Bombing of Vienna in World War II
Encyclopedia
The city of Vienna in Austria
was bombed fifty-two times during World War II
, and 87,000 houses of the city were lost (20% of the entire city). Only 41 civilian vehicles survived the raids, more than 3,000 bomb craters were counted. and the Schwarzenberg Palace was bombed but later rebuilt.
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. Remaining Luftwaffe
shot down one-tenth of 550 bombers in June 1944.
The air defences of Vienna were aided by a ring of anti-aircraft batteries
set up around the city and three pairs of Flak tower
s. 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. 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.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
was bombed fifty-two times during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and 87,000 houses of the city were lost (20% of the entire city). Only 41 civilian vehicles survived the raids, more than 3,000 bomb craters were counted. 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 ItalyAllied invasion of Italy
The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on September 3, 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group during the Second World War. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign...
allowed them to establish an air base at Foggia
Foggia Airfield Complex
The Foggia Airfield Complex was a series of World War II military airfields located within a radius of Foggia, in the Province of Foggia, Italy...
. Following the Normandy Invasion the greater part of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
) was transferred to the West. Remaining Luftwaffe
History of the Luftwaffe during World War II
The German Luftwaffe was one of the strongest, most doctrinally advanced, and most battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II started in Europe in September 1939. Officially unveiled in 1935, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, its purpose was to support Adolf Hitler's...
shot down one-tenth of 550 bombers in June 1944.
The air defences of Vienna were aided by a ring of anti-aircraft batteries
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
set up around the city and three pairs of Flak tower
Flak tower
Flak towers were 8 complexes of large, above-ground, anti-aircraft gun blockhouse towers constructed in the cities of Berlin , Hamburg , and Vienna from 1940 onwards....
s. 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
Hinterbrühl
Hinterbrühl is a town in the district of Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is home to the Seegrotte, a system of caves including Europe's largest underground lake. During World War II, a satellite camp of Mauthausen concentration camp was opened inside the caverns, producing parts...
) or hidden in other ways. The military industry even boosted its production, also by use of forced labour
Unfree labour
Unfree labour includes all forms of slavery as well as all other related institutions .-Payment for unfree labour:If payment occurs, it may be in one or more of the following forms:...
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. 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.
| Date | Target/Topic | |
|---|---|---|
| First air raid on Vienna during WWII |  Petlyakov Pe-8Petlyakov Pe-8 The Petlyakov Pe-8 was a Soviet heavy bomber designed before World War II, and the only four-engine bomber the USSR built during the war. Produced in limited numbers, it was used to bomb Berlin in August 1941. It was also used for so-called "morale raids" designed to raise the spirit of the Soviet... bombers flew a 2,000 mile round trip also reaching Budapest Budapest Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter... , Koenigsberg and Breslau |
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| Floridsdorf Floridsdorf Floridsdorf is the 21st district of Vienna, Austria .Floridsdorf is located in the northern part of Vienna.The District Office and the centre of Floridsdorf are located round Am Spitz, at the junction of Prager Straße and Brünner Straße .Since 2004, Floridsdorf has had its own tower: the... |
The first American air raid on Vienna targeted the Floridsdorf refinery and mined the Danube Danube The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway.... . |
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| Floridsdorf |  B-17s bombed the oil refinery On this date the 464 BG bombed an oil-blending plant at Vienna. |
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| Kagran | B-17s bombed the oil refinery |
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| Lobau Lobau The Lobau is a Vienna floodplain on the northern side of the Danube and partly in Großenzersdorf, Lower Austria. It has been part of the Danube-Auen National Park since 1996 and has been a protected area since 1978. It is used as a recreational area and is known as a site of nudism. There is... |
B-24s bombed the Lobau oil refinery. |
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| Schwechat Schwechat Schwechat is a city south-east of Vienna known for the Vienna International Airport and Schwechater beer. It is also home to the refineries belonging to the Austrian national oil company OMV.- Geography :... |
B-24s bombed the oil refinery at Schwechat in Vienna (Schwechat became a separate city in 1954). |
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| Winterhafen | B-24s bombed the Winterhafen oil depot. An underground storage installation was just west of Mainz. |
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| Floridsdorf | The Floridsdorf oil refinery and marshalling yard were bombed. |
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| Korneuburg Korneuburg Korneuburg is a town in Austria. It is located in the state Lower Austria and is the administrative center of the district of Korneuburg. Korneuburg is situated on the left bank of the Danube, opposite the city of Klosterneuburg, and is 12 km northwest of Vienna... |
The 461 BG bombed "a refinery in the open country near the small town of Korneuburg". |
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| Moosbierbaum Moosbierbaum Moosbierbaum is part of the Atzenbrugg municipality of Lower Austria.HistoryIn 1913, the Škoda Wetzlar gunpowder factory was established in Moosbierbaum. As a target of the Oil Campaign of World War II, Moosbierbaum had a chemical works which performed 60,000 tons/year of Naphtha dehydrogenation,... |
The 455th BG received a 2nd Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing the Moosbierbaum oil refinery. | |
| Lobau | |
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| Schwechat | The Heinkel Heinkel Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:... firm's Heinkel-Süd Schwechat aircraft factory, and Schwechat oil refinery were bombed. |
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| Winterhafen | Winterhafen oil refinery bombed. |
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| Floridsdorf | The 464http://libraryautomation.com/nymas/usaaf7.html and 465th Bombardment Groups earned Distinguished Unit Citations. |
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| The 32 BS bombed a Vienna oil refinery. | ||
| The 484 BG received its second DUC for bombing an underground oil storage installation at Vienna.http://libraryautomation.com/nymas/usaaf7.html |
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| Korneuburg | B-24s bombed the oil refinery at Korneuburg. The 485 BG bombed the " Oil Storage". |
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| Lobau | B-24s bombed the oil refinery at Lobau. The 461 BG bombed the underground oil storage at the refinery. |
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| Vösendorf Vösendorf Vösendorf is a town in the district of Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria.... |
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. |
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| Moosbierbaum | B-17s hit Moosbierbaum oil refinery and adjacent chemical works. |
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| 344 B-17s and B-24s bomb 5 ordnance depots and the SE industrial area in Vienna and 2 oil refineries in the area. |
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| Schwechat | The 32 BS bombed the Schwechat oil refinery. |
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| Mainz |  Mission 628: 22 B-17s bombed targets of opportunity at Mainz. |
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| Mainz | Mission 650: 171 B-17s bombed Mainz. |
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| Lobau | The Lobau oil refinery was bombed. On this date, the 741st Bombardment Squadron 741st Missile Squadron The United States Air Force's 741st Missile Squadron is an intercontinental ballistic missile unit located at Minot AFB, North Dakota.-Mission:... flew over Vienna to hit an oil refinery. |
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| Schwechat | |
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| Winterhafen | The 485 BG bombed the "Winterhafen Oil Storage". |
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| Floridsdorf | |
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| Floridsdorf | |
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| The industrial area of Vienna was bombed. |
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| Floridsdorf | The 32 BS bombed. | |
| Floridsdorf | The 485 BG bombed the oil refinery. |
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| Moosbierbaum | The 32 BS bombed the Moosbierbaum oil refinery. | |
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US intelligence reported in February 1945 that the Vienna area had no fuel since November 15. | |
| The 32 BS bombed a Vienna oil refinery. | ||
| Winterhafen | The 32 BS bombed the "Winterhofen" oil storage. | |
| Floridsdorf | |
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| Moosbierbaum | |
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| Moosbierbaum | |
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| Floridsdorf | |
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| Vösendorf | |
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| The Lipizzan Lipizzan The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner , is a breed of horse closely associated with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, where the finest representatives demonstrate the haute école or "high school" movements of classical dressage, including the highly controlled, stylized jumps and other movements... horses of the Spanish Riding School Spanish Riding School The Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, is a traditional riding school for Lipizzan horses, which perform in the Winter Riding School in the Hofburg... were evacuated. |
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| Moosbierbaum | In a blind attack, 670+ B-24s and B-17s bombed the Moosbierbaum oil refinery. |
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| Mainz |  The 466th bombed Mainz. |
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| Moosbierbaum | A visual attack by 300+ B-17s and B-24s bombed the oil refinery. |
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| [Expand] | 680 B-17s and B-24s bombed oil refineries at Moosbierbaum, Schwechat, Floridsdorf, Korneuburg, and Kagran refineries in the Vienna, Austria area. |
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| Floridsdorf oil refinery | |
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| Kagran | The Kagran oil refinery was bombed "in the Vienna, Austria area". |
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| Korneuburg | The Korneuburg oil refinery was bombed "in the Vienna, Austria area". |
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| Lobau | The 32 BS bombed the Lobau oil refinery. | |
| Moosbierbaum oil refinery | |
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| Schwechat oil refinery | |
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| Moosbierbaum | 49 bombers hit the Moosbierbaum oil refinery. |
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| Floridsdorf | |
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| Lobau | |
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| Moosbierbaum | 500+ B-24s, B-17s and P-38s bombed the Moosbierbaum oil refinery. |
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| Schwechat | |
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| Korneuburg | |
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| Schwechat | |
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| Lobau | 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. |
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| Moosbierbaum | 22 P-38s bomb the Moosbierbaum refinery. |
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| Floridsdorf | 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 Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian... and the Burgtheater Burgtheater The Burgtheater , originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg, then until 1918 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater, is the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna and one of the most important German language theatres in the world.The Burgtheater was created in 1741 and has become known as "die Burg" by the... burnt, and the Albertina Albertina, Vienna The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well as more modern graphic works, photographs and architectural drawings... , 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 (Memorial against War and Fascism) has been erected there. |
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| 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 Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian... , the Schönbrunn Palace Schönbrunn Palace Schönbrunn Palace is a former imperial 1,441-room Rococo summer residence in Vienna, Austria. One of the most important cultural monuments in the country, since the 1960s it has been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna... and other historic buildings and schools. Due to weather, the alternate target (Wiener Neustadt marshaling yards) was bombed. |
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| [Expand] | 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. |
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| Floridsdorf | |
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| Korneuburg | |
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| Moosbierbaum | |
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| 300 bombs were dropped on the Tiergarten Schönbrunn Tiergarten Schönbrunn Tiergarten Schönbrunn or Vienna Zoo is a zoo located on the grounds of the famous Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria... , the world's oldest zoo. 2,000 animals out of 3,500 died including a bull rhino, a favourite of the zoo-keepers. |
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| Schwechat | |
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| [Expand] | In Austria, 760+ B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, hit the Korneuburg and Kagran oil refineries. |
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| 3 oil refineries and a goods depot bombed at Vienna. |
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| Floridsdorf | The 32 BS bombed. | |
| 2 Vienna oil refineries were bombed. |
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| Vienna oil refinery(ies) bombed. On April 2, Soviet troops began the Vienna Offensive Vienna Offensive The Vienna Offensive was launched by the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front in order to capture Vienna, Austria. The offensive lasted from 2–13 April 1945... . |
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| 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. | ||
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"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). | |