Plot

The Allies' bombing of the German city of Dresden was one of the most controversial of WWII. Rare archive footage tells the story as it's never seen before.

Bombing of Dresden is the most controversial event of the war. 15th Feb 1945, Eastern German city of Dresden lies in ruins. At first, it is a military victory, but in the days that follow ruins of the city, and the civilian toll extracted is published all over the newspapers in Britain and US. The public is appalled. Dresden had no military value. many thousands of men, women and children have been killed. The allied look to have conducted an atrocity.

5 yrs earlier, Germany was bombing military targets in Britain. Churchill had refused to surrender. One sortie dropped bombs on London by mistake. Churchill launches a raid of his own, on Berlin. Luftwaffe launches an unprecedented bombing campaign on London, designed to break the spirit of the British people. Incendiary bombs were dropped loaded with flammable materials, to ignite British cities. Liverpool, Birmingham and Conventry and also attacked. London is hit by a blitz for 50 consecutive days. 40,000 people are killed. Post this, Churchill makes civilian bombing a part of his own strategy. RAF Bomber command has been bombing Germany since 1939. Initially these were day raids to hit precision military targets. But day raids were subject to attacks from Luftwaffe. So, within a yr RAF switched to bombing at night. Survivability improved, but precision dropped. Bombers were not even within 5 miles of their targets, and as such Bomber command was not very effective. Luftwaffe was slaughtering RAF air crew, they had a huge death toll. 55% of the men serving Bomber command, died.

By 1942, morale of bomber command is rock bottom. Arthur Harris is appointed to take charge. He is stubborn, opinionated and rude. But he looked after his men very well. Harris brings in a new approach and starts targeting entire German cities. He plans to bomb bot just industry and infrastructure, but civilian housing. He plans to deprive the Nazis the manpower for their factories and the war economy. Harris also has a new heavy bomber, the Lancaster, at his disposal. Its a brilliant night time bomber, as it flies high and carries a heavy load. The new bombers had radar and radio navigation. in 1942, US joins the war in Europe and bring in the B-17 flying fortresses. Germany dropped 18,000 tons of bombs on London, but Allies drop more than 500,000 tons in 1944 on German cities. Hamburg was hit on 23rd July 1943. 60% of the residential area is destroyed. 43,000 people are killed. But the press are told that the raids only went after military targets. Harris is relentless and dozens of cities are hit. But Nazis still refuse to surrender

in 1944, Allies focus on D-day and the bomber command is drafted to support the invasion. German cities catch a break as Churchill forces Harris to comply, overruling his objections. That winter Hitler launches a counter-offensive in the Ardennes. 90,000 US troops are killed in the battle of the Bulge. Germans were not stopping or giving up. The Soviet Army is pushing on from their victory at Stalingrad. Soviet Union was losing millions of men. Stalin meets Churchill and Roosevelt in Feb 1945 in Crimea and is angry that Soviet Union has been left alone to take the brunt of German resistance and the corresponding loss of life. Western Allies didn't have the manpower, but had a hugely superior air force. Area bombing was back on the agenda. This time German cities on the Eastern front were targeted to slow down the German supply lines to the front with Soviet Union.

On 13th Feb 1945, RAF bomber command launch the raid against Dresden at 9 pm. They evade enemy radar by deploying chaff. There is no Luftwaffe response as their planes and ability of fight has been slashed due to lack of resources. Dresden was a cultural city, with lots of art and architecture. Germans believed it would not be bombed as it was so beautiful. Stories circulated of Churchill's aunt living in Dresden or that it was the supposed Allied capital after the war and hence had a special status. But Harris had so far spared it as Lancaster's fuel tanks were not large enough to reach it. Dresden was a major arms producer and a railway hub. At 10 pm the planes reach Dresden. There is no anti aircraft fire, as all guns have been moved to the Eastern front. 244 Lancaster drop all bombs in 15 mins. Huge blockbuster bombs and 200,000 clustered incendiaries dropped in the center of Dresden. The combination was deliberate to start fires inside the buildings. The tightly packed streets and wooden houses are perfect fuel for the flames. The 2nd wave had 500 bombers. By this time people felt the raid was over and they were outside helping fight the fires. A firestorm builds in the city. Superheated air sucks air from the surrounding area and creates a high wind turning into a tornado. The next morning American B-17 arrive. The city is covered by smoke, and the bombers (who were intending to hit only military targets as per US policy) ended up dropping their bombs on the city as well.

Nazi propaganda officer Joseph Goebbels decides to maximize Dresden. He says that the Allies are intent on destroying even defenseless cities. He leaks actual photos of the city. He says 200,000 civilians were killed. He was painting the allies as terrorists. The raid becomes a symbol of allied cruelty. People were cooked alive and blasted anywhere they tried to hide. The super-heated air even penetrated the ancient tunnels inside the city and melted everyone trying to take shelter there, as they had been told. 1000 people inside an air raid shelter had simply melted. The western press picked up the story and termed the phrase "terror bombing". Goebbels had lied, the real death toll was 25,000. he had added a zero. Under pressure, Churchill fires Harris, since he has no need for the bombing campaign now. Harris is no longer a hero. Churchill fails to mention Bomber Command in his VE speech. The 55,000 men who served and died for Bomber command, get a memorial in London after 67 yrs.