Summary:
An overview of the tactic of firebombing cities, including a description of the firebombings of Dresden and Tokyo during World War II. The overview also describes opposing viewpoints of a very controversial debate about firebombing.
A plane zooms overhead. It floats, almost, gliding on the air. On its wings are British symbols, painted on. It's a British Avro Lancaster. For the people watching from the concentration camps below, it might have been a mercy flight. But for others, this simple plane put fear in their hearts. More Lancasters appeared, along with De Havilland Mosquitoes. 796 Lancasters altogether and 9 mosquitoes. Eventually, 311 US B-17s dropped their bombs. Nearly 3,900 tons of bombs were dropped over a period of about three days. This is the horror of the Dresden firebombing.
About Firebombing
Firebombing is a technique that was used numerous times in World War II. Here, I will mostly mention Dresden and Tokyo, though other places were firebombed. Many countries did some firebombing, but I mainly mention America and Britain, for they were the ones to bomb Dresden and Tokyo. Also will be mentioned arguments against and for firebombing. Standard firebombing methods of the era consisted of dropping large amounts of high explosives to blow off the roofs and expose timbers. Then, incendiary devices (fire-sticks) were dropped to ignite them and more high explosives to hamper any help from firemen that might come. These small fires would eventually combine to form a large firestorm. For a small science lesson now...Fires need oxygen, heat, and fuel to survive. When a firefighter throws water on a fire, they are attempting to get rid of the heat. Foam suffocates a fire, and when they dig a trench in the forest, it gets rid of the fuel for the fire, hopefully stopping it. So even the people in these fires that made it underground to bomb shelters suffocated to death because the fire would suck up all of their air. So being in these fires wasn't a very pleasant thing. Either you burned to death in 1500° C (2732° F) heat or you suffocate. Not the best things to choose from.
Firebombing of Dresden
In early 1944, Allied leaders came up with the idea to bomb Berlin and other cities around it in concurrence with the Soviet's advances. This idea was shelved, re-examined later. The plans were modified, and from them was born the Dresden Firebombing. In the Dresden firebombing, on February 13, 1945, the USAAF (United States Army Air Force) Eighth Air Force and the RAF (Royal Air Force)(British) Bomber Command were supposed to bomb Dresden. Due to bad weather over Europe, the USSAF couldn't come yet, so it was up to the RAF. The first wave of Avro Lancasters marked the spots where the others should drop their bombs. So, that evening, 796 Avro Lancasters and 9 De Havilland Mosquitoes dropped 1,478 tons of high explosives and 1,182 tons of incendiary bombs in two separate waves by early Valentine's Day. The second attack, two hours later, was an all-Lancaster attack. The weather had cleared and some of the bombs hit, where the bombs from the first attack were only moderately successful. 529 Lancasters dropped more than 1,800 tons of bombs. Later on, still on Valentine's Day, the weather cleared and 311 American B-17s arrived, dropping 771 tons of bombs on Dresden, aiming at the railways. There are reports that people running away from the firestorm were shot down by American Aircraft. According to historians, though, there was a brief, but possibly intense fight around Dresden between US and German fighters, so some of the rounds may have hit innocent civilians on the ground. Americans continued dropping nearly 466 tons of bombs the next day.
A total of 3,900 tons of bombs were dropped during the raids on Dresden. The number of deaths is debated over. Up to 200,000 refugees and thousands of wounded soldiers found a place at Dresden, in addition to Dresden's population of 642,000 (1939), so the actual number of people in the city is unknown. Old reports say as many as 135,000, but historians now think that probably more around 25,000 to 30,000 people died. Out of 28,410 houses in Dresden, 24,688 were ruined. About 14 km2 of land was decimated, among that: 14,000 houses, 72 schools, 22 hospitals, 16 churches, 5 theaters, 50 bank and insurance companies, 31 department stores, 31 hotels, 62 administration, and out of 222,000 apartments, 75,000 were annihilated. The main railway was destroyed, but rebuilt a few days later. Perhaps another very devastating loss of Dresden was its zoo. Dresden's Zoo was filled with animals, which escaped or were killed during the bombing. Some were shot to relieve their suffering; others died slow and painful deaths. The vultures were seen hovering over the dead.
Firebombing of Tokyo
The firebombing of Tokyo was another major one. The USAAF first tried daylight precision bombing, but as in Europe, it proved to be impossible due to bad weather and heavy winds that blew bombs around. Instead, they tried mass firebombing night attacks from altitudes of around 7,000 feet on Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, and Osaka. The first firebombing raid was on Kobe on February 3, 1945. It was relatively successful, so the USAAF decided to continue using these tactics. Armor was removed to increase bomb load, for the Japanese anti-aircraft guns and night fighters didn't do much. The first raid of this kind on Tokyo was on February 23 and 24. 174 B-29s destroyed one square mile of the city. Following that success, 334 B-29s dropped 1,700 short tons of bombs on March 9 and 10. Over 100,000 people are estimated to have died, and 16 square miles were destroyed. Over the next two weeks, there were 1,600 more raids, destroying 31 square miles. The attackers only lost 22 aircraft. More people were killed in the bombings of Tokyo then were killed by the atomic bombs.
The Case for Firebombing (Especially of Dresden) Being a War Crime
Firebombing is considered by some to be a war crime. Some say it is an assault on the civilian population. Some even go as far as to compare it to the Holocaust. Some politicians in Germany use Dresden as a symbol, and hold rallies. They even promote the term 'Bombing Holocaust' for the Allied bombings, especially the Dresden raids. It is being debated on how to deal with extremists. Dresden had cultural significance. It was regarded as a beautiful city and cultural center, with beautiful architecture. There were no direct military personnel in the city. For many, these points, along with the death toll, is enough. Some say that the military goal was disproportional to the amount of dead civilians, even under the legal standards of the time.
The Case Against Firebombing (Especially of Dresden) Being a War Crime
The Allies lay out a case against the firebombing of Dresden being a war crime. Dresden had been largely untouched during the war, which left it as a working rail and communications center. They say that the railroads were an important military target. There were at least 110 factories and industries in Dresden, though many were in the outskirts. There was an optical factory and a glass factory, which, according to the Allies, were important in gun making. Other factories produced engines and cockpits for aircraft. The Allies also said that there were military units and aircraft defense. These would show that they didn't attack an undefended city. They also point out that the Dresden bombing didn't kill an extraordinary amount of civilians, that bombings like Berlin (25,000 civilian deaths) and some Japanese bombings (over 100,000 civilian deaths) were worse or just as bad. Americans also estimate that over 25% of industrial capacity was disabled or destroyed, and it stopped the Germans from using Dresden to attack the Soviets. Another good thing about the bombing was that many of the several hundred Jews escaping from Dresden were able to escape in the chaos. The bombing may have saved hundreds of potential victims.
End Notes
I have, here, explained to you what firebombing is, described two different fire bombings, and given you two sides to a very controversial debate on this very topic. I leave you with a quote and leave you to decide what you think about the fire bombings-war crimes or not?
"You guys burnt the place down, turned it into a single column of flame. More people died there in the firestorm, in that one big flame, than died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined."
(Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., p.19)
Works Cited Page
"Bombing of Dresden in World War II." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Online Edition. 2005
"Bombing of Tokyo in World War II." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Online Edition. 2005
