Bombing of Kassel in World War II

The Kassel World War II bombings were a set of Allied strategic bombing attacks which took place from February 1942 to March 1945. In a single deadliest raid on 22–23 October 1943, 150,000 inhabitants were bombed-out, at least 6,000 people died, the vast majority of the city center was destroyed, and the fire of the most severe air raid burned for seven days. When the US First Army captured Kassel on 3 April 1945, only 50,000 inhabitants remained of its 1939 population of 236,000.

Targets

As well as being the capital of the provinces of Hesse-Nassau and Kurhessen, Kassel had some important targets:

• Fieseler aircraft facility
• Henschel & Sohn facilities, maker of the Tiger I and King Tiger heavy tanks
• The Henschel & Sohn firm's locomotive plant
• engine plant
• motor transport plant
• railway works
• Military HQs at Wehrkreis IX, and Bereich Hauptsitz Kassel
• Central Germany HQ, highway & railway construction
• Regional Supreme Court

Bombing raids

See also

• List of strategic bombing over Germany in World War II

References

Sources

• Werner Dettmar: Die Zerstörung Kassels im Oktober 1943. Hesse, Fuldabrück 1983,
• Gebhard Aders: Bombenkrieg/Strategien der Zerstörung. licoverlag 2004

External links

• RAF bombing of Kassel (October 1943)
• USAAF bombing of Kassel (September 1944)