Dresden

[packin9]

A taste of what they inflicted on every country they invaded.

There were 'many' German cities that 'drew' the so called short straw.(not just Dresden) It would be good to see just who? started bombing civilian targets in the first place and when. Some reading up on the subject might be in order.

[OKW]

Perhaps being in the firing line clouds your judgement. Remind me how many u.s cities were bombed, which states were occupied, when was rationing introduced? What no gas!

[Gary J]

So many forums have been ruined by such threads running away with themselves ...

Who did what .. who started it ... etc etc ....

For once ... try to stick to militaria .. and not personal quests to blame or justify.

This forum has been "clean" so far ....

PLEASE don't take it down the tubes ! ....

STICK TO MILITARIA AND COLLECTING ....

If you want to place obvious argumentative posts for "discussion", post them elsewhere !

Gary J.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, the topic of Dresden has been flogged to death over the years. It is always very divisive and on every forum I have belonged to has caused trouble.

I would like to keep this forum free of those kind of problems.

Thank you.

Cheers, Ade.

[packin9]

Hi Guys, the topic of Dresden has been flogged to death over the years. It is always very divisive and on every forum I have belonged to has caused trouble.

I would like to keep this forum free of those kind of problems.

Thank you.

Cheers, Ade.

Works for me Ade. Don't need the problems here.

[mr.dirt]

My Father was a USAAC 8th Air Force Photo Interpreter, he ran the 13th and 14th Photo Squadron PI Departments based out of Mount Farm Air Base which I believe was outside Oxford.

When I wa a lad, I learned about the war by looking at a foot locker of Aerial Photos he brought back. He would show me how to ID factories, railheads, etc by using the stereoscope viewer and noting false shadows, painted camoflage, etc.

One of the photo sets was of Dresden beginning about 90 days before the bombing and you could clearly see the traffic in/out of the railhead, the material storehouses and amount of troops being moved through the city.

When I was shown the aftermath images, I was shocked. But then he showed me the images of Stalingrad, St. Petersburg and the other major cities of the Eastern Front as well as the Wester Front (Holland, Belgium) to compare with what they had done to what we had done.

I asked him if he felt any guilt for making the recommendation to hit a target and hit it again and again (Hamburg, Keil and Frankfurt) and he said that it was his job but the final decision was up to Senior commanders. He later spent 2 years occupation duty and many years working and travelling in Europe.

I lived in Hamburg for 2 years in the 1980's and the neighborhood I lived in had been obliterated during the war as had much of Hamburg. All of it was rebuilt, mostly paid for by the Marshall Plan. I never told anyone in Hamburg that my father may have been responsible for the bombing.

I do find it amazing how both the Germans and the Japanese have "revised" their histories and now play the victims rather than the aggressors. (The Japanese much more than the Germans).
You would be amazed to know just how many Japanese and German youths have NO real idea of the full extent of their countries guilt in the history of the 20th Century.

Anyway, apologies to the Moderator, since you tried to bring the discussion back to the original line but I felt I had something to add to the mix through direct contact with a participant and evidence that pertained to the subject at hand.

What is interesting is that through my family (UK War Bride Mother, her Brother & Uncles in UK Royal Navy and Army, USAAC Dad, his 3 sisters and their husbands who served on the Home Front) my Wifes family (18 kids on both sides who served in US Army, Navy, Air Corps & Marine Corps in ETO and PTO, US Merchant Marine and on the Home Front) I have been able to be "educated" about WWII in ways that transcend the history books.

[SteveR]

What I would like to do is go to Munchen ( Munich ) and get BOMBED during the COMPLETE Octoberfest holiday. Find some of those Girls Gone Wild like you see in the TV ads for those CD's and have some serious discussions about Bayrish culture. and new wine.

[harryamb2]

last word.the usaaf bombed dresden twice after the raf.they keep thier mouth shut.

[warhog20]

A very interesting newspaper. I am sure they are hard to find. I have a military map from one of the flak units that was positioned outside of Dresden when it was bombed. It has sectors of fire marked on it and notes written on the sides. I have been to Dresden many times and love the city. I would have to say out of its ashes it has risen again to fine splender. May that be a fitting memorial to the lives lost there.