Back Бомбардиране на Букурещ Bulgarian Bombardements de Bucarest pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale French הפצצת בוקרשט במהלך מלחמת העולם השנייה HE Bombardarea Bucureștiului în Al Doilea Război Mondial Romanian Бомбардировка Бухареста Russian Бомбардування Бухареста Ukrainian 轰炸布加勒斯特 Chinese
| Bucharest World War II bombings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Western Allied Campaign in Romania and Strategic bombing campaign in Europe | |||||
 B-24 Liberator bombers of the 455th Bombardment Group over Bucharest on 4 April 1944 | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
 Fifteenth Air Force No. 205 Group |
 Royal Romanian Air Force Luftwaffe | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
|
Carl Spaatz Arthur Tedder |
Gheorghe Jienescu Alfred Gerstenberg | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| Civilians: 5,524 killed, 3,373 wounded | |||||
The Bucharest World War II bombings were primarily Allied bombings of railroad targets and those of the Oil Campaign of World War II, but included a bombing by Nazi Germany after the 1944 coup d'état. Bucharest stored and distributed much of Ploiești's refined oil products.[1][2]
The first operation was a sequence of 17 aerial bombardments, starting with the one of April 4, 1944. The bombings were carried out over a period of about 4 months by the United States Army Air Forces and the British Royal Air Force, with approximately 3,640 bombers of different types, accompanied by about 1,830 fighters. As collateral damage, 5,524 inhabitants were killed, 3,373 were injured, and 47,974 were left homeless.[3] The second operation was executed by the German Luftwaffe in retaliation for Romania having changed sides (immediately after the fall of the fascist regime headed by Ion Antonescu), and took place on August 23–26, 1944.[4]
- ^ Stout 2011, p. 190.
- ^ Dobrovicescu, Lucian. "Aprilie 1944. Moartea vine din cer: Bombardamentele aliate asupra României" [April 1944. Death comes from the sky: Allied bombing of Romania] (in Romanian). Historia. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
- ^ "Bombardarea Bucureștilor în '44: mii de morți și sute de clădiri făcute praf" [The bombing of Bucharest in '44: thousands killed and hundreds of buildings destroyed]. Adevărul (in Romanian). February 22, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
- ^ Armă, Alexandru (2019). "24 august 1944: Avioanele germane bombardează Bucureștiul" [August 24, 1944: German planes bomb Bucharest] (in Romanian). Historia. Retrieved October 18, 2020.