Cologne's Wwii Tragedy: Who Bombed The City?

During World War II, the German city of Cologne was bombed in 262 separate air raids by the Allies, including 31 times by the Royal Air Force (RAF). The first bombing took place on 12 May 1940, but the most notable attack on the city was the first Allied 1,000-bomber raid on 30/31 May 1942.

The first 1000-bomber raid

The first 1,000-bomber raid, also known as Operation Millennium, was conducted on the night of 30-31 May 1942. The target was Cologne, Germany's third-largest city and the first German city to experience a 1,000-bomber raid during World War II.

The raid was led by Air Marshal Arthur 'Bomber' Harris, Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command. Harris had definite ideas on how to win the conflict and believed that extensive and sustained area bombing, or carpet bombing, of Germany's most important cities might bring about a surrender without the need for a land attack. It was also hoped that civilian morale would be affected, negatively for Germans and positively for the British, following the bombing campaigns suffered by British cities during the Blitz.

Harris wanted to assemble 1,000 bombers for the raid, a plan known as the Thousand Plan. This was not an easy feat, as the RAF Bomber Command only had a front-line strength of around 400 aircraft at that stage of the war. Harris had to gather every spare aircrew member and aircraft, and even then, he only managed to assemble 1,047 bombers. The bombers included 602 Vickers Wellingtons, 131 Handley Page Halifaxes, 88 Short Stirlings, 79 Handley Page Hampdens, 73 Avro Lancasters, 46 Avro Manchesters, and 28 Armstrong-Whitworth Whitleys.

The raid on Cologne was a propaganda exercise designed to catch headlines and demonstrate the power of the RAF. It was also a test of Harris' Thousand Plan, which involved assembling a large number of bombers at a pre-arranged place in the sky and then approaching the target en masse in a formation known as a bomber stream. This formation was designed to overwhelm the German defences, as the controllers of the night fighters could only direct a limited number of interceptions per hour.

The bombers dropped a combination of massive 'cookie' bombs and thousands of small incendiary bombs. In total, they dropped 1,455 tons of bombs on Cologne, destroying over 3,000 buildings and damaging 9,000 more. The devastation caused by the raid was immense, with two and a half thousand separate fires started and almost 13,000 buildings destroyed, including industrial and commercial buildings, administrative buildings, public buildings, hospitals, churches, and schools. The number of casualties was remarkably low, with fewer than 500 killed, but over 5,000 people were injured and 45,000 were left homeless.

The RAF lost 41-44 aircraft in the raid, with 22 shot down over or near Cologne. Despite these losses, the raid was deemed a success and a turning point for the RAF Bomber Command, setting the tone and tactics for future operations.

The RAF Bomber Command

The Thousand Bomber Raid on Cologne, which took place on the night of May 30, 1942, was the first time the RAF used this strategy. Harris wanted to assemble a force of 1,000 bombers, which he called the Thousand Plan. The goal was to overwhelm German defences and demonstrate the destruction a large force could inflict in a short time using area bombing. Cologne, Germany's fourth-largest city, was chosen as the target due to its important railway marshalling yards and several hundred air defence factories.

Arthur Harris's role

Air Marshal Arthur 'Bomber' Harris was the Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command during World War II. He was a strong advocate of area bombing, also known as carpet bombing, which involved bombing a large area simultaneously to affect civilian morale and cause mass destruction. Harris believed that this strategy could bring about a German surrender without the need for a land attack.

Harris played a crucial role in the defeat of Hitler's Third Reich. He directed a relentless "de-housing" campaign, which aimed to oust Germans from their homes, demoralize the population, and force the use of the Luftwaffe for defensive purposes. Under his command, the RAF bombed every large German city, killing an estimated 600,000 people, most of them women and children.

Harris's first large-scale bombing raid was Operation Millennium, which targeted Cologne on the night of May 30-31, 1942. Codenamed the Thousand Plan, this raid involved over 1,000 bombers and was designed to showcase the devastation that could be caused by a large force using area bombing. Harris had to assemble bombers from various sources, including operational squadrons and training units, to reach the target number.

The raid on Cologne was a military and propaganda success for the Allies. It caused widespread destruction, leaving 45,000 people homeless and devastating the city's infrastructure. The scale of the devastation shocked even the German High Command. This operation marked the first use of the "bomber stream" tactic, which involved bombers flying in a tight formation to overwhelm German defences.

Harris continued to lead RAF Bomber Command throughout the war, conducting further area bombing campaigns against German cities. He remained convinced that massive and sustained area bombing was the key to forcing a German surrender. However, his tactics were controversial due to the high number of civilian casualties and destruction caused.

The impact on Cologne's population

The German city of Cologne was bombed in 262 separate air raids during World War II, including 31 times by the Royal Air Force (RAF). The first bombing took place on May 17, 1940, and nearly a quarter of the city's 770,000 residents fled following this devastating raid. The exodus continued with subsequent bombings until only about 20,000 residents remained.

The most notable attack on Cologne was the first Allied 1,000-bomber raid on May 30-31, 1942. The RAF Bomber Command, under the leadership of Arthur Harris, sought to demoralize the German population and war effort. Harris believed that extensive and sustained area bombing of Germany's most important cities might bring about a surrender without the need for a land attack. He thought that civilian morale would be negatively affected, and civilian workers depleted, which would hurt the German war effort.

The 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne was planned as a demonstration of the destruction a large force could inflict in a short time using the strategy of area bombing. Harris wanted to assemble a force of 1,000 bombers, which he called the "Thousand Plan." This was a risky move as it included inexperienced crews, and it was difficult to gather so many aircraft for a single mission. However, the RAF managed to muster around 1,000 aircraft for the operation, with 868 striking the intended target area and 15 striking alternative targets.

The raid on Cologne lasted about 90 minutes, during which the bombers dropped 1,455 tons of bombs on the city, about two-thirds of which were incendiary. The Cologne fire brigade reported that over 5,000 non-residential buildings were damaged, with 3,300 of those destroyed, and there were over 1,700 "large" fires. The official police report stated that there were 469 people killed and around 5,000 injured.

The impact of the raid extended beyond the immediate casualties and destruction. Konrad Adenauer, the mayor of Cologne, described the extent of the damage:

> "More than half of the houses and public buildings were totally destroyed, nearly all the others had suffered partial damage. Only 300 houses had escaped unscathed. The damage done to the city by the destruction of streets, tram rails, sewers, water pipes, gas pipes, electrical installations, and other public utilities, was no less widespread. It is hard to realize the threat this constituted to the health of the people. There was no gas, no water, no electric current, and no means of transport. The bridges across the Rhine had been destroyed. There were mountains of rubble in the streets. Everywhere there were gigantic areas of debris from bombed and shelled buildings."

Cologne was bombed heavily again later in the war, and by the war's end, the city had seen damage of epic proportions. The RAF dropped a total of 34,711 long tons of bombs on the city between 1939 and 1945.

The devastation of the raid

The raid took place on the night of May 30, 1942, with 1,050 bombers taking part. The bombers dropped a combination of large 'cookie' bombs and thousands of small incendiary bombs. The latter were designed to fall deep into the debris of buildings, setting them alight. The Cologne fire brigade reported that over 5,000 non-residential buildings were damaged, with 3,300 of those completely destroyed. There were over 1,700 large fires, and the city's firefighters were unable to cope with the sheer number of blazes.

Over 15,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged, including 1,500 factories. The city's infrastructure was also severely damaged, with electricity, gas, and water supplies, as well as transport networks, all impacted. It took a week for the fires to die down enough for RAF reconnaissance planes to take photographs and assess the damage.

The human toll was also significant. Over 45,000 people were made homeless overnight, and 486 people were killed, with around 5,000 injured. The official police report noted 469 deaths, but this figure may not have included those who died in the fires. The bodies of those killed by high-explosive bombs were described as "propped up, their skin [a] grey, pallid colour and their hair [standing] off their heads like wire nails".

The city's iconic cathedral survived, though it was damaged, perhaps due to its location in the old town centre, which was the official aiming point for the raid. The fact that successive waves of bombers dropped their payloads at slightly different locations may also have contributed to its survival.

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