The bombing of
Dresden, led by
Royal Air Force (RAF) and followed by the
United States Army Air Force (USAAF) between
February 13 and
February 15,
1945, remains one of the more controversial Allied actions of
World War II. The exact number of casualties is uncertain, but most historians agree that the
firebombing resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people. Historian
Frederick Taylor says: Reasons for the attack Early in 1945, the Allies' political-military leadership started to consider how they might aid the Soviets with the use of the
strategic bomber force. The plan was to bomb Berlin and several other eastern cities in conjunction with the Soviet advance. In the summer of 1944, plans for a large and intense offensive targeting these cities had been discussed under the code name Operation Thunderclap, but then shelved on
August 16. These were re-examined, but the decision was made to draw up a more limited plan. Sir
Charles Portal, the Chief of the Air Staff, noted on
January 26 1945, that "a severe blitz will not only cause confusion in the evacuation from the East, but will also hamper the movement of troops from the West". However, he mentioned that aircraft diverted to such raids should not be taken away from the current primary tasks of destroying oil production facilities, jet aircraft factories, and submarine yards. Sir
Norman Bottomley, the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, requested
Arthur "Bomber" Harris, Commander-in-Chief of
RAF Bomber Command and an ardent supporter of
area bombing, to undertake attacks on
Berlin, Dresden,
Leipzig, and
Chemnitz as soon as moon and weather conditions allowed, "with the particular object of exploiting the confused conditions which are likely to exist in the above mentioned cities during the successful Russian [sic] advance".
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