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Battle of Berlin (RAF campaign), Germany

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Dircksenstraße 81
10178 Berlin
Germany

Berlin, Germany Print route » N52° 31' 0" E13° 25' 0"   (52.516666666667, 13.416666666667) Start navigation »

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The Battle of Berlin (November 1943 to March 1944) was a series of attacks Berlin by RAF Bomber Command. Other German cities were attacked to keep German defences dispersed. The campaign was led by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, AOC-in-C of Bomber Command, who believed that "We can wreck Berlin from end to end if the USAAF come in with us. It will cost us between 400 and 500 aircraft. It will cost Germany the war".Harris could expect about 800 serviceable heavy bombers for each raid, equipped with new and sophisticated navigational devices such as H2S radar. The USAAF, having recently lost many aircraft in attacks on Schweinfurt, did not participate. The Main Force of Bomber Command attacked Berlin sixteen times but failed in its object of inflicting a decisive defeat on Germany. The Luftwaffe retaliated with Operation Steinbock (Unternehmen Steinbock, Operation Capricorn) against London from January to May 1944. On every Steinbock sortie, the Luftwaffe suffered a greater percentage loss than the RAF over Germany.The Royal Air Force lost more than 7,000 aircrew and 1,047 bombers, 5.1 per cent of the sorties; 1,682 aircraft were damaged or written off. On 30 March 1944, Bomber Command attacked Nuremberg with 795 aircraft, 94 of which were shot down and 71 were damaged. There were many other raids on Berlin by the RAF and the USAAF Eighth Air Force and the RAF was granted a battle honour, for the bombardment of Berlin by aircraft of Bomber Command from 1940 to 1945.

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