Operation Clarion

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The Operation Clarion was the code name of the largest and most spacious Anglo-American air raid campaign in World War II on 22 and 23 February 1945. The aim was the destruction of numerous transport facilities within 48 hours in the German Reich . At the same time, the absolute air superiority of the Allied air forces was to be demonstrated.

planning

Carl Spaatz

General Henry H. Arnold , commander of USAAC from 1938 to 1946 (from 1941 of the United States Army Air Forces , USAAF), proposed in September 1944, in good weather conditions, with a large number of US and British bomber units on a number of days to attack military targets throughout the German Reich that were previously spared from Allied air raids. This operation is to demonstrate the total air superiority (air supremacy ) of the Allies and to show the Germans their own helplessness. Unfavorable weather, the Ardennes offensive of the Wehrmacht, which tied up part of the Allied air forces, and the primary attacks on oil refineries and other military targets initially prevented the air operation.

At the beginning of February 1945, the Western Allied land forces were ready to begin their offensive towards the Rhine and further on to Central Germany . The headquarters of the Allied Forces in Northwestern Europe, SHAEF , called on the Air Forces to conduct a large-scale air operation to attack the communications and transport systems in the German Reich in order to facilitate the advance of the Allied ground forces. The destinations were means of transport and routes such as important bridges, locomotives and freight wagons of the Deutsche Reichsbahn , marshalling yards with their signaling devices ( signal boxes ) as well as waterways, barges and inland ports . These targets were mostly in smaller cities that had previously been spared air strikes. Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz , commander of the US Strategic Air Forces in Europe since January 1944 , agreed to plan and conduct the operation. The air forces involved were assigned the primary and secondary targets as well as alternative targets. The operation was code-named "Clarion" (war trumpet).

execution

The "Flying Fortress" B-17
The B-24 Liberator

Operation "Clarion" took place on February 22nd and 23rd, 1945 every day. With a total of around 9,000 sorties, 3500 bombers and around 3000 fighter planes of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) attacked numerous railway nodes and stations in smaller cities as well as marshalling yards, trains, river transport ships, ports, bridges on these two days and other important transport facilities. There were a total of around 200 destinations in a very large area between Emden , Berlin , Dresden , Vienna , Lake Constance , Mulhouse and Cologne .

The strategic air fleets involved were the 8th Air Force (central and northern Germany), the 15th Air Force (southern Germany) and the RAF Bomber Command (Ruhr area), as well as the tactical air fleets: the RAF Second Tactical Air Force (northwest Germany), the 9th Air Force ( West Germany) and the American First Tactical Air Force (Provisional) (South West Germany), stationed at airports in England, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. The long-range bombers B-17 Flying Fortress , B-24 Liberator , medium-weight bombers B-26 Marauder , A-20 Havoc / Boston and A-26 Invader , which could each drop around 3 tons of bombs, were used. The targets were flown over against the usual minimum operating altitude of an average of 6500 meters (= 20,000 American feet ) at an altitude of only 3000 to 3900 meters (about 10,000-13,000 feet) in order to achieve the highest possible accuracy.

The following data comes from the sources listed below from the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park , Maryland , USA, and the Operations Archive of the Eight Air Force.

February 22, 1945

The 8th Air Force effectively deployed 1,372 B-17 and B-24 bombers and 817 fighter jets against 41 targets in northern and central Germany, including more than 20 marshalling yards . It only lost one bomber when it was shot down by an Me 262 . 85 bombers were damaged by the German anti-aircraft defense . The hardest hit targets that day were Ansbach (143 bombers / 420 tons), Ulm (77 / 232.5 tons), Wittenberge (72/216 tons), Stendal (73/214 tons), Uelzen (73/214, 3 tons), Salzwedel (59 / 197.5 tons) and the marshalling yards in Bamberg (64/187 tons), Halberstadt (51 / 113.5 tons), Hildesheim (54/148 tons), Northeim (48 / 124.5 Tons), Peine (53/142 tons), Ludwigslust (48/136 tons), Kreiensen (43/131 tons) and Lüneburg (39/115 tons).

The 9th Air Force was in action with 465 bombers and 1,053 combat aircraft. They bombed numerous railway bridges and railway junctions in the Gießen , Freiburg , Bingen and Cologne area and destroyed 118 locomotives, among other things. They lost three bombers and twelve fighters in the air combat, but shot down 17 German planes.

The 15th Air Force attacked 32 marshalling yards and a number of railway lines and bridges in the south of the German Empire and present-day Austria with 774 bombers and 300 fighter jets. 110 locomotives, 40 oil tank cars and 300 railroad cars were destroyed or damaged.

The 1st Tactical Air Force deployed 171 bombers and 782 fighter planes and fighter-bombers on railway targets in northwest and west Germany. It lost eight bombers and two fighters and shot down nine German planes. His squadrons destroyed or damaged 38 locomotives, 536 wagons and ten bridges, among other things. The 2nd Tactical Air Force, provided by the RAF, had almost 1,700 aircraft attack marshalling yards, train stations and rail traffic in northwest Germany. It lost 21 de Havilland DH.98 mosquitos and twelve fighters; six German planes were shot down. 166 locomotives, 877 wagons and 94 barges were destroyed or damaged.

The rest of the Allied bomber fleet was provided by the RAF, whose machines operated in West Germany and mainly in the Ruhr area . Here 34 Lancasters with an escort of 115 P-51 fighters bombed the railway overpasses in Altenbeken and Bielefeld without any losses . Another 85 Lancasters, protected by 49 Spitfires , dropped over 383 tons of bombs on the city and a benzene plant in Gelsenkirchen . They lost a machine in the process. The benzene plant in Osterfeld was attacked by 75 Lancasters, escorted by 48 Spitfires and P-51s, dropping 333 tons.

February 23, 1945

On February 23, Operation Clarion was resumed and terminated on a smaller scale.

The 8th Air Force deployed 1,211 bombers and 492 fighter planes on that day to attack railroad nodes and marshalling yards in central Germany. The bombers dropped 3,316.4 tons of bombs on the assigned primary targets and numerous targets of opportunity. More than 130 tons fell on each of the marshalling yards in Kitzingen (183 bombers / 548.3 tons), Plauen (110/325 tons), Ansbach (109/297 tons), Paderborn (104/231 tons), Crailsheim (90/226 , 5 tons), Neumarkt (74 / 210.7 tons), Treuchtlingen (61/175 tons), Meiningen (49 / 145.5 tons), Osnabrück (50 / 136.5 tons) and Weimar (57 / 135.7 tons) Metric tons). The railway systems in Würzburg (37/111 tons), Gera (46 / 107.8 tons), Ellingen (25/70 tons), Jena (25/60 tons), Schwäbisch Hall (24/70 tons), were also heavily bombed . Schlüchtern (20 / 56.5), Adelsberg (12/35 tons), Hildburghausen (12/33 tons), Lichtenfels (13/39 tons) and Schweinfurt (12 / 35.5 tons). 48 bombers dropped 140.5 tons of bombs on a railway bridge in Oettingen . The accompanying fighter planes destroyed or damaged 31 locomotives, 141 wagons and 17 oil tank cars.

The 9th Air Force deployed more than 2,300 medium bombers, fighters and fighter-bombers. The 15th Air Forcee attacked eight transport targets in southern Germany with 455 heavy bombers.

The 1st Tactical Air Force attacked bridges, filling stations and gun emplacements in West Germany with 905 fighter planes and carried out aerial reconnaissance for the ground forces. The fighters shot down 17 German aircraft in a dogfight and destroyed seven locomotives and 323 wagons. The 2nd Tactical Air Force of the Royal Air Force deployed 179 aircraft for armed reconnaissance in Dülmen , Paderborn , Cologne , Düren and Münster and attacked railway bridges and ammunition depots.

On the second day, the Royal Air Force bombed Essen with 324 bombers, escorted by 119 Spitfires and P-51s, with 1170 tons of bombs, and 130 Lancasters, accompanied by 33 Spitfires, with 580 tons of the benzene plant in Gelsenkirchen . The RAF lost a Halifax bomber.

Result

The German transport network was hit very hard by Operation Clarion with minor losses by the Allies, but was only paralyzed for a few days. The British Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) came to the conclusion that the operation did not result in any serious damage to the German infrastructure. Marshal Charles Portal , Chief of Staff of the Royal Air Force, advised against further operations of this type, despite the contrary opinion of Spaatz, which it did.

The bombing caused numerous deaths in the following cities: Kitzingen (around 700 dead), Ansbach (445 dead), Hof (312 dead), Plauen (387 dead), Crailsheim (61 dead), Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz (around 500 dead), Treuchtlingen (586 dead), Meiningen (208 dead), Oettingen (199 dead) and Halberstadt (172 dead). In addition, the small town of Ellingen was bombed on February 23, 1945. This was due to a mistake by the British Air Force. There were up to 500 deaths. The railway systems in these cities were severely destroyed and are described as "effective" in the evaluation of Operation Clarion. High numbers of victims resulted from the location of train stations in the middle of the city or the presence of numerous travelers in the train station at the time of the attack. Unaware of their geographical location, American bomber pilots also mistakenly bombed the Swiss cities of Basel , Zurich and Schaffhausen (→  Allied bombs dropped on Switzerland ).

swell

  • National Archives and Records Administration in College Park :
    • Military Analysis Division, US Strategic Bombing Survey, The Impact of the Allied Air Effort on German Logistics, Second Edition, January 1947, p. 60, File: 64A The Impact of the Allied Air Effort on German Logistics (Final Report), European Survey Published Reports and Supporting Records, 1937-1945 (Entry I-10 6, NAID 560340), Records of the US Strategic Bombing Survey, RG 243
    • Headquarters, Eight Air Force, INTOPS Summary No. 298 and INTOPS Summary No. 299, February 22 and 23, 1945, File: 2A (5) (g), VIII AAF INTOPS Summaries, Feb. 1, 1945- Mar. 31, 1945, Vol. 7, Narrative and Statistical Operational Reports of US Army Air Forces in Europe , 1942-1945 (Entry I-10 25, NAID 561306), Records of the US Strategic Bombing Survey, RG 243.
    • Eight Air Force Monthly Summary of Operations, February, 1945, March 11, 1945, pp. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 39, 43, 69, 70, 77, File: 2A (4) (l ) Eight Air Force Monthly Summary of Operations, February 1945, Narrative and Statistical Operational Reports of US Army Air Forces in Europe, 1942–1945 (Entry I-10 25, NAID 561306), Records of the US Strategic Bombing Survey, RG 243.
    • Statistical Section, Air Ministry War Room, War Room Monthly Summary of Bomber Command Operations, Month of January 1945, n. D., Pp. 9, 11, 14, 15, 20, File: 2N (2) (e) Bomber Command Operations 1 Jan 45–1 May45, Statistical Operational Reports of the Royal Air Force Bomber and Fighter Commands in Europe, 1941–1945 (Entry I. -10 26, NAID 561308), Records of the US Strategic Bombing Survey, RG 243.
  • Eight Air Force : Eighth Air Force Historical Society, Operations History.

literature

  • Roger Anthony Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary. Motorbooks International, 1990, ISBN 978-0-87938-495-1 (English).
  • Charles W. Mc Arthur: Operations analysis in the USArmy Eight Force in World War II. American Mathematical Society, 1990, ISBN 978-1-58426-043-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rusty Bloxom, "Mighty Eight Air Force Museum" in Georgia, USA.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Dr. Greg Bradsher, archivist at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland.
  3. ^ A b c Charles W. Mc Arthur: Operations analysis in the USArmy Eight Force in World War II. , Pp . 308/309
  4. ^ From the accountability report of the High Command of the Allied Forces: "a quarter of a million square miles" (a quarter of a million square miles).
  5. ↑ Operation documentation in Might Eight War Diary by Roger A. Freeman
  6. ^ Archives of the cities mentioned
  7. ^ Ueberschär: Freiburg in the air war. P. 327.