with the fire brigades .
Preparation of mobilization plans for air defense
Use of special air protection lamps

Behavioral leaflet: (August 1939)

  • Cover sheet with confidentiality notice

  • Introductory information

  • Airstrike instructions

  • ditto for fires

  • ditto for wounds etc.

  • ditto (continued)

  • ditto (continued)

  • ditto (continued)

  • ditto (graduation)

  • Warfare agent and gas diseases, A. Air warfare agents

  • ditto B. terrain warfare agents

  • ditto C. smoke poisoning

Effectiveness of the measures

The active air defense measures in World War II were only partially effective. The German fighter units were able to inflict heavy losses on the Allied bomber units in the first years of the war and at least temporarily dispense with daytime attacks, but in the last two years of the war the Allies were gradually able to achieve complete air control over Germany. From then on, the German hunting associations could only achieve a few successes. The blackout was often bypassed by dropping target marker bombs (so-called "Christmas trees"). The lighter anti-aircraft guns could hardly hit the higher and higher flying bombers, the heavy flak had often been relocated to the front.

The self-help passive air defense measures proved to be increasingly ineffective in the second half of the war in the face of the increasing force of the air raids and the defeated active air defense. People in the bomb shelters often suffocated from the smoke from the fires or the lack of oxygen caused by the fires, and the extinguishing agents provided proved to be almost ineffective against the massive fires (sometimes even firestorms ) caused by incendiary bombs . Bomb-proof air raid shelters and tunnels with sufficient cover, however, were considered safe. Only in a few cases were people harmed in the bomb-proof air raid protection systems of the first wave of construction with a wall thickness of 1.40 meters. There was not even an adequate advance warning against German V2 rockets, as these were only seen in the last phase of the target approach. However, passive air defense has been able to mitigate the effects. It was thus possible to prove that the proportion of dead and injured in the civilian population present during the attack could be reduced with a trained population and extensive construction work. The Second World War showed that effective air protection for the civilian population is only possible to a very limited extent.

Since the demolition of air raid shelters is very expensive, they were often used as warehouses after the Second World War, or they were deconsolidated and converted into residential buildings (" conversion ").

organization

Air Protection Act of June 26, 1935

The Reichsluftschutzbund (RLB), founded in April 1933 and subordinate to the Ministry of Aviation under Hermann Göring, was responsible for training the volunteer air raid protection officers.

The management of the security and emergency services of the entire civil air defense had the "police administrator", i. H. the chief of police. He was supported by specialist advisers from the city administration, the fire brigade, the public rescue service and the Reich Air Protection Association. With the help of this organization and the local authorities, he had to “prepare his command area for air raid protection”.

Air protection was understood to mean the entirety of all measures taken by the state against enemy air attacks. It was assumed as clearly proven that combat aircraft and anti-ground defense alone are not enough to ensure adequate protection if the population does not provide the basis for this through civilian air defense. Civilian air defense was seen as a necessary addition to military air defense. The purpose of civil air defense was to reduce the effects of air attacks against the home area to the lowest possible level through protective measures. The Reichsluftschutzbund (RLB) was entrusted with clarifying the type and size of the air hazard as well as the correct behavior in the event of air raids . According to the type of air defense, a distinction was made between the military (which was again divided into an attacking and a defending part) and civilian air defense.

The organization of air protection in the civilian sector and air protection areas of the 1st order (large cities) was the responsibility of the local police administrator (police chief) in accordance with the 1st implementing regulation for the Air Protection Act. In accordance with this regulation, the technical auxiliary police were incorporated into the law enforcement police. The enforcement police were divided into: 1. Ordnungspolizei , 2. Sicherheitspolizei . Within the Ordnungspolizei a distinction was made: 1. the protective police of the Reich, 2. the gendarmerie, 3. the protective police of the communities. The regulatory police also included: 1. the administrative police, 2. the protection police of the Reich, 3. the protection police of the municipalities, 4. the gendarmerie, 5. the fire protection police, 6. the technical auxiliary police - technical emergency aid , (repair service and air raid police ) and the Volunteer fire brigades .

The local air protection management consisted of: the police administrator as the local civil air protection chief, the leader of the air protection police, the fire chief as the leader of the entire fire-fighting service, the chief air defense doctor as the head of the entire medical service, the chief LS veterinarian as the head of the veterinary service, the Senior air defense chemist as head of the detoxification squads, the local leader of the technical emergency aid as head of the repair service, the representative of the city administration and the representative of the RLB.

Modern air defense in Germany

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.
No sources for the statement that any attempt to protect the population from nuclear strikes is pointless anyway

During the Cold War , the establishment of a civil protection corps was planned in West Germany ; that did not happen, however. Today only a few air raid shelters are operated or kept operational in Germany, in contrast to Switzerland. The Marienthal office (camouflage name for the federal government's bunker system in the Ahr valley near Bonn) was z. B. decommissioned. Many air raid shelters are now or were used for mushroom cultivation due to the microclimatic advantages (bunkers in the remains of the Ludendorff Bridge ). The introduction of the atomic bomb made air protection measures from World War II obsolete. It is not possible to protect large parts of the population from the effects of a nuclear strike . It also doesn't make sense to keep air raid shelters that nobody could leave for years because of the radiation exposure.

The use of smoke cannons was discussed for the protection of nuclear power plants against terrorist attacks with hijacked commercial aircraft . These are supposed to cover the entire plant with a coherent front of fog in seconds, which is supposed to make it very difficult for the pilot to ram the reactor building with an airplane. This measure is highly controversial in terms of its effectiveness and feasibility. E.g. it is seldom so calm that the fog front is not "blown away by the wind". In addition, a mobile navigation system finds a controlled point even in fog and / or darkness.

Development of air protection in Switzerland

Air raid protection leaflet from 1951
Swiss Civil Defense Museum. Local forces - air defense

During the First World War , there were aerial bombing and chemical attacks for the first time . In Switzerland, this experience led to the establishment of active air defense as a task area for the army and passive air defense for the civilian population. The latter was set up in 1936 as a separate department in the Federal Military Department (EMD) . When war broke out in 1939, the civil, unarmed and locally organized blue air raid shelter ( blue because of the blue overalls) was ready for action. The tasks of this organization were the establishment of shelters, the darkening, the gathering and dissemination of information, etc.

After the Second World War, the organization was dissolved and replaced by the air raid troops created in 1951 as part of the troop organization (number: 35,000 soldiers) as a link to the local civil defense . The Territorial Service Department, established in 1962, was subordinated to the Federal Office for Civil Protection, newly established in 1963, in the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) . The tasks of the air raid troops as a member of the overall defense were rescue and rescue, fire fighting, first aid, decontamination of people, material, buildings and streets as well as looking after the homeless and refugees. With the army reform 95 , the air raid troops were renamed rescue troops. In addition to military disaster relief, her area of ​​responsibility was expanded to include humanitarian rescue missions abroad as part of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Corps . The originally 23 rescue troops , which were supplemented with engineering troops, were reduced to 8 disaster relief battalions with Army XXI and a disaster relief standby unit that was ready for action within hours.

The only civil defense museum in Switzerland is located in a three-story round bunker from the Second World War in the city of Zurich. In addition to the original facilities of the former medical aid station, the museum also shows the structure of modern civil protection and today's tools for rescue operations and technical assistance.

Others

From 1931 to 1945 there was a magazine in Germany called “Gasschutz und Luftschutz” (GuL). It was founded in the summer of 1931 by the Munich publisher August Schrimpff. The editors were the then recognized experts Rudolf Hanslian and Heinrich Paetsch. For questions about the history of air warfare and air defense, the GuL appears to be a first-rate source. After the National Socialist seizure of power in 1933, the magazine retained its character as a specialist journal; open propaganda remained the exception. Nonetheless, she had a positive attitude towards the Third Reich - it vigorously promoted civilian air protection, later also to prepare for war.

Other magazines were e.g. B. “Gasschutz” (Switzerland 1932–1941), “Der Gasschutz” (Austria, from 1932; renamed “Der Brandschutz” in 1934) and a Dräger magazine (1936–1942).

literature

  • OKW : Regulation L.Dv. 791 - Structural air defense; Guidelines for the planning and implementation of structural measures at command posts for security and emergency services - 1938.
  • OKW : Regulation L.Dv. 793 - Structural air defense; Planning and implementation of structural measures for public air raid shelters - 1939.
  • OKW : Regulation L.Dv. 794 - Planning and implementation of structural measures at detoxification parks of the security and emergency services; Structural air protection; Part III: Security and Emergency Services - 1939.
  • The Reich Minister of Aviation and Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force : L.Dv. 772 / I - Gas defense in air protection , part 1 The work in the warfare agent and main warfare agent investigation center, June 1942, with 7 illustrations.
  • Fred Iklé : The social impact of bomb destruction. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1958.
  • Erich Hampe : Civilian air defense in World War II: Documentation and experience reports on construction and deployment . Frankfurt a. M .: Bernard and Graefe 1963. Download here (www.bbk.bund.de)
  • Bernd Lemke : Air protection in Great Britain and Germany 1923 to 1939, civil war preparations as an expression of the state and socio-political foundations of democracy and dictatorship , Munich: Oldenbourg 2005, ISBN 978-3-486-57591-0 .
  • Bernd Lemke / MGFA (ed.): Air and civil protection in Germany in the 20th century (Potsdam writings on military history, Volume 5), Potsdam 2007 (2010: ISBN 978-3-9808882-7-1 ).
  • Holger Förstemann, Ingo Danielzik: RL number list. Identification numbers of the Reichsanstalt für Luftschutz 1936–1944 , 2nd updated edition 2008, BOD Norderstedt, Books on Demand 2008.
  • Doris Tillmann; Johannes Rosenplänter: Air War and "Home Front". War experience in the Nazi society in Kiel 1929–1945 . Solivagus-Verlag, Kiel 2020, ISBN 978-3-947064-09-0 .

Web links

Commons : Air raid  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (Ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion Mainz of October 22, 1938, No. 49. Announcement No. 644, p. 301.
  2. ↑ http://helm.at.ua
  3. ^ Air raid protection in the air war around Vienna. Parliamentary Library Signature 65.779.2.A) steko
  4. ^ The air raid troops. In: Swiss soldier. Monthly magazine for the army and cadres with FHD newspaper. Volume 15, Issue 3 1939-1940
  5. ↑ Message from the Federal Council to the Federal Assembly on a federal law on civil protection (6 October 1961)
  6. ↑ Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance
  7. ↑ List of journals (PDF; 143 kB)