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The RAF sent 796 Lancaster bombers to Dresden on February 13, 1945. The city had
1945 Event

February 13

Dresden Bombed: Allied Firestorm Devastates German City

The RAF sent 796 Lancaster bombers to Dresden on February 13, 1945. The city had almost no anti-aircraft defenses. It was packed with refugees fleeing the Soviet advance — estimates put the population at a million, double its normal size. The firestorm reached 1,500 degrees Celsius. Asphalt streets caught fire. People in bomb shelters suffocated as the fires consumed all oxygen above ground. The Allies dropped 3,900 tons of bombs in two waves. The second wave targeted rescue workers. Somewhere between 25,000 and 40,000 people died. The war ended three months later.

February 13, 1945

81 years ago

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