The Allied Firebombing of the German City of Dresden is one of the most infamous and controversial raids carried out in the Second World War. It was mid-February, 1945 and Allied bombers had enjoyed virtual impunity over Germany as fuel shortages and pilot attrition had castrated the Luftwaffe. Dresden, a target of little military value, was a beautiful city 100 miles south of Berlin. A center for German arts and culture, Dresden had escaped the war virtually unscathed to this point. Frustrated by continued German resistance on the western front, Allied command wanted to strike a "decisive blow" from the air to further pressure the Germans into capitulation.

On the night of February 13, the British sent two separate waves of Avro Lancasters, the RAF's four-engined heavy bomber armed with high explosives and incendiaries. The bombs dropped by the first wave (over 200 planes) immediately had the center of the old city engulfed in flames. Three hours later, a second wave of over 500 Lancasters pummeled the city with additional firebombs that created a firestorm that could be seen hundreds of miles away. As the conflagration engulfed the city, the immense oxygen consumption of the inferno created a raging windstorm that sucked everything and everyone into the fire. Citizens who tried to find sanctuary in the cities canals were boiled alive.

The next morning, over 400 Flying Fortresses of the 8th Air Force with fighter escorts unleashed even more destruction, causing additional casualties to survivors and rescue crews who had arrived on the scene.

The city of Dresden burned for almost a week, with estimates of the civilian death toll ranging from 25,000 to 300,000.

At 8:15 A.M., on August 6th 1945, The B-29 Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., dropped the "Little Boy", the first nuclear bomb, on the Japanese Industrial city of Hiroshima.

The explosion instantly claimed 80,000 lives and 2/3 of the buildings in the city. An additional 60,000 civilians later died of injuries and radiation exposure. Three days later, 35,000 citizens of the city of Nagasaki fell victim to the "Fat Man" the second A-bomb, dropped from Major Charles Sweeney's B-29 "Bocks Car"

Within a week, the Allies and Emperor Hirohito had come to terms on the Japanese surrender, which was ratified aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Harbor on September 2, 1945. Virtually overnight, four long years of global war had come to an end.

Allied High Command, and especially the United States, have come under harsh criticism regarding its actions in the late days of both theaters of the Second World War.

Officially, commanders stated their belief that by dropping the A-bomb (and thus forcing an immediate surrender), a massive and costly invasion of the Japanese Islands would be averted. In much the same way, the carpet-bombing of German cities was meant to "break the Germans' will to fight", and hasten Allied victory in Europe. It would also not be unreasonable to believe that the Allied command was interested in dolling out a measure of retribution and punishment toward the War's initial aggressors. Allied indignation and anger toward the Axis had been steadily growing as atrocities and war crimes (like Japan's horrible mistreatment of allied POWs) were uncovered by advancing troops.

Opponents will immediately point to the incredible loss of life, most of it civilian, that the raids claimed. None of the three cities could be considered "viable targets" as they had almost no military value whatsoever. Also, it was clear that both Germany and Japan had lost the means to effectively fight a war at the time of each raid, so critics assert that the massive show of force was unnecessary. Especially troubling was the dropping of the second A-bomb on Nagasaki, while the Japanese High Command was already in the process of suing for peace.

The controversy was revisited 1995 when opponents clashed over the nature of the Smithsonian Institution's 50 year anniversary "Enola Gay" exhibit.

When we look closely, war is not the cut-and-dried "good guys vs. bad guys" that many history texts would have us believe. Instead, there are countless shades of gray inherent in almost every action of modern warfare. Write a BRIEF (~1 page) position paper, outlining your stand (in support of, or in opposition to) one of the above Allied actions at the close of the war.

Post your essay in the "Unit 6" forum, and take the time to read and critique as many of your classmates' work as possible.

Continue work on Learning Task #3 (final project).

As always, post any course questions or concerns to the Anonymous "Suggestion Box" Discussion Board.

To complete Unit 6

• Read the Introductory Narrative
• Research supporting publications
• Explore the provided Links and Multimedia
• Participate in any active Course Discussions
• Complete the Unit 6 "Position Paper"
• Post your argument in the "Unit 6" forum

Remember: Unit 4 runs through Week Thirteen, check the Course Timeline for details. Stay on Target!