Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, the capital and largest city of the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
-occupied
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; cs, Protektorát Čechy a Morava; its territory was called by the Nazis ("the rest of Czechia"). was a partially annexed territory of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German oc ...
, was bombed several times by the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. The first Allied aircraft to fly over Prague was a single bomber of the
French Air Force
The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Ar ...
in April 1940, but it dropped
propaganda leaflets, not bombs. The first bombing mission was flown by the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
(RAF) in October 1941. Prague was then bombed three times by the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
between the fall of 1944 and spring of 1945. During the
Prague uprising
The Prague uprising ( cs, Pražské povstání) was a partially successful attempt by the Czech resistance movement to liberate the city of Prague from German occupation in May 1945, during the end of World War II. The preceding six years of o ...
of 5–9 May 1945, the
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...
made use of bombers against the rebels.
[Michal Plavec]
"History that's still alive – Propaganda about Soviet air raids in May 1945"
''Behind the Iron Curtain'', 4 (2016): 20–31.
The bombing of Prague cost 1,200 lives. Ten surviving high-quality
reconnaissance photographs allow a detailed assessment of the damage caused by the raids.
[Air raids on Prague in 1944–1945]
Prague Institute of Planning and Development. The first two USAAF raids were accidental. The raids were used for anti-American propaganda purposes, both by the Nazis and the subsequent Communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
5 October 1941
On 5 October 1941,
air raid siren
A civil defense siren, also known as an air-raid siren or tornado siren, is a siren used to provide an emergency population warning to the general population of approaching danger. It is sometimes sounded again to indicate the danger has pa ...
s went off in Prague between 1:16 and 3:15 in the morning. RAF bombers dropped about four
firebombs over the city.
15 November 1944
At noon on 15 November 1944, an estimated twelve bombs were dropped by two aircraft of unknown origin (probably American) on the municipal power plant (about 300 metres west of
Holešovice metro station). The facilities were undamaged. Four bombs exploded in front of an outhouse, however, injuring fifteen employees. In nearby homes, people standing by windows were said to have been killed by splinters. About three bombs fell into the coal stockpile of the power plant and were later defused.
The November bombing was probably unintentional. An attack on
ČKD
ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk) () was one of the largest engineering companies in the former Czechoslovakia and today's Czech Republic. It is famous for the Tatra T3, a tramcar that sold 13,991 units worldwide.
History
ČKD was formed i ...
factories in
Vysočany
Vysočany (German: Wissotschan) is a part of Prague in the Prague 9 administrative district (partly in Prague 3), Czech Republic. It lays in the eastern part of Prague around the valley with Rokytka river.
History
*The first recorded infor ...
and
Libeň
Libeň (german: Lieben) is a cadastral area and district of Prague, Czech Republic. It was incorporated into Prague in 1901.
People
* Reinhard Heydrich, assassinated here
* Herz Homberg, born here
* Ernestine Schumann-Heink, born here
* Bo ...
was planned for October 30, but never took place.
[
]
14 February 1945
Raid
On 14 February 1945, the US Army Air Forces carried out an air raid over Prague. According to American pilots, it was the result of a navigation mistake: at the same time, a massive bombing of Dresden was under way, 120 km north-west from Prague.
Forty B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...
es of the Eighth Army Air Force dropped about 152 tons of bombs on many populated areas of Prague. The carpet-bombing hit Vyšehrad
Vyšehrad ( Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basil ...
, Zlíchov, Karlovo náměstí, Nusle, Vinohrady
Královské Vinohrady (in English literally "Royal Vineyards" german: Königliche Weinberge) is a cadastral district in Prague. It is so named because the area was once covered in vineyards dating from the 14th century. Vinohrady lies in the muni ...
, Vršovice and Pankrác. The bombing resulted in the deaths of 701 people and the wounding of 1,184. About one hundred houses and historical sites were totally destroyed and another two hundred were heavily damaged. All the casualties were civilians and not one of the city's factories, which might have been of use to the Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
, were damaged.
Many homes and national sites were destroyed, for example the Emmaus Monastery
The Emmaus Monastery ( cs, Emauzy or ''Emauzský klášter''), called Na Slovanech in the Middle Ages, is an abbey established in 1347 in Prague. It was the only Benedictine monastery of the Kingdom of Bohemia and all Slavic Europe.
In the 136 ...
, Faust House and Vinohrady Synagogue
Královské Vinohrady (in English literally "Royal Vineyards" german: Königliche Weinberge) is a cadastral district in Prague. It is so named because the area was once covered in vineyards dating from the 14th century. Vinohrady lies in the muni ...
. Some of Prague's famous modern buildings, such as the Dancing House
The Dancing House ( cs, Tančící dům), or Fred and Ginger, is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building on the Rašínovo nábřeží ( Rašín Embankment) in Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by the Croatian-Czech arch ...
or the Emauzy church, were constructed where bombs had destroyed previously existing buildings.
One of the pilots of the lead group, Lt. Andrew Andrako flying B-17 serial number 43-38652 V, "Stinker Jr." was of Czech descent.
Controversy
The American pilots have voiced their regret many times. The history of the 398th Bombardment Group 398th may refer to:
*398th Air Expeditionary Group, provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe
*398th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit last assigned with the 92d Operations ...
based at RAF Nuthampstead
Royal Air Force Station Nuthampstead or more simply RAF Nuthampstead is a former Royal Air Force station in England. The airfield is located mostly in Hertfordshire between the villages of Nuthampstead and Anstey and the hamlet of Morric ...
, which carried out the raid, indicates the attack was an accident. The radar navigational equipment on the aircraft was not functioning correctly and high winds en route produced a dead reckoning
In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. ...
navigational error of some 70 miles. This caused the formation to arrive over the supposed "target", which was believed to be Dresden, at the time bombing commenced. Prague was mostly obscured by broken clouds, with occasional glimpses of the Vltava
Vltava ( , ; german: Moldau ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Labe at ...
river. Additionally, Prague and Dresden looked similar from the air, with rivers running through both cities. The bombing was carried out as a "blind attack" using radar.
After the war, the Americans were billed for some of the damages sustained by the historical buildings. The raid was used for anti-American propaganda purposes, both by the Nazis and the subsequent Communist regime in Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
.The bombing of Prague : was it a mistake?
/ref>
25 March 1945
The only targeted attack on Prague was also the last and largest. It took place on Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Hol ...
, 25 March 1945 and involved 650 bombers launched in Italy with fighter escort
The escort fighter was a concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach the target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, and ...
s. The attack was aimed at the ČKD factories in eastern Prague (mainly Vysočany
Vysočany (German: Wissotschan) is a part of Prague in the Prague 9 administrative district (partly in Prague 3), Czech Republic. It lays in the eastern part of Prague around the valley with Rokytka river.
History
*The first recorded infor ...
) and the military airfields of Kbely
Prague 19, also known as Kbely (german: Gbel), is a municipal district () in Prague. It is located in the north-eastern part of the city. It is formed by one cadastre, Kbely. , there were 6,149 inhabitants living in Prague 19.
The administrative ...
, Letňany
Letňany is an area of Prague, Czech Republic. It was founded in 1307, and became part of Prague in 1968. It has been part of the ''Prague 9'' administrative district since 2001, having previously been in the local government district of '' Prague ...
and Čakovice.[
Sunday was chosen for the attack, according to the USAAF, to minimize human casualties in the factories. The weather was ideal. The attack took place in twelve waves of about 50 aircraft between 11:48 a.m. and 1:02 p.m. The ]Lockheed P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive tw ...
escort fighters shot down an Me 262
The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: "Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the German ...
that crashed near Prague Zoo
Prague Zoological Garden (Czech: ''Zoologická zahrada hl. m. Prahy'') is a zoo in Prague, Czech Republic. It was opened in 1931 with the goal to "advance the study of zoology, protect wildlife, and educate the public" in the district of Troja ...
. The attack left 235 dead and 417 injured, as well as 90 buildings destroyed and 1,360 badly damaged.
Notes
External links
Radio Prague: The bombing of Prague - was it a mistake?
Looking back at the bombing of Prague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prague
World War II strategic bombing conducted by the United States
Military history of Prague
1945 in Czechoslovakia
Conflicts in 1945
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
Czechoslovakia–United States relations
1940s in Prague
February 1945 events in Europe