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Bombing of Hanover in World War II

Hanover city centre in 1945, photographed from northwest by Margaret Bourke-White travelling through Germany with the USAAF and General Patton. The Market Church at the centre of the historic old town of, at the time, half-timbered buildings is just off the centre of the photograph.

The aerial bombings of Hanover are a series of eighty-eight air raids by Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on the German city of Hanover during World War II.[1][2] Collectively these air raids killed 6,782 persons, predominantly civilian residents.[3]: 142  Around 1,000 aerial mines, 34,000 high explosive bombs, 900,000 incendiary bombs and 50,000 fire bombs were dropped. The most destructive and deadly air raid on Hanover was conducted by the RAF on the night beginning 8 October 1943, killing 1,245 persons, and is an example of carpet bombing of suburban and residential civilian targets laid out in the Area Bombing Directive of 14 February 1942.[4]: 83 

At the end of the war, 90% of the city centre was destroyed, with 52% of buildings heavily damaged or completely destroyed.[5]: 7  A total of 7.5 million cubic metres (260 million cubic feet) of rubble had to be removed. Of the 147,222 dwellings recorded at the end of 1939, 51.2% were heavily damaged or destroyed, 43.6% lightly or moderately damaged and only 7,489 dwellings (5.2%) completely undamaged.[3]: 142–143  The Aegidien Church and St. Nicholas' Chapel were both destroyed and became memorials after the war rather than be reconstructed.

  1. ^ Gottwaldt, Alfred B. (1992). Hannover und seine Eisenbahnen [Hanover and its railways] (in German). Düsseldorf: Alba. p. 83. ISBN 3-87094-345-9. OCLC 29671251.
  2. ^ Koberg, Heinz (1985). Hannover 1945 – Zerstörung und Wiedergeburt [Hanover 1945 – Destruction and Rebirth] (in German). Hanover: Schlütersche Verlagsanstalt und Druckerei. p. 9. ISBN 3877061982.
  3. ^ a b Mlynek, Klaus; Röhrbein, Waldemar R. (eds.). "Chronik der Stadt Hannover von den Anfängen bis 1988 – Tabellarische Darstellung" (PDF). Stadtchronik Hannover (in German). Stadtarchiv Hannover. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  4. ^ Friedrich, Jörg (2002). Der Brand – Deutschland im Bombenkrieg 1940–1945. Berlin: Propylaen. ISBN 3549071655. OCLC 1148853048.
  5. ^ "Niedersachsen im Krieg – Der Bombenkrieg" [Lower Saxony at war – the bomb war] (PDF). Volksbund (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
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