B-24 "Sandman" on a bomb run over the Astra Romana refinery in Ploieşti, Romania, during Operation Tidal Wave.[1]
This article lists a few Allied strategic bombing campaigns and their civilian death tolls during World War II.
| City | Date | Low estimates | High estimates | Attacking force | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamburg | 24–30 July 1943 | 42,600 [2] | 42,600 [2] | RAF Bomber Command; USAAF Eighth Air Force. | Firestorm.[3] See also: Battle of Hamburg. |
| Dresden | 13–15 February 1945 | 22,700 [4] | 25,000 [4] | RAF: Bomber Command; USAAF Eighth Air Force. | Firestorm. See also: Bombing of Dresden. |
| Tokyo | 9–10 March 1945 | 88,000 | 100,000+ | USAAF: Twentieth Air Force | Firestorm. 279 B-29s dropped about 1,700 short tons (1,500 t) of bombs, destroying 16 square miles (41 km²) of the city.[5][6][7][8][9] See also: Operation Meetinghouse. |
| Hiroshima | 6 August 1945 | 80,000 | 140,000 | USAAF: 393rd Bomb Squadron | First ever nuclear attack. Uranium-based nuclear weapon: codename Little Boy. See also: Bombing of Hiroshima. |
| Nagasaki | 9 August 1945 | 40,000 | 70,000 | USAAF: 393rd Bomb Squadron | Plutonium-based nuclear weapon: codename Fat Man.[10] See also: Bombing of Nagasaki. |
See also[]
- Aerial bombardment and international law
- Aerial bombing of cities
- Civilian casualties
- Roerich Pact
- Strategic bombing
- Terror bombing
- The Blitz
Notes[]
- ↑ Duga, James; Stewart, Carroll (2002). Ploesti. Brassey's. ISBN 978-1-57488-510-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=KV8Ma-VA6fIC&pg=RA1-PA180. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Frankland & Webster 1961, pp. 260-261.
- ↑ Dyson 2006, p. 3.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Neutzner 2010, p. 17.
- ↑ U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II: Combat Chronology. March 1945. Air Force Historical Studies Office. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
- ↑ Freeman Dyson. (1 November 2006). "Part I: A Failure of Intelligence". Technology Review. MIT. http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/17724/page5/.
- ↑ David McNeill. The night hell fell from the sky. Japan Focus, 10 March 2005.
- ↑ Rhodes, Richard. "The Making of the Atomic Bomb". p 599. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks (1984) ISBN 0-684-81378-5.
- ↑ Mark Selden. A Forgotten Holocaust: US Bombing Strategy, the Destruction of Japanese Cities and the American Way of War from the Pacific War to Iraq. Japan Focus, 2 May 2007.
- ↑ Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR VII; Report to the National Academies of Science), 2007
References[]
- Dyson, Freeman (1 November 2006). "Part I: A Failure of Intelligence". p. 3. http://www.technologyreview.com/article/406789/a-failure-of-intelligence/. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
- Frankland, Charles; Webster (1961). "The Strategic Air Offensive Against Germany, 1939-1945, Volume II: Endeavour, Part 4". London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office. pp. 260–261.
- Neutzner, Matthias; et al (2010). "Abschlussbericht der Historikerkommission zu den Luftangriffen auf Dresden zwischen dem 13. und 15. Februar 1945" (in German). Landeshauptstadt Dresden. pp. 17, 38–39, 70–81. http://www.dresden.de/media/pdf/infoblaetter/Historikerkommission_Dresden1945_Abschlussbericht_V1_14a.pdf. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
The original article can be found at Civilian casualties of strategic bombing and the edit history here.