Twenty third operation Dresden

Twenty third operation Dresden

Handwritten note giving brief details of the operation and a relevant newspaper cutting titled 'Dresden. 2,000-ton double RAF blow'.

One handwritten note and two newspaper cuttings on an album page

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2,000-ton Double RAF Blow
DRESDEN
German Achtungs indicate that Dresden, set ablaze by a double R.A.F. raid in the night, was bombed 12 hours later in daylight to-day by powerful Allied air fleets.
It was the first time that R.A.F. Bomber Command had been ordered to make a tactical attack at night in support of the Red Army, and it may be that Air Marshal Sir Charles Portal, Chief of the Air Staff, brought with him from Yalta instructions by the “Big Three” to deliver this and similar assaults whenever possible.
Minute-by-minute Nazi radio warnings reported a 300-mile-long bomber armada over Germany, going in from the west to-day, ending with “Achtung: the bombers are over Dresden and Prague.”
U.S. heavies were office [sic] reported over Gremany, and Forts and Liberators swarmed out over Britain’s East coast from dawn.
Two-Way Attack
Other Nazi radios reported bombers flying over Austria towards the Reich.
Eight hundred R.A.F. heavies in a double raid in the night had rained well over 2000 tons of bombs on Dresden as Marshal Koniev’s Red Army, 70 miles away, raced along the roads to this vital German base for the defence of Eastern Germany.
Four hours after the first R.A.F. attack the second force went in. Great fires were left and the whole city was blanketed in smoke. There was one giant explosion.
Lancaster crews bombing Dresden last night could see the East Front battle. “As we left the target I could see endless fires and explosions in the east.” Said Flight-Sergeant Frank Bramley, a mid-upper gunner from Toronto.
“The Russians were laying down all kinds of stuff on the Germans. Gun flashes spattered all along the Western Front as well, but it did not compare with the East Front.
Crews said the raid was “bang on.” “Dresden was one mass of fires.” Said one pilot. “They won’t manufacture much war stuff there for some time to come.”

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Twenty Third Operation
DRESDEN
Tuesday Night. February 13th 1945.
Airborne 9hrs 50mins
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