Editing Bombing of Dresden (section)

===Night of 13/14 February===
[[File:De Havilland Mosquito-DK338-1942.jpg|thumb|[[de Havilland Mosquito|Mosquito marker aircraft]] dropped target indicators, which glowed red and green to guide the bomber stream]]

The Dresden attack was to have begun with a [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]] [[Eighth Air Force]] bombing raid on 13 February 1945. The Eighth Air Force had already bombed the railway yards near the centre of the city twice in daytime raids: once on 7 October 1944 with 70 tons of [[high-explosive]] bombs killing more than 400,<ref>Hahn, Alfred and Neef, Ernst. ''Dresden. Werte unserer Heimat''. Bd. 42. Berlin 1985.</ref> then again with 133 bombers on 16 January 1945, dropping 279 tons of high-explosives and 41 tons of [[Incendiary device|incendiaries]].<ref name="USAFHD"/>

On 13 February 1945, bad weather over Europe prevented any USAAF operations, and it was left to [[RAF Bomber Command]] to carry out the first raid. It had been decided that the raid would be a double strike, in which a second wave of bombers would attack three hours after the first, just as the rescue teams were trying to put out the fires.{{sfn|De Bruhl|2006|pp=203–206}} As was standard practice, other raids were carried out that night to confuse [[Defense of the Reich|German air defences]]. Three hundred and sixty heavy bombers ([[Avro Lancaster|Lancasters]] and [[Handley Page Halifax|Halifaxes]]) bombed a synthetic oil plant in [[Böhlen]], {{cvt|60|mi}} from Dresden, while 71 [[de Havilland Mosquito]] medium bombers attacked [[Magdeburg]] with small numbers of Mosquitos carrying out nuisance raids on [[Bonn]], Misburg near [[Hanover]] and [[Nuremberg]].{{sfn|De Bruhl|2006|p=205}}<!-- RAF bomber command diary says Dortmund not Nuremberg -->

When Polish crews of the designated squadrons were preparing for the mission, the [[Yalta Conference#Conference|terms of the Yalta agreement]] were made known to them. There was a huge uproar, since the Yalta agreement handed parts of Poland over to the Soviet Union. There was talk of mutiny among the Polish pilots, and their British officers removed their side arms. The Polish Government ordered the pilots to follow their orders and fly their missions over Dresden, which they did.<ref>{{cite book|author=Halik Kochanski|title=The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge|year=2012|page=498|isbn=978-0674068148}}</ref>

[[File:Lancaster I NG128 Dropping Blockbuster - Duisburg - Oct 14, 1944.jpg|thumb|left|[[Avro Lancaster|Lancaster]] releases a {{cvt|4000|lb}} HC [[Blockbuster bomb|"cookie"]] and 108 {{cvt|30|lb}} "J" incendiaries. (over Duisburg 1944)]]

The first of the British aircraft took off at around 17:20 hours [[Central European Time|CET]] for the {{convert|700|mi|km|adj=on}} journey.{{efn|All raid times are [[Central European Time|CET]]; Britain was on [[double summer time]] in early 1945, which was the same time as CET.}} This was a group of Lancasters from Bomber Command's [[No. 83 Squadron RAF|83 Squadron]], [[No. 5 Group RAF|No. 5 Group]], acting as the [[Pathfinder (RAF)|Pathfinders]], or flare force, whose job it was to find Dresden and drop [[magnesium]] parachute flares, known to the Germans as "Christmas trees", to mark and light up Dresden for the aircraft that would mark the target itself. The next set of aircraft to leave England were twin-engined Mosquito marker planes, which would identify target areas and drop {{convert|1000|lb|adj=on}} [[target indicator]]s (TIs){{sfn|Taylor|2005|p=6}} that marked the target for the bombers to aim at.{{sfn|De Bruhl|2006|pp=203–4}} The attack was to centre on the [[Ostragehege]] sports stadium, next to the city's medieval ''Altstadt'' (old town), with its congested and highly combustible timbered buildings.{{sfn|De Bruhl|2006|p=209}}

The main bomber force, called ''Plate Rack'', took off shortly after the Pathfinders. This group of 254 Lancasters carried 500 tons of high explosives and 375 tons of [[Incendiary device|incendiaries]] ("fire bombs"). There were 200,000 incendiaries in all, with the high-explosive bombs ranging in weight from {{cvt|500|to|4000|lb}} —the two-ton [[Blockbuster bomb|"cookies"]],{{sfn|De Bruhl|2006|p=209}} also known as "blockbusters", because they could destroy an entire large building or street. The high explosives were intended to rupture water mains and blow off roofs, doors, and windows to expose the interiors of the buildings and create an air flow to feed the fires caused by the incendiaries that followed.{{sfn|Taylor|2005|pp=287, 296, 365}}{{sfn|Longmate|1983|pp=162–164}}

The Lancasters crossed into France near the [[Somme (river)|Somme]], then into Germany just north of [[Cologne]]. At 22:00 hours, the force heading for Böhlen split away from Plate Rack, which turned south-east toward the Elbe. By this time, ten of the Lancasters were out of service, leaving 244 to continue to Dresden.{{sfn|De Bruhl|2006|p=206}}

The sirens started sounding in Dresden at 21:51 (CET).{{efn|During the Second World War, Britain was on summer time and [[double summer time]] or UTC+1 and UTC+2, the same as CET and CET+1}}{{sfn|Taylor|2005|p=4}} The 'Master Bomber' [[Wing Commander (rank)|Wing Commander]] Maurice Smith, flying in a Mosquito, gave the order to the Lancasters: "Controller to Plate Rack Force: Come in and bomb glow of red target indicators as planned. Bomb the glow of red TIs as planned".<ref name=Burleigh>{{cite news|last=Burleigh|first=Michael|url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/history/0,6121,1142632,00.html|title=Mission accomplished (review of ''Dresden'' by Frederick Taylor)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606085222/http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/history/0,6121,1142632,00.html|archive-date=6 June 2008|work=The Guardian|date=7 February 2004|url-status=live}}</ref>

The first bombs were released at 22:13, the last at 22:28, the Lancasters delivering 881.1 tons of bombs, 57% high explosive, 43% incendiaries. The fan-shaped area that was bombed was {{cvt|1.25|mi}} long, and at its extreme about {{cvt|1.75|mi}} wide. The shape and total devastation of the area was created by the bombers of No. 5 Group flying over the head of the fan ([[Ostragehege]] stadium) on prearranged compass bearings and releasing their bombs at different prearranged times.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommanddresdenfebruary1945.cfm|title=Dresden, February 1945|publisher=RAF|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323063250/http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommanddresdenfebruary1945.cfm|archive-date=23 March 2012|work=Bomber Command Famous Raids}}</ref>{{sfn|Taylor|2005|pp=277–288}}

The second attack, three hours later, was by Lancaster aircraft of [[No. 1 Group RAF|1]], [[No. 3 Group RAF|3]], [[No. 6 Group RAF|6]] and [[No. 8 Group RAF|8]] [[List of Royal Air Force groups|Groups]], 8 Group being the Pathfinders. By now, the thousands of fires from the burning city could be seen more than {{cvt|60|mi}} away on the ground{{snd}}the second wave had been able to see the initial fires from a distance of over {{cvt|90|mi}}.<ref name=BBCOnthisDay>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/14/newsid_3549000/3549905.stm "14 February 1945: Thousands of bombs destroy Dresden"]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100811071519/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/14/newsid_3549000/3549905.stm|date=11 August 2010}}, BBC ''On this Day'', 14 February 1945. Retrieved 10 January 2008.</ref>{{sfn|Beevor|2014|pp=716–717}} The Pathfinders therefore decided to expand the target, dropping flares on either side of the firestorm, including the {{lang|de|[[Dresden Hauptbahnhof|Hauptbahnhof]]}}, the main train station, and the {{lang|de|[[Großer Garten]]}}, a large park, both of which had escaped damage during the first raid.<ref>{{Cite book|last=De Balliel-Lawrora|first=Johannes Rammund|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/961260826|title=The Myriad Chronicles : a "German-American world advocacy project!" ; documentary of the German-American World Historical Society, Inc. ; "what the media and the U.S. government does not want you to know!"|year=2010|publisher=Xlibris Corporation |isbn=978-1453505281|oclc=961260826}}</ref> The German sirens sounded again at 01:05, but these were small hand-held sirens that were heard within only a block.{{sfn|De Bruhl|2006|p=206}}{{dubious|reason=the main sirens were powered by gasoline engines, not electricity|date=January 2023}} Between 01:21 and 01:45, 529 Lancasters dropped more than 1,800 tons of bombs.