Bombing of Vienna in World War II

Bombing of Vienna
Part of World War II
File:ViennaBombing.jpg Vienna after the bombings.
Date 4 September 1942 - 16 April 1945 Location Vienna, Nazi Germany Result Allied Victory
Belligerents
United States Soviet Union United Kingdom	Germany

The city of Vienna in Austria was bombed fifty-two times during World War II,^{[citation needed]} and 87,000 houses of the city were lost^{[citation needed]} (20% of the entire city). Only 41 civilian vehicles survived the raids, more than 3,000 bomb craters were counted.^{[citation needed]} and the Schwarzenberg Palace was bombed but later rebuilt.

History

After a lonely Soviet air raid conducted on 4 September 1942, Vienna was finally reached by western Allied bombers in 1944, when the Allied invasion of Italy allowed them to establish an air base at Foggia. Following the Normandy Invasion the greater part of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) was transferred to the West.^{[citation needed]} Remaining Luftwaffe shot down one-tenth of 550 bombers in June 1944.^{[citation needed]}

The air defences of Vienna were aided by a ring of anti-aircraft batteries set up around the city and three pairs of Flak towers. These were large anti-aircraft gun blockhouses built in the city. Due to the increasing lack of fuel, by autumn 1944, artillery on the ground was the only defence against air raids. It typically took some 5,000 small-calibre and 3,400 large-calibre shells to bring down one bomber. During the day, one out of 125 planes was shot down on average. During the night, this dropped to only one out of 145. However, roughly one-third of the bombers and escorts suffered heavy damage. Some Vienna factories were moved to bomb-proof sites such as caves (e.g. the Seegrotte near Hinterbrühl) or hidden in other ways. The military industry even boosted its production, also by use of forced labour of concentration camp inmates and POWs. Bypasses for traffic junctions had been established before the bombings and traffic did not come to a halt until the very last days of the war.

By early 1945 Vienna had already faced 1,800 bombs.^{[citation needed]} In February and March 1945, 80,000 tons of bombs were dropped by US and British aircraft, destroying more than 12,000 buildings, and 270,000 people were left homeless.^{[citation needed]}

For World War II bombings of the nearby Wiener Neustadt area, see Wiener Neustadt WWII bombings.

Chronology

Date	Target/Topic
1942-09-4 !September 4, 1942	First air raid on Vienna during WWII	12px Petlyakov Pe-8 bombers flew a 2,000 mile round trip also reaching Budapest, Koenigsberg and Breslau
1944-03-17 !March 17, 1944	Floridsdorf	The first American air raid on Vienna targeted the Floridsdorf refinery and mined the Danube.[citation needed]
1944-06-16 !June 16, 1944	Floridsdorf	12px B-17s bombed the Florisdorf [sic] oil refinery On this date the 464 BG bombed an oil-blending plant at Vienna.
1944-06-16 !June 16, 1944	Kagran	12px B-17s bombed the Kragan [sic] oil refinery
1944-06-16 !June 16, 1944	Lobau	12px B-24s bombed the Lobau oil refinery.
1944-06-16 !June 16, 1944	Schwechat	12px B-24s bombed the oil refinery at Schwechat in Vienna (Schwechat became a separate city in 1954).
1944-06-16 !June 16, 1944	Winterhafen	12px B-24s bombed the Winterhafen oil depot. An underground storage installation was just west of Mainz.
1944-06-26 !June 26, 1944	Floridsdorf	12px The Floridsdorf oil refinery and marshalling yard were bombed.
1944-06-26 !June 26, 1944	Korneuburg	12px The 461 BG bombed "a refinery in the open country near the small town of Korneuburg".
1944-06-26 !June 26, 1944	Moosbierbaum	The 455th BG received a 2nd Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing the Moosbierbaum oil refinery.
1944-06-26 !June 26, 1944	Lobau	12px
1944-06-16 !June 16, 1944	Schwechat	12px The Heinkel firm's Heinkel-Süd Schwechat aircraft factory, and Schwechat oil refinery were bombed.
1944-06-16 !June 16, 1944	Winterhafen	12px Winterhafen oil refinery bombed.
1944-07-08 !July 8, 1944	Floridsdorf	12px The 464[2] and 465th Bombardment Groups earned Distinguished Unit Citations.
1944-07-16 !July 16, 1944		The 32 BS bombed a Vienna oil refinery.
1944-08-21 !August 21, 1944		12px The 484 BG received its second DUC for bombing an underground oil storage installation at Vienna.[3]
1944-08-22 !August 22, 1944	Korneuburg	12px B-24s bombed the oil refinery at Korneuburg. The 485 BG bombed the "Koreneuberg [sic] Oil Storage".
1944-08-22 !August 22, 1944	Lobau	12px B-24s bombed the oil refinery at Lobau. The 461 BG bombed the underground oil storage at the refinery.
1944-08-23 !August 23, 1944	Vösendorf	12px 472 B-24s and B-17s supported by P-51s and P-38s bombed the South industrial area of Vienna, including the Vösendorf oil refinery.
1944-08-28 !August 28, 1944	Moosbierbaum	12px B-17s hit Moosbierbaum oil refinery and adjacent chemical works.
1944-09-10 !September 10, 1944		12px 344 B-17s and B-24s bomb 5 ordnance depots and the SE industrial area in Vienna and 2 oil refineries in the area.
1944-09-10 !September 10, 1944	Schwechat	12px The 32 BS bombed the Schwechat oil refinery.
1944-09-13 !September 13, 1944	Mainz	12px Mission 628: 22 B-17s bombed targets of opportunity at Mainz.
1944-09-27 !September 27, 1944	Mainz	12px Mission 650: 171 B-17s bombed Mainz.
1944-10-07 !October 7, 1944	Lobau	The Lobau oil refinery was bombed. On this date, the 741st Bombardment Squadron flew over Vienna to hit an oil refinery.
1944-10-07 !October 7, 1944	Schwechat	12px
1944-10-07 !October 7, 1944	Winterhafen	12px The 485 BG bombed the "Winterhafen Oil Storage".
1944-10-11 !October 11, 1944	Floridsdorf	12px
1944-10-13 !October 13, 1944	Floridsdorf	12px
1944-10-17 !October 17, 1944		12px The industrial area of Vienna was bombed.
1944-11-04 !November 4 & 7, 1944	Floridsdorf	The 32 BS bombed.
1944-11-05 !November 5, 1944	Floridsdorf	12px The 485 BG bombed the oil refinery.
1944-11-06 !November 6, 12-17 & 19, 1944	Moosbierbaum	The 32 BS bombed the Moosbierbaum oil refinery.
1944-11-15 !November 15, 1944		US intelligence reported in February 1945 that the Vienna area had no fuel since November 15.
1944-11-18 !November 18, 1944		The 32 BS bombed a Vienna oil refinery.
1944-11-19 !November 19, 1944	Winterhafen	The 32 BS bombed the "Winterhofen" oil storage.
1944-12-02 !December 2, 1944	Floridsdorf	12px
1944-12-08 !December 8, 1944	Moosbierbaum	12px
1944-12-11 !December 11, 1944	Moosbierbaum	12px
1944-12-18 !December 18, 1944	Floridsdorf	12px
1944-12-27 !December 27, 1944	Vösendorf	12px
1945-01 !January 1945		The Lipizzan horses of the Spanish Riding School were evacuated.
1945-01-31 !January 31, 1945	Moosbierbaum	12px In a blind attack, 670+ B-24s and B-17s bombed the Moosbierbaum oil refinery.
1945-02-01 !February 1 & 27, 1945	Mainz	12px The 466th bombed Mainz.
1945-02-01 !February 1, 1945	Moosbierbaum	12px A visual attack by 300+ B-17s and B-24s bombed the oil refinery.
1945-02-07 !February 7, 1945	[Expand]	12px 680 B-17s and B-24s bombed oil refineries at Moosbierbaum, Schwechat, Floridsdorf, Korneuburg, and Kagran refineries in the Vienna, Austria area.
1945-02-07 !February 7, 1945	Floridsdorf oil refinery	12px
1945-02-07 !February 7, 1945	Kagran	12px The Kagran oil refinery was bombed "in the Vienna, Austria area".
1945-02-07 !February 7, 1945	Korneuburg	12px The Korneuburg oil refinery was bombed "in the Vienna, Austria area".
1945-02-07 !February 7, 1945	Lobau	The 32 BS bombed the Lobau oil refinery.
1945-02-07 !February 7, 1945	Moosbierbaum oil refinery	12px
1945-02-07 !February 7, 1945	Schwechat oil refinery	12px
1945-02-08 !February 8/9, 1945	Moosbierbaum	12px 49 bombers hit the Moosbierbaum oil refinery.
1945-02-14 !February 14, 1945	Floridsdorf	12px
1945-02-14 !February 14, 1945	Lobau	12px
1945-02-14 !February 14, 1945	Moosbierbaum	12px 500+ B-24s, B-17s and P-38s bombed the Moosbierbaum oil refinery.
1945-02-14 !February 14, 1945	Schwechat	12px
1945-02-15 !February 15, 1945	Korneuburg	12px
1945-02-20 !February 20, 1944	Schwechat	12px
1945-02-20 !February 20, 1945	Lobau	12px The Lobau oil refinery and the Floridsdorf marshalling yard at Vienna were bombed. "The attack was outstandingly successful, resulting in severe damage to the boiler house, virtual destruction of the distillation unit pump house, the fractionating tower probably hit, and serious damage to tankage and rail sidings.
1945-03-01 !March 1, 1945	Moosbierbaum	12px 22 P-38s bomb the Moosbierbaum refinery.
1945-03-12 !March 12, 1945	Floridsdorf	12px B-24s and B-17s bombed the Floridsdorf oil refinery. The 747 bombers and 229 fighter planes caused heavy damage to the city centre and the Vienna State Opera and the Burgtheater burnt, and the Albertina, the Heinrichshof (on Ringstraße) and the Messepalast (Trade Fair Palace) were heavily damaged. The Philipphof (a block of apartments opposite to the Albertina and the State Opera House) collapsed, burying some 200 people who had sought shelter from the raid in its cellars. Most of the victims have never been unearthed and the Mahnmal gegen Krieg und Faschismus (English: Memorial against War and Fascism) has been erected there.
1945-03-14 !March 14, 1945		During the briefing for bombing the Vienna oil refinery, the briefing officer told crews to avoid the St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Vienna State Opera, the Schönbrunn Palace and other historic buildings and schools. Due to weather, the alternate target (Wiener Neustadt marshaling yards) was bombed.
1945-03-15 !March 15, 1945	[Expand]	12px 109 B-17s bomb the oil refinery at Ruhland (the Fifteenth's deepest penetration into Germany). 103 others bomb the alternate target, the refinery at Kolín, Czechoslovakia. 470+ other bombers attack targets in Austria, including Moosbierbaum, Schwechat, and Vienna/Floridsdorf oil refineries.
1945-03-16 !March 16, 1945	Floridsdorf	12px
1945-03-16 !March 16, 1945	Korneuburg	12px
1945-03-16 !March 16, 1945	Moosbierbaum	12px
1945-03-16 !March 1945 (mid)		300 bombs were dropped on the Tiergarten Schönbrunn, the world's oldest zoo. 2,000 animals out of 3,500 died including a bull rhino, a favourite of the zoo-keepers.
1945-03-16 !March 16, 1945	Schwechat	12px
1945-03-20 !March 20, 1945	[Expand]	12px In Austria, 760+ B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, hit the Korneuburg and Kagran oil refineries.
1945-03-21 !March 21, 1945		12px 3 oil refineries and a goods depot bombed at Vienna.
1945-03-21 !March 21, 1945	Floridsdorf	The 32 BS bombed.
1945-03-22 !March 22, 1945		12px 2 Vienna oil refineries were bombed.
1945-03-23 !March 23, 1945		12px Vienna oil refinery(ies) bombed. On April 2, Soviet troops began the Vienna Offensive.
1945-04-12 !April 12, 1945		After having burned from a fire looters set to local shops on April 11, St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna was hit by 22-ton bombs which shattered on the floor of the church.
1945-04-16 !April 16, 1945		"The advances of our ground forces have brought to a close the strategic air war waged by the United States Strategic Air Forces and the Royal Air Force Bomber Command." (Spaatz dispatch to Doolittle and Twining).

References

de:Bombardierung Wiens im Zweiten Weltkrieg