The Kassel World War II bombings were a set of Alliedstrategic 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,[citation needed] at least 6,000 people died,[citation needed] 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 Armycaptured Kassel on 3 April 1945, only 50,000 inhabitants remained of its 1939 population of 236,000.[citation needed]
Targets
Bomb damaged buildings in Kassel, Untere Königsstraße
As well as being the capital of the provinces of Hesse-Nassau and Kurhessen, Kassel had some important targets:
10 Wellingtons and 3 Stirlings to Emden, Hamburg, Kassel and Aachen.
27/28 August 1942
Henschel
306 aircraft destroyed/seriously damaged 144/317 buildings, particularly in the city southwest. Three Henschel buildings were seriously damaged, and 43/251 were killed/injured.[1]
Nearly 100 aircraft hit several armament factories, and destroyed the railway station, the Red Palace, and the Museum Fridericianum, home of the Kassel State Library, along with 350,000 books, seven-eighths of the library's entire book collection.[2]
The Pathfinder Force (PFF) was not able to find the center of the city, and most bombs into Ihringshausen and Bettenhausen. In addition to considerable damage, an ammunition store was hit.
547 aircraft used H2S radar; the main weight of bombs fell on the western suburbs and outlying towns and villages.
22/23 October 1943
city centre
569 bombers dropped more than 1,800 tons of bombs (including 460,000 magnesium fire sticks) in a concentrated pattern.[3] For deception, the attack used Operation Corona radio spoofing and a Frankfurt diversionary raid. The blaze caused a minor firestorm similar in nature to that at Hamburg. Damage to the main telephone exchange and the city's water pipes hindered firefighting efforts.
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