Kembs Strategic & Ops Facts

October 08, 2018

Strategic and Operational Facts

On the 24 hours from Friday midnight to Saturday Oct 7,1944 midnight, Germany experienced by far the heaviest series of air strikes involving no fewer than 7,500 aircraft, of which 4,500 were four-engined bombers. On Saturday, Dortmund was turned into a huge pile of rubble, which was still on fire late Saturday evening. A second heavy association of R.A.F. was at the same time 3 about Bremen.

Here, the Focker-Wulff aircraft factories were bombed, on which more than 200 000 firecrackers fell. As a light breeze blew, the flames spread to several parts of the city. On Saturday night, a "Mosquito" reconnoiter says: "More than half of Bremen is on fire."

Three squadrons of "Halifax" bombers operated over Berlin. This third attack on Berlin within 24 hours has led to severe devastation in Siemensstadt and in the city center.

The area around Potsdamer Platz has been completely destroyed. On the way back a sharp attack was carried out with fire ammunition on the relocation of Ludwigshafen. In all attack areas, both the ground and the air defense was ineffective, so that of the association of more than 1200 aircraft only twelve were lost.

The Royal Air Force launched attacks against the cities of Kleve and Emmrich on Saturday with more than 700 "Lancaster" and "Halifax" bombers from England, among the most important enemy liaison centers behind the German front in Holland. A second group of about 200 bombers again bombarded the dikes on the island of Walcheren, where further damage was done.

In addition, in the afternoon, Lancaster attacked the dam of Kembs. Six-ton bombs were thrown on the dam, causing great destruction. The bombardment not only destroys an important German defensive point but also lowers the water level of the Rhone-Rhine Canal. It is reported that the dam of Kembs played a major role in the German defense plans and was intended as one of the main river crossings in the event of a withdrawal from the Burgundian Porte.