The Allied bombing of Hamburg during World War II included numerous attacks on civilians and civic infrastructure. As a large city and industrial centre, Hamburg's shipyards, U-boat pens, and the Hamb
Aftermath in the Eilbek district of Hamburg. This picture was taken after much of the rubble had been cleared, probably after VE Day.
An Avro Lancaster bomber over Hamburg, 30/31 January 1943
Sculpture at the main memorial in the ruins of the Nikolaikirche
World War II involved sustained strategic bombing of railways, harbours, cities, workers' and civilian housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory. Strategic bombing as a military strategy is
Bombing of Hamburg in World War II
…Hamburg's shipyards, U-boat pens, and the Hamburg-Harburg area oil refineries were attacked throughout the war. As part of a sustained campaign of strategic bombing during World War II, the attack during the last week of July 1943, code named Operation Gomorrah, created one of the largest firestorms raised by the Royal Air Force and…
A B-24 on a bomb run over the Astra Romana refinery in Ploiești, Romania, during Operation Tidal Wave
Bombing of Wieluń, the first Polish city destroyed by Luftwaffe bombing, on 1 September 1939. In one of the first acts of World War II, German bombers destroyed 70%[citation needed] of all the buildings, including a clearly marked hospital and church, killing approximately 127[citation needed] civilians.
Polish mothers with their newborn infants in a makeshift maternity ward inside a hospital basement during the Bombing of Warsaw by the German Luftwaffe
Warsaw burning after a German bombing of the city. The Luftwaffe air campaign resulted in the deaths of an estimated 20,000 – 25,000 civilians.