The aerial bombings of Hanover are a series of eighty-eight air raids by

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF)

Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...

and the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) on the German city of

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Collectively these air raids killed 6,782 persons, predominantly civilian residents. Around 1,000 aerial mines, 34,000 high explosive bombs, 900,000

incendiary bombs Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires. They may destroy structures or sensitive equipment using fire, and sometimes operate as anti-personnel weaponry. Incendiarie ...

and 50,000 fire bombs were dropped. The most destructive and deadly air raid on Hanover was conducted by the RAF on the night beginning 8 October 1943, killing 1,245 persons, and is an example of

carpet bombing Carpet bombing, also known as saturation bombing, is a large area bombardment done in a progressive manner to inflict damage in every part of a selected area of land. The phrase evokes the image of explosions completely covering an area, in t ...

of suburban and residential civilian targets laid out in the Area Bombing Directive of 14 February 1942. At the end of the war, 90% of the city centre was destroyed, with 52% of buildings heavily damaged or completely destroyed. A total of of rubble had to be removed. Of the 147,222 dwellings recorded at the end of 1939, 51.2% were heavily damaged or destroyed, 43.6% lightly or moderately damaged and only 7,489 dwellings (5.2%) completely undamaged. The Aegidien Church and St. Nicholas' Chapel were both destroyed and became memorials after the war rather than be reconstructed.

Strategic importance

Before the war Hanover was the thirteenth largest city in Germany and Austria, with 471,000 inhabitantson average this fell to 287,000 during the war (mainly due to evacuations) and in May 1945 was down to 217,000. It was the headquarters of 19th Infantry Division,

military district Military districts (also called military regions) are formations of a state's armed forces (often of the Army) which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters ...

XI and a military training facility. Hanover was an important railway junction at the intersection of two major east-west and north-south routes. It was the fifth most active industrial centre in the Third Reich, producing tyres for military vehicles and aircraft and other rubber parts and products in three

Continental AG Continental AG, commonly known as Continental and colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational automotive parts manufacturing company. Headquartered in Hanover, Lower Saxony, it is the world's third- largest automotive supplier and the fo ...

factories. Its Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen Hannover and

Hanomag Hanomag (Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG, ) was a German producer of steam locomotives, tractors, trucks and military vehicles in Hanover. Hanomag first achieved international fame by delivering numerous steam locomotives to Finland, Romania and ...

factories also produced guns and tracked-vehicles, whilst an AFA (Accumulatoren Fabrik Aktiengesellschaftlater

VARTA VARTA (; ) is a German company manufacturing batteries for global automotive, industrial, and consumer markets. History VARTA was founded by in 1887, and established in 1904 as a subsidiary of Accumulatoren-Fabrik AFA. After World War I, ...

) factory built in 1938 produced batteries for submarines and torpedoes from 1940 onwards. A new Vereinigten Leichtmetallwerke (VLW) factory had been built in 1935 on a site in the Linden-Süd district formerly used by the Hannoversche Waggonfabrik after the latter went bankrupt. The VLW also built a factory in Laatzen outside the city limits in 1936 which was not directly attacked. Two large refineries Deurag and Nerag in Misburg on the northeastern outskirts of the city produced aviation fuel and motor oils for the Luftwaffe, meaning they were targeted early and continued to be attacked, especially later on in the war.

Raids

Raids on Hanover involved a relatively short flying-time from bases in the United Kingdom and the nearby

Steinhuder Meer Lake Steinhude, , , is a lake in Lower Saxony, Germany located northwest of Hanover. Named after the nearby village of Steinhude, it has an area of about , making it the largest lake of northwestern Germany. At the same time, Lake Steinhude is ...

provided a useful navigational aid. The

Maschsee The Masch Lake () is an artificial lake situated south of the city centre of Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Covering an area of , it is the largest body of water within Hanover and a popular recreation area as well as venue for ...

on the southern edge of the city centre was partly covered with wooden boards and artificial islands to make it less recognizable from the air, but the geometrical patterns in the Great Garden () in the Herrenhausen Gardens () remained undisguised and were used by the RAF's H2S radar from mid-1943 onwards.

1939 and 1940

The first raid was on 4 September 1939, the day after the British declaration of warit involved just one RAF

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a British medium/heavy bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was one of three twin-engined, front line medium bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the World W ...

dropping leaflets. On 19 May 1940 the RAF bombed the Misburg refineries, killing nineteen people. 1 August the same year saw the first raid on Hannover itself, with a raid on the Seilerstraße in the south of the city. On 30 September 1940 six planes destroyed several buildings in Wülfel and Linden.

1941

On 10 February 1941, the city was raided by 220 British planes, mainly hitting the eastern district and killing 101 people. Another British raid followed on the night between 15–16 April on the Vahrenwald and Hainholz areas and on 15–16 June on the VLW-Werk factory and the Misburg refineries. Although these raids damaged the factories' productivity, they were repeatedly able to resume production.

26 July 1943

8 October 1943

In the night beginning 8 October 1943, 504 RAF aircraft (comprising Lancasters, Halifaxes, Wellingtons and eight Mosquitos) attacked Hanover. Many German nightfighters arrived before the attack was over and 27 British aircraft were lost. Conditions over Hanover were clear and the Pathfinders marked the centre of the city accurately with all bombs landing within the built-up area. The

Ebstorf Map The Ebstorf Map was an example of a (a medieval European map of the world). It was made by Gervase of Ebstorf, who was possibly the same man as Gervase of Tilbury, some time between 1234 and 1240. Description The map was found in a convent i ...

, the largest medieval map of the world, was destroyed by the raid.

18 October 1943

In the last of the four big raids against Hanover, 360 Lancasters attacked Hannover but the target area was covered by cloud and the raid was inaccurate.

28 March 1945

On the 28th of March 1945, the last major air raid on Hanover took place. The city was hit by multiple bombs from about 400 planes which hit the entire city. The epicenter of the bombing was the city center.Gerichts- und Erinnerungstafel Osterwald by Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. https://www.volksbund.de/fileadmin/redaktion_BG/Mediathek/LV_Niedersachsen/Garbsen_Pulttafel.pdf

References

{{WWII city bombing

History of Hanover (city) Germany–United Kingdom military relations