Page 37 - Roland Robert John Young

Ninth Operation

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February 13 /14 1945 Take off: 21.25pm. Failed to return.
Dresden - Area bombing. Lancaster PD232 O - Oboe

Operation ʻThunderclapʼ

The Air Ministry had, for several months, been considering a series of particularly
heavy area raids on German cities with a view to causing such confusion and
consternation that the hard-stretched German war machine and civil administration
would break down and the war would end. The general name given to this plan was
Operation ʻThunderclapʼ, but it had been decided not to implement it until the military
situation in Germany was critical. That moment appeared to be at hand. Russian
forces had made a rapid advance across Poland in the second half of January and
crossed the eastern frontier of Germany. The Germans were thus fighting hard
inside their own territory on two fronts, with the situation in the East being particularly
critical. It was considered that Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz - all just behind
the German lines on the Eastern Front now - would be suitable targets. They were all
vital communications and supply centres for the Eastern Front and were already
packed with German refugees and wounded from the areas recently captured by the
Russians. As well as the morale aspect of the attacks, there was the intention of
preventing the Germans from moving reinforcements from the West to face the
successful Russian advance. The Air Ministry issued a directive to Bomber
Command, at the end of January. The Official History describes how Winston
Churchill took a direct hand in the final planning of Operation ʻThunderclapʼ, although
Churchill tried to distance himself from the Dresden raid afterwards.

On 4 February, at the Yalta Conference, the Russians asked for attacks of this kind
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to take place, but their involvement in the process only came after the plans had
been issued. So, Bomber Command was specifically requested by the Air Ministry,
with Churchill's encouragement to carry out heavy raids on Dresden, Chemnitz and
Leipzig. The Americans were also asked to help and agreed to do so. The campaign
should have begun with an American raid on Dresden on 13 February but bad
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weather over Europe prevented any American operations. It thus fell to Bomber
Command to carry out the first raid.

796 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos were dispatched in two separate raids and dropped
1,478 tons of high explosive and 1,182 tons of incendiary bombs. The first attack
was carried out entirely by No. 5 Group, using their own low-level marking methods.
A band of cloud still remained in the area and this raid, in which 244 Lancasters
dropped more than 800 tons of bombs, was only moderately successful.