Bombing of Prague was a controversial event during the end of World War II (On February 14, 1945) when American Air Force carried out an air raid over Prague. Prague was the capital of Czechoslovakia and since the Nazi occupation (in 1939) the main city of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. According American pilots it was the consequence of a mistake in navigation, because at the same time, the grand Bombing of Dresded was under way 100 km north from Prague. Combatants Allies: • Soviet Union, • UK & Commonwealth, • USA, • France/Free France, • China, • Poland, • ...and others Axis: • Germany, • Japan, • Italy, • ...and others Commanders Strength Casualties Full list Full list World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a large scale military conflict that took place between 1939 and 1945. ... February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Prague (Czech: Praha, see also other names) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Nazism. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (in German: Reichsprotektorat Böhmen und Mähren, in Czech: Protektorát Čechy a Morava) was a German protectorate that arose in central parts of Bohemia and Moravia on March 15, 1939 when Germany invaded the western part of former Czechoslovakia, the former Austrian... The bombing of Dresden by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) between February 13 and February 15, 1945 remains one of the more controversial events of World War II. Historian Frederick Taylor says: The destruction of Dresden has an epically tragic quality...

Impact of the attack

About sixty flying fortresses of the 8th American Air Force dropped about 152 tons of bombs on many populated parts of Prague. The carpet-bombing striked Vysehrad, Zlichov, Karlovo namesti, Nusle, Vinohrady, Vrsovice and Pankrac. About a hundred houses and historical sights were destroyed. All the casualties were civilians, and not one of the city's factories which could have been of use to the Wermacht was damaged.

Mistake or deliberate attack

Although the Americans voiced their regret many times, it is still not clear whether the attack was an accident caused by bad weather conditions and the fact Prague and Dresden looked similar from the air, or whether it was a deliberate attack. According some witnesses, a part of the very big formation of planes, on the way to north (to Dresden), separated and made the raid. Nevertheless, due to the unsystematic bombing and the fact that Prague was (an occupied) city of Allies, most of the historians prefer the "mistake theory". The group of countries known as the Allies of World War II came together, to fight the Axis Powers, as World War II unfolded and progressed. ...

Trivia

In some places, where the bombs destroyed some historical buildings, stands some of Prague famous modern sights like The Dancing House or Emauzy. Building photo The Dancing House or Fred and Ginger is the nickname given to an office building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic. ...

External links

• Radio Prague: The bombing of Prague - was it a mistake?
• Looking back at the bombing of Prague