Bombing of Cologne in World War II

All you want to know about Bombing of Cologne in World War II

Cologne in 1945

The City of Cologne was bombed in 262 separate air raids[1] by the Allies during World War II.

During the war the Royal Air Force ("RAF") bombed Cologne more than thirty one times. The most notable raid occurred on the night of 30 May/31 May 1942 when Cologne was the target of the first Allied 1,000 bomber raid.

Contents

First 1,000 bomber raid

Cologne in 1945

The first 1,000 bomber raid by the RAF was codenamed Operation Millennium, Cologne was chosen as the target and the raid took place on the night of 30/31 May 1942. The Thousand bomber raid was launched for several reasons:

  • It was expected that the devastation from such raids might be enough to knock Germany out of the war or at least severely damage German morale.
  • The raids were useful propaganda for the Allies and particularly for Harris and the concept of a Strategic Bombing Offensive. Bomber Command's poor performance in bombing accuracy during 1941 had led to calls for the force to be split up and diverted to other urgent theatres i.e Battle of the Atlantic. A headline-grabbing heavy raid on Germany was a way for Bomber Command AOC Arthur "Bomber" Harris to demonstrate to the War Cabinet that given the investment in numbers and technology Bomber Command could make a vital contribution to victory.

At this stage of the war RAF Bomber Command only had a regular front line strength of around 400 aircraft, and were in the process of transitioning from the twin engined medium bombers of the pre-war years to the newer more effective 'heavies'. By using bombers and men from Operational Training Units (OTU's), 250 from RAF Coastal Command and from Flying Training Command, Harris could easily make up the 1,000 aircraft. However, just before the raid took place, the Royal Navy refused to allow the Coastal Command aircraft to take part in the raid. The Admiralty perceived the propaganda justifications too weak an argument against the real and pressing threat of the U-boats in the Second Battle of the Atlantic. Harris scrambled around and, by crewing 49 more aircraft with pupil pilots and instructors, 1,047 bombers eventually took part in the raid, two and a half times more than any previous raid by the RAF. In addition to the bombers attacking Cologne, 113 other aircraft on intruder raids harassed German night-fighter airfields.

This was the first time that the tactic of a bomber stream was used and most of the tactics used in this raid would remain the basis for standard Bomber Command operations for the next two years and some elements would remain in use until the end of the war. It was expected that such a large number of bombers flying in a bomber stream through the Kammhuber line would overwhelm the German night fighters, keeping the number of bombers shot down to an acceptable proportion. The recent introduction of GEE allowed the bombers to fly a given route at a given time and height. The British night bombing campaign had been in operation for some months, and a statistical estimate could be made of the number of bombers likely to be lost to enemy night fighters and flak, and how many would be lost through collisions. Minimising the former demanded a densely packed stream, as the controllers of a night fighter flying a defensive 'box' could only direct a maximum of six potential interceptions per hour, and the flak gunners could not concentrate on all the available targets at once. Earlier in the war four hours had been considered acceptable for a mission; for this raid all the bombers would pass over Cologne and bomb in a window of 90 minutes, the first arriving at 00:47 of 31 May. It was anticipated that the concentration of bombing over such a short period would overwhelm the Cologne fire brigades and cause conflagrations similar to those inflicted on London by the Luftwaffe during the Blitz

A photograph of the H2S display in an RAF bomber taken during an attack on Cologne on the night of 30/31 October 1944 - the annotations were added later for post-attack analysis

In the raid, 868 aircraft bombed the main target with 15 aircraft bombing other targets. The total tonnage of bombs dropped was 1,455 tons with two-thirds of that being incendiaries. Two and a half thousand separate fires were started with 1,700 classed by the German fire brigades as "large". The action of fire fighters and the width of the streets stopped the fires combining into a firestorm, but nonetheless most of the damage was done by fire and not directly by the explosive blasts. 3,330 non-residential buildings were destroyed, 2,090 seriously damaged and 7,420 lightly damaged, making a total of 12,840 buildings of which 2,560 were industrial or commercial buildings. Among the buildings classed as totally destroyed were: 7 official administration buildings, 14 public buildings, 7 banks, 9 hospitals, 17 churches, 16 schools, 4 university buildings, 10 postal and railway buildings, 10 buildings of historic interest, 2 newspaper offices, 4 hotels, 2 cinemas and 6 department stores. The only military installation damaged was the flak barracks. The damage to civilian homes, most of them apartments in larger buildings, was considerable: 13,010 destroyed, 6,360 seriously damaged, 22,270 lightly damaged.

The number reported killed was between 469 and 486, of which 411 were civilians and 58 military. 5,027 people were listed as injured and 45,132 as "bombed out". It was estimated that from 135,000 to 150,000 of Cologne's population of nearly 700,000 fled the city after the raid. The RAF lost 43 aircraft, 3.9 per cent of the 1,103 bombers sent on the raid. The losses were 22 aircraft were lost over or near Cologne, 16 shot down by flak, 4 by night fighters, 2 in a collision and 2 Bristol Blenheim light bombers lost in attacks on night fighter airfields. A posthumous Victoria Cross was awarded to Flying Officer Leslie Thomas Manser.

Timeline

Bombing of Cologne during World War II
Date Bomber Command Notes
1942-02-1413/14 February 1942 RAF 39 aircraft encountered ice and cloud, poor bombing results reported.[2]
1942-03-1313/14 March 1942 RAF 135 aircraft bombed involved in the raid. The raid killed 62 and injured a further 84. 237 separate fires were started and the RAF estimated the raid to be five times more effective than average of recent raids on Cologne. This is considered to be the first successful GEE led raid. The RAF lost one Avro Manchester.[3]
1942-04-055/6 April 1942[4] RAF 263 aircraft.[5]
1942-04-2222/23 April 1942 RAF 69 aircraft.[5]
1942-04-2727/28 April 1942 RAF 97 aircraft.[5]
1942-05-3030/31 May 1942 RAF First 1000 bomber raid (1,047 aircraft).[6]
1942-05-31-0131 May 1942 RAF Photo reconnaissance by 5 de Havilland Mosquitos of No. 105 Squadron RAF.[6]
1942-05-31-0231 May/1 June 1942 RAF 2 aircraft. Conditions were cloudy over Cologne so no bombing was undertaken. Both aircraft return to base.[6]
1942-06-011 June 1942 RAF 2 Mosquitos in a nuisance,[7] and diversionary raid.[8][9]
1942-07-2626 July 1942 RAF 3 Mosquitos in a nuisance raid.[10]
1942-08-1010 August 1942 RAF 1 Mosquito on nuisance raid, bombs and returns to base.[11]
1942-08-2525 August 1942 RAF 4 Mosquitos to Germany on nuisance raids, one of them to Cologne, three complete their mission and bomb. One lost.[11]
1942-09-022 September 1942 RAF 1 Mosquito on a nuisance raid, bombs and returns to base.[12]
1942-09-022 September 1942 RAF 2 Mosquitos on a nuisance raid, bomb through cloud and return to base.[12]
1942-09-077 September 1942 RAF 1 Mosquito on a nuisance raid, bomb through cloud and return to base, no record of the bombing on the ground.[12]
1942-11-1515/16 October 1942 RAF 289 aircraft.[13]
1943-01-2222/23 January 1943 RAF This was the first raid using OBOE, 2 Mosquitos damaged 55 houses, killing 5 people and 22 injuring another 2. This showed that using electronic aids 2 bombers were able to inflict as much damage as electronically blind 100 bomber raids a year or two previously.[14]
1943-02-022/3 February 1943 RAF 161 aircraft.[15]
1943-02-1414/15 February 1943 RAF 243 aircraft.[15]
1943-02-2525/26 February 1943 RAF 6 Mosquitos to the Ruhr in a diversionary raid (the main attack was against Nuremberg), 13 people were killed in Cologne[15]
1943-02-2626/27 February 1943 RAF 427 aircraft.[15]
1943-05-00May 1943 RAF [16]
1943-06-1111/12 June 1943 RAF 1 Mosquito as part of a diversionary raid (the main attack was against Düsseldorf)[17]
1943-06-1313/14 June 1943 RAF 2 Mosquitos bombed Cologne one of several nuisance raid.[17]
1943-06-1616/17 June 1943 RAF 212 aircraft.[17]
1943-06-1717/18 June 1943 RAF 2 Mosquitos bombed Cologne one of several nuisance raid.[17]
1943-06-1919/20 June 1943 RAF 6 Mosquitos to Cologne, Duisburg and Düsseldorf (the main attack was against Le Creusot).[17]
1943-06-2222/23 June 1943 RAF 4 Mosquitos as a diversionary raid, (the main attack was against Mülheim).[17]
1943-06-2323/24 June 1943 RAF 3 Mosquitos on a nuisance raid.[17]
1943-06-2828/29 June 1943 RAF 608 aircraft.[17]
1943-07-022/3 July 1943 RAF 3 Mosquitos on a nuisance raid.[18]
1943-07-033/4 July 1943 RAF 653 aircraft for the RAF attacked the Cologne's industrial area on the east bank of the Rhine.A new German unit called the Jagdgeschwader 300 used the Wilde Sau tactic in single engine fighters for the first time. The German fighters, taking advantage of the illumination from searchlights, target indicator flares and fires claim that they shot down 12 aircraft, but have to share their claims with the anti-aircraft batteries who also claimed the downings. To avoid fratricide, anti-aircraft batteries restricted the height of their flack and the fighters operated above that pre-agreed ceiling.[18]
1943-07-055/6 July 1943 RAF 4 Mosquitos on a nuisance raid.[18]
1943-07-066/7 July 1943 RAF 4 Mosquitos on a nuisance raid.[18]
1943-07-077/8 July 1943 RAF 4 Mosquitos on a nuisance raid.[18]
1943-07-088/9 July 1943 RAF 288 aircraft.[18]
1943-07-1313/14 July 1943 RAF 2 Mosquitos on a diversionary raid drop target indicators (the main raid was on Aachen).[18]
1943-07-2525/26 July 1943 RAF 3 Mosquitos on a diversionary raid (the main raid was on Essen).[18]
1943-08-044/5 August 1943 RAF 5 Mosquitos Cologne and Duisburg through cloud.[19]
1943-08-044/5 August 1943 RAF 5 Mosquitos Cologne and Duisburg through cloud, the only sorties of the night. No losses[19]
1943-08-066/7 August 1943 RAF 8 Mosquitos to Cologne and Duisburg, the only sorties over Germany that night. All 8 returned to base[19]
1943-08-077/8 August 1943 RAF 4 Mosquitos in a nuisance raid.[19]
1943-08-1111/12 August 1943 RAF 8 Mosquitos in a nuisance raid.[19]
1943-08-2929/20 August 1943 RAF 4 Mosquitos equipped with OBOE, with another 4 to Duisburg, in a nuisance raids. One Mosquito lost.[19]
1943-09-011 September 1943 RAF 8 Mosquitos were sent to Cologne and Duisburg. No Mosquitos lost.[20]
1943-09-044/5 September 1943 RAF 8 Mosquitos were sent to Cologne and Duisburg. No Mosquitos were lost.[20]
1943-09-1313/14 September 1943 RAF 5 Mosquitos equipped with OBOE with another 5 to Duisburg, in a nuisance raids. No Mosquitos were lost.[20]
1943-09-1918/19 September 1943 RAF 5 Mosquitos on a nuisance raid. No Mosquitos were lost.[20]
1943-09-2424/25 September 1943 RAF 8 Mosquitos to Cologne and Düsseldorf on nuisance raids. No Mosquitos were lost.[20]
1943-09-2626/27 September 1943 RAF 4 Mosquitos to Cologne on a nuisance raid. No Mosquitos were lost.[20]
1943-09-2626/27 September 1943 RAF 8 Mosquitos attacked Cologne and Gelsenkirchen on nuisance raids. These were the only Bomber Command sorties of the night. No Mosquitos were lost.[20]
1943-10-022/3 October 1943 RAF 8 Mosquitos to Cologne and Gelsenkirchen on diversionary raids. The main raid was to Munich. No aircraft lost on the diversionary raids.[14]
1943-10-033/4 October 1943 RAF 12 Mosquitos equipped with OBOE bombed the Knapsack power-station near Cologne. No aircraft lost.[14]
1943-10-1313/14 October 1943 RAF 4 Mosquitos to Cologne on a nuisance raid. No Mosquitos were lost.[14]
1943-10-2020/21 October 1943 RAF 28 Mosquitos to Berlin, Cologne, Brauweiler and Emden. 2 Mosquitos were lost. The main raid of the night was to Leipzig[14]
1943-11-00November 1943 RAF [21]
1943-12-00December 1943 RAF [22]
1943-12-2222 December 1943 VIII Mission 163: 1 B-17 dropped two 2,000 pound (907 kF) general purpose bombs and 1 Photoflash at 2020 hours; no casualties.[23]
1944-01-011/2 January 1944 RAF 1 Mosquito on a diversionary nuisance raid and returned safely to base (main raid to Berlin)[24]
1944-01-044/5 January 1944 RAF 2 Mosquitos on a nuisance raid, both returned to base.[24]
1944-02-022/3 February 1944 RAF 3 Mosquitos on a nuisance raid, all returned to base.[25]
1944-03-1616/17 March 1944 RAF 8 Mosquitos on a diversionary nuisance raid, all returned to base (main raid Amiens)[26]
1944-03-1717/18 March 1944 RAF 28 Mosquitos bombed Cologne, all returned to base.[26]
1944-03-2121/22 March 1944 RAF 27 Mosquitos bombed Cologne, all returned to base.[26]
1944-03-2929/30 March 1944 RAF 4 Mosquitos on a diversionary nuisance raid, all returned to base (main raids Vaires, near Paris, and Lyons).[26]
1944-03-2929/30 March 1944 RAF 34 Mosquitos on diversions to Aachen, Cologne and Kassel, all returned to base, (but the main raid to Nuremberg resulted in the biggest Bomber Command loss of the war).[26]
1944-04-00April 1944 RAF [27]
1944-05-00May 1944 RAF [28]
1944-06-00June 1944 RAF [29]
1944-07-1818/19 July 1944 RAF 6 Mosquitos on a diversionary raid, part a night when the RAF made four substantial attacks and a number of small raids like that on Cologne. They attacked the synthetic oil plants at Wessling and Scholven/Buer, railway junctions at Aulnoye and Revigny and a flying-bomb launching site at Acque.[30]
1944-08-00August 1944 RAF [31]
1944-10-00October 1944 RAF [32]
1944-11-00November 1944 RAF [33]
1944-12-00December 1944 RAF [34]
1945-02-1212/13 February 1945 RAF 3 Mosquitos on H2S radar trials. No aircraft lost.[35]
1945-03-022 March 1945 RAF A Large raid: 858 aircraft bombed Cologne in the last raid on the city by the RAF. The first of two waves were highly destructive. The city was captured by American troops 4 days later.[36]
1945-03-022 March 1945 VIII 1 B-17 bombed Cologne as a target of opportunity.[37]
1945-03-025 March 1945 9th TAAF[38] Fighters dropped leaflets in the Cologne-Bonn.[37]

Notes

  1. ^ Stadtlandschaften versus Hochstadt at www.koelnarchitektur.de "Internet portal for the architecture of Cologne". (In German).
  2. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: February 1942. Accessed 18 July 2008
  3. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: March 1942. Accessed 18 July 2008
  4. ^ Dates such as 5/6 April indicate a night raid. Those without "/" indicate a daytime raid
  5. ^ a b c RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: April 1942. Accessed 18 July 2008
  6. ^ a b c RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: May 1942. Accessed 18 July 2008
  7. ^ Nuisance raids forced the population into air raid shelters and activated other defence measures at little cost to the RAF
  8. ^ Sending bombers to several different locations was intended to confuse the Germans and so helped to make it more difficult for the defenders to vector in on the main attack.
  9. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: June 1942. Accessed 18 July 2008
  10. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: July 1942. Accessed 18 July 2008
  11. ^ a b RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: August 1942. Accessed 18 July 2008
  12. ^ a b c RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: September 1942. Accessed 18 July 2008
  13. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: October 1942. Accessed 18 July 2008
  14. ^ a b c d e RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: January 1943. Accessed 18 July 2008
  15. ^ a b c d RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: February 1943. Accessed 18 July 2008
  16. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: May 1943. Accessed 18 July 2008
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: June 1943. Accessed 18 July 2008
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: July 1943. Accessed 18 July 2008
  19. ^ a b c d e f RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: August 1943. Accessed 18 July 2008
  20. ^ a b c d e f g RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: September 1943. Accessed 18 July 2008
  21. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: November 1943. Accessed 18 July 2008
  22. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: December 1943. Accessed 18 July 2008
  23. ^ USAF History Publications, The Army Air Forces in World War II: Combat Chronology (pdf), (December 1945 (html)). Accessed 21 July 2008
  24. ^ a b RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: January 1944. Accessed 18 July 2008
  25. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: February 1944. Accessed 18 July 2008
  26. ^ a b c d e RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: March 1944. Accessed 18 July 2008
  27. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: April 1944. Accessed 18 July 2008
  28. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: May 1944. Accessed 18 July 2008
  29. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: June 1944. Accessed 18 July 2008
  30. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: July 1944. Accessed 18 July 2008
  31. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: August 1944. Accessed 18 July 2008
  32. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: October 1944. Accessed 18 July 2008
  33. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: November 1944. Accessed 18 July 2008
  34. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: December 1944. Accessed 18 July 2008
  35. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: February 1945. Accessed 18 July 2008
  36. ^ RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Campaign Diary: March 1945. Accessed 18 July 2008
  37. ^ a b USAF History Publications, The Army Air Forces in World War II: Combat Chronology (pdf), (March 1945 (html)). Accessed 18 July 2008
  38. ^ Tactical Army Air Force

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