Kassel city bombing 1943

Description: This overlay shows the area in Kassel city centre 1944 after RAF has bombeb it in 1943.

During World War II, during the night of October 22/23, 1943, 569 British bombers (Arthur Harris´ Bomber Command) razed Kassel destroying 90% of the city centre; about 10,000 people died in the raid and 150,000 were rendered homeless, in a firestorm comparable to the one in Hamburg in July 1943. The attack had been disguised by a feint attack on Frankfurt am Main that commenced five minutes before the raid on Kassel. By far most of the casualties were civilians or wounded soldiers recuperating in local hospitals, whereas Kassel's heavy weapons factories survived the attack generally undamaged. The attack included one of the most accurate target markings since the Hamburg firestorm raid. On the night of the Kassel firestorm raid RAF Bomber Command introduced Operation Corona to confuse the German nightfighters, making the raid a complete success.

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