Bombing of Belgrade (1944)

Part of World War II

Bombing of Belgrade

Part of the Allied bombing of Yugoslavia in World War II

Map of 17 April 1944 bombing of Belgrade
| Date| 16 April – 6 September 1944
(4 months and 3 weeks)

|

Location|

Belgrade, German-occupied Serbia

44°49′04″N 20°27′25″E﻿ / ﻿44.81778°N 20.45694°E﻿ / 44.81778; 20.45694
Result|

* Widespread destruction and civilian casualties

Belligerents
Allies
United States
United Kingdom|

Axis
Germany

* Government of National Salvation

Italian Social Republic
Units involved
Fifteenth Air Force
Strength
600 bombers
Casualties and losses
None|  343 German and 96 Italian soldiers killed
2,271 – 4,700 civilians killed

The Allies carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Axis in Belgrade during the Allied bombing of Yugoslavia in World War II. The air strikes lasted from 16 April 1944 to 6 September 1944.

Belgrade was bombed eleven times by the Anglo–American air force. Infrastructure in Belgrade was bombed three times in April, twice in May, once in June and July and four times in September 1944.[1][2][3] The heaviest casualties were recorded during the April bombing on 16 April and 17 April 1944, which coincided with the first and second days of Orthodox Easter that year. The main unit in this action was the American Fifteenth Air Force, with a base in Foggia in the south of Italy. 600 bombers took part, dropping carpet bombs from 3,000 – 5,000 metres. There was no anti-aircraft defense. Several people died on 16 April. The population of Belgrade at the time believed that the bombing was an introduction to an Allied military invasion. The bombing continued with greater intensity on 17 April, when the Sajmište concentration camp was hit where 60 detainees were killed and about 150 wounded in the camp.

Belgrade was bombed again by the Allies on 21 April, 24 April, 18 May, 6 June, 8 July, and 6 September 1944.

## Bombing

[edit]

See also: Allied bombing of Yugoslavia in World War II

Belgrade was bombed by the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces between 16 and 17 April 1944, on the Orthodox Easter Day. The largest unit that took part was the American Fifteenth Air Force, based in Foggia in the south of Italy. This carpet bombing raid was executed by 600 aircraft flying at high altitude. Civilian casualties were as many as 1,160, while German military losses were 18,[4][5] or some 1,200 killed in total.[6] 5,000 people were wounded.[6]

Though officially only military and industrial targets were picked – factories, bridges, airport, ammunition depots, Axis barracks and garrisons - the precision of bombing was notoriously bad. Areas in the city centre hit by bombs on 16 April included the Palace Albanija, the National Theater in Belgrade, Terazije, the area around the Belgrade Main railway station and the Krunski Venac neighborhood. Bombed areas of the wider Belgrade metropolis included Dorćol, which was mostly destroyed, together with parts of Vračar, Pašino Brdo, and Dušanovac, all suburbs at the time, which contained no factories or military targets.

When the bombing was continued the next day, the remains of the King Alexander Bridge, partially destroyed in April 1941, were bombed. Bombs were mostly concentrated on the bank areas of the city, including the Sajmište concentration camp, which was part of the Independent State of Croatia at the time; approximately 100 prisoners were killed in the bombing. Some citizens went to air raid shelters but others fled the city, hiding in the woods or surrounding villages. Some 1,500 tons of bombs were used in the bombing.[7]

Other locations hit in the bombing raids Kalenić market, the Central hygienic institute, the Hospital for infectious diseases, the Home for the blind, the Labor market, the Orthopedic institute, both state orphanages (for boys and for girls), two homes for the children of refugees from other parts of Yugoslavia, the Children's hospital, and the Children's dispensary. All bridges were damaged again, as were the railway stations in Topčider and Rakovica, Post Office No. 2, the fabrics factory of Vlada Ilić in Karaburma, the faculty of technical engineering, Vajfert's brewery, and the University campus.[6]

## See also

[edit]

* Air warfare in Yugoslavia (1941–1945)
* Operation Ratweek (1944)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ др Момчило Павловић: „Истина о савезничком бомбардовању српских градова 1944. године - Срби нису били посебно изабрана мета“ (дневни лист Данас, 17-18.04.2004.)
2. ^ Davis 2010.
3. ^ MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO), COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES
4. ^ McDowell, Earnest R. and William N. Hess (1969). Checkertail Clan: The 325th Fighter Group in North Africa and Italy. Fallbrook (CA): Aero Publishers.
5. ^ Rust, Kenn C. (1976). Fifteenth Air Force Story: …in World War II. Temple City (CA): Historical Aviation Album. p. 64\. ISBN 0-911852-79-4.
6. ^ a b c J.Gajić (15–16 April 2017), "Na praznik padale bombe..." [Bombs were falling on holiday...], Politika (in Serbian), p. 27
7. ^ "Sajmište, istorija jednog logora" [Sajmište, History of a Camp]. B92 (in Serbian). 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013.

### Sources

[edit]

* Davis, Richard G. (May 2010). Bombing the European Axis Powers: A Historical Digest of the Combined Bomber Offensive, 1939 -1945. www.MilitaryBookshop.Companyuk. ISBN 978-1-907521-10-2.

* v
* t
* e

Bombardments of Belgrade

* 1862 [sr]
* 1914
* 1941
* 1944
* 1999 [sr]

* v
* t
* e

World War II in Yugoslavia

1941|

* Invasion of Yugoslavia
* Uprising in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* May 1941 Sanski Most revolt
* June uprising in eastern Herzegovina
* Siege of Rogatica
* Olovo
* Uprising in Serbia
* Battle of Loznica
* Battle of Banja Koviljača
* Attack on Šabac
* Mačva operation
* Battle of Trešnjica
* Kruševac
* Kraljevo
* Operation Uzice
* Operation Mihailovic
* Novi Pazar
* Sjenica
* Uprising in Montenegro
* Battle of Pljevlja
* Uprising in Croatia
* Croatian Partisans
* Srb uprising
* Karadak-Gollak Uprising (1941–1951)

1942|

* Operations Southeast Croatia and Ozren
* Operation Trio
* Chetnik sabotage of Axis communication lines
* Kozara Offensive
* Operation Alfa
* Operation Kopaonik

1943|

* Case White
* Case Black
* Siege of Turjak
* Operation Kugelblitz
* Battle of Višegrad

1944|

* Operations Kugelblitz and Schneesturm
* Operation Rösselsprung
* Operation Rübezahl
* Belgrade offensive
* Operation Draufgänger
* Battle of Jelova Gora
* Kosovo Operation
* Battle of Knin
* Battle of Tuzla
* Battle of Batina

1945|

* Syrmian Front
* Mostar operation
* Sarajevo Operation
* Battle of Lijevče Field
* Battle of Zelengora
* Battle of Poljana
* Battle of Odžak

Croatia|

* Zagreb in World War II

Macedonia|

* World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia

Serbia|

* Kosovo during World War II

Slovenia|

* World War II in the Slovene Lands

Strategic bombing|

* Belgrade
* 1941
* 1944
* Podgorica
* Sarajevo
* Zadar
* Zagreb

see also

Factions in the Yugoslav Front
People of the Yugoslav Front

* v
* t
* e

Strategic bombing during World War II

* Area bombardment
* Aerial bombing of cities
* Area bombing directive
* Firestorm
* Strategic bombing
* V-weapons

European theatre|

| Austria|

* Innsbruck
* Vienna
* Wiener Neustadt

|

Belgium|

* Kortrijk
* Mortsel
* Nivelles
* Ostend
* Sint-Niklaas
* Tielt
* Tienen
* Veurne
* Waremme

Denmark|

* Aarhus
* Copenhagen
* Nexø
* Rønne

Estonia|

* Narva
* Tallinn

France|

* Rennes
* Caen
* Le Havre
* Mailly-le-Camp
* Royan
* Saint-Leu-d'Esserent

Germany|

| Battle of
the Ruhr|

* Bochum
* Cologne
* Dortmund
* Duisburg
* Düsseldorf
* Essen
* Gelsenkirchen
* Krefeld
* Wuppertal

|

Other cities|

* Aachen
* Augsburg
* Aschersleben
* Baden-Baden
* Bamberg
* Berlin
* Bocholt
* Braunschweig
* Bremen
* Breslau
* Celle
* Chemnitz
* Crailsheim
* Darmstadt
* Dessau
* Dietzenbach
* Dresden
* Emden
* Frankfurt
* Freiburg (Axis)
* Freiburg (Allies)
* Friedrichshafen
* Giessen
* Göttingen
* Halberstadt
* Halle
* Hamburg
* Hanau
* Hannover
* Heilbronn
* Hildesheim
* Jena
* Kaiserslautern
* Karlsruhe
* Kassel
* Kleve
* Königsberg
* Leipzig
* Lübeck
* Ludwigshafen / Oppau
* Lüneburg
* Mainz
* Magdeburg
* Mannheim
* Marburg
* Moers
* Münster
* Munich
* Nordhausen
* Nuremberg
* Obersalzberg
* Osnabrück
* Paderborn
* Peenemünde
* Pforzheim
* Potsdam
* Rostock
* Saarbrücken
* Schweinfurt
* Schwerin
* Siegen
* Stralsund
* Stuttgart
* Ulm
* Wesel
* Wilhelmshaven
* Worms
* Würzburg

Hungary|

* Budapest
* Kassa

Italy|

* Alessandria
* Ancona
* Bari
* Benevento
* Bologna
* Cagliari
* Cassino
* Catania
* Ferrara
* Foggia
* Frascati
* Genoa
* Gorla
* Grosseto
* Livorno
* Messina
* Milan
* Naples
* Padua
* Palermo
* Pescara
* Pisa
* Reggio Calabria
* Rimini
* Rome
* Terni
* Treviso
* Trieste
* Turin
* Verona
* Vicenza
* Viterbo
* Zadar

Netherlands|

* Amsterdam (Axis)
* Amsterdam (Allied)
* Breskens
* Doetinchem
* Eindhoven
* Enschede
* Enkhuizen
* Middelburg
* Nijmegen
* Nijverdal
* Rotterdam (Axis)
* Rotterdam (Allied)
* The Hague
* Venlo
* Westkapelle
* Zutphen

Norway|

* Hammerfest
* Namsos

Poland|

* Frampol
* Warsaw
* Wieluń

Romania|

* Bucharest
* Ploiești
* Timișoara

Soviet Union|

* Gorky
* Leningrad
* Minsk
* Stalingrad

Switzerland|

* Schaffhausen
* Stein am Rhein
* Zürich and Basel

United
Kingdom|

* Battle of Britain
* Baedeker Blitz
* The Blitz
* Barrow-in-Furness
* Bath
* Belfast
* Birmingham
* Bournemouth
* Brighton
* Bristol
* Cardiff
* Clydebank
* Coventry
* Exeter
* Greenock
* Hull
* Leeds
* Liverpool
* London
* Manchester
* Norwich
* Nottingham
* Plymouth
* Sheffield
* Southampton
* Swansea

Yugoslavia|

* Belgrade
* 1941
* 1944
* Podgorica
* Sarajevo

Other countries|

* Bulgaria (Sofia)
* Croatia (Zagreb)
* Czechoslovakia (Prague)
* Finland (Helsinki)
* Ireland (Dublin)
* San Marino
* Vatican

Pacific War|

| Burma|

* Burma campaign
* Mandalay
* Allied Rangoon

|

China|

* Chongqing
* Hong Kong
* Nanjing
* Shanghai

Indonesia|

* Sukabumi
* Surabaya

Japan|

* Akita
* Aomori
* Chiba
* Fukui
* Fukuoka
* Gifu
* Hamamatsu
* Hiratsuka
* Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
* Kobe
* Kōfu
* Kumagaya
* Kure
* Nagaoka
* Nagoya
* Naha
* Numazu
* Okazaki
* Osaka
* Rabaul
* Sabang
* Sendai
* Shizuoka
* Tokyo (10 March 1945)
* Toyohashi
* Toyokawa
* Utsunomiya
* Yawata
* June 1944
* Yokkaichi

| Colonies|

* Taihoku (Taiwan)

|

Singapore|

* Allied Singapore
* Axis Singapore

Australia|

* Broome
* Darwin

United States|

* Oregon mountains
* Pearl Harbor
* Unalaska

Other cities|

* Bangkok (Thailand)
* Colombo (Sri Lanka)
* George Town (Malaysia)
* Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
* Manila (Philippines)

Mediterranean and
Middle East|

| Mandatory Palestine|

* Acre
* Haifa
* Jaffa
* Tel Aviv

|

Other areas|

* Bahrain
* Cyprus
* Gibraltar
* Malta

North Africa|

| Chad|

* Fort Lamy

|

* v
* t
* e

World War II

* Outline
* Battles
* Operations
* Leaders
* Allied
* Axis
* Commanders
* Casualties
* Conferences

General|

| Topics|

* Air warfare of World War II
* In Europe
* Blitzkrieg
* Comparative military ranks
* Cryptography
* Declarations of war
* Diplomacy
* Governments in exile
* Home front
* Australian
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Lend-Lease
* Manhattan Project
* British contribution
* Military awards
* Military equipment
* Military production
* Naval history
* Nazi plunder
* Opposition
* Technology
* Allied cooperation
* Mulberry harbour
* Total war
* Strategic bombing
* Puppet states
* Women
* Art and World War II
* Music in World War II
* Weather events during World War II

|

Theaters|

* Asia and Pacific
* China
* South-East Asia
* Pacific
* North and Central Pacific
* South-West Pacific
* Indian Ocean
* Europe
* Western Front
* Eastern Front
* Mediterranean and Middle East
* North Africa
* East Africa
* Italy
* West Africa
* Atlantic
* timeline
* Americas

Aftermath|

* Chinese Civil War
* Cold War
* Decolonization
* Division of Korea
* First Indochina War
* Expulsion of Germans
* Greek Civil War
* Indonesian National Revolution
* Keelhaul
* Marshall Plan
* Occupation of Germany
* Occupation of Japan
* Osoaviakhim
* Paperclip
* Soviet occupations
* Baltic
* Hungary
* Poland
* Romania
* Territorial changes of Germany
* Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
* United Nations

War crimes|

* Allied war crimes
* Soviet war crimes
* Atrocities against prisoners of war
* British war crimes
* United States war crimes
* German war crimes
* forced labour
* Wehrmacht war crimes
* The Holocaust
* Aftermath
* Response
* Nuremberg trials
* Italian war crimes
* Japanese war crimes
* Nanjing Massacre
* Unit 731
* Prosecution
* Croatian war crimes
* Genocide of Serbs
* Persecution of Jews
* Romanian war crimes
* Sexual violence
* German military brothels
* Camp brothels
* Rape during the occupation of Germany  / Japan  / Poland
* Rape during the liberation of France  / Serbia
* Sook Ching
* Comfort women
* Rape of Manila
* Marocchinate

Participants|

| Allies|

* Algeria
* Australia
* Belgium
* Brazil
* Bulgaria (from September 1944)
* Canada
* China
* Cuba
* Czechoslovakia
* Denmark
* Ethiopia
* Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
* Finland (from September 1944)
* France
* Free France
* Greece
* India
* Italy (from September 1943)
* Liberia
* Luxembourg
* Mexico
* Netherlands
* Newfoundland
* New Zealand
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania (from August 1944)
* Sierra Leone
* South Africa
* Southern Rhodesia
* Soviet Union
* Tuva
* United Kingdom
* British Empire
* United States
* Puerto Rico
* Yugoslavia

|

Axis|

* Albania protectorate
* Bulgaria (until September 1944)
* State of Burma
* Republic of China (Wang Jingwei)
* Independent State of Croatia
* Finland (until September 1944)
* German Reich
* Hungary
* Azad Hind
* Iraq
* Italy (until September 1943)
* Italian Social Republic
* Empire of Japan
* Manchukuo
* Mengjiang
* Philippines
* Romania (until August 1944)
* Slovak Republic
* Thailand
* Vichy France
* Guangzhouwan
* French Indochina
* French Madagascar
* Syria–Lebanon
* French North Africa
* French West Africa
* Collaboration

Neutral|

* Afghanistan
* Andorra
* Bhutan
* Ireland
* Liechtenstein
* Monaco
* Portugal
* San Marino
* Saudi Arabia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Tibet
* Turkey
* Vatican City
* Yemen

Resistance|

* Albania
* Austria
* Belgium
* Bulgaria
* Czech lands
* Denmark
* Dutch East Indies
* Estonia
* Ethiopia
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Hong Kong
* Italy
* Japan
* Jews
* Korea
* Korean Liberation Army
* Korean Volunteer Army
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malaya
* Netherlands
* Northeast China
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania
* Thailand
* Soviet Union
* Slovakia
* Western Ukraine
* Vietnam
* Quốc dân Đảng
* Viet Minh
* Yugoslavia

POWs|

* Finnish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* German prisoners
* Soviet Union
* Azerbaijan
* United States
* United Kingdom
* Italian prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Japanese prisoners
* Soviet Union
* German atrocities against Polish POWs
* Soviet prisoners
* Finland
* atrocities by Germans
* Polish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Romanian prisoners in the Soviet Union

Timeline|

| Prelude|

* Africa
* Second Italo-Ethiopian War
* Asia
* Second Sino-Japanese War
* Battles of Khalkhin Gol
* Europe
* Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
* Anschluss
* Munich Agreement
* Occupation of Czechoslovakia
* Operation Himmler
* Italian invasion of Albania

|

1939|

* Invasion of Poland
* Battle of the Atlantic
* Phoney War
* First Battle of Changsha
* Battle of South Guangxi
* Winter War
* 1939–1940 Winter Offensive

1940|

* Norwegian campaign
* German invasion of Denmark
* Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang
* German invasion of Luxembourg
* German invasion of the Netherlands
* German invasion of Belgium
* Battle of France
* Dunkirk evacuation
* Battle of Britain
* Battle of the Mediterranean
* North Africa
* West Africa
* British Somaliland
* Hundred Regiments Offensive
* Baltic states
* Eastern Romania
* Japanese invasion of French Indochina
* Italian invasion of Greece
* Compass

1941|

* Battle of South Henan
* Battle of Shanggao
* Invasion of Yugoslavia
* German invasion of Greece
* Battle of Crete
* Anglo-Iraqi War
* Battle of South Shanxi
* Syria–Lebanon campaign
* East African campaign
* Invasion of the Soviet Union
* Summer War
* Finland (Silver Fox)
* Lithuania
* Battle of Kiev
* Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
* Second Battle of Changsha
* Siege of Leningrad
* Battle of Moscow
* Bombing of Gorky
* Siege of Sevastopol
* Attack on Pearl Harbor
* Japanese invasion of Thailand
* Fall of Hong Kong
* Fall of the Philippines
* Battle of Guam
* Battle of Wake Island
* Malayan campaign
* Battle of Borneo
* Japanese invasion of Burma
* Third Battle of Changsha
* Greek famine of 1941–1944

1942|

* Fall of Singapore
* Battle of the Java Sea
* St Nazaire Raid
* Battle of Christmas Island
* Battle of the Coral Sea
* Battle of Madagascar
* Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign
* Battle of Gazala
* Battle of Dutch Harbor
* Battle of Midway
* Aleutian Islands campaign
* Kiska
* Attu
* Blue
* First Battle of El Alamein
* Battle of Stalingrad
* Kokoda Track campaign
* Rzhev
* Jubilee
* Second Battle of El Alamein
* Guadalcanal campaign
* Torch
* Chinese famine of 1942–1943

1943|

* Black May
* Tunisian campaign
* Battle of West Hubei
* Battle of Attu
* Bombing of Gorky
* Battle of Kursk
* Allied invasion of Sicily
* Smolensk
* Solomon Islands campaign
* Cottage
* Battle of the Dnieper
* Allied invasion of Italy
* Armistice of Cassibile
* Burma
* Northern Burma and Western Yunnan
* Changde
* Second Battle of Kiev
* Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
* Tarawa
* Makin
* Bengal famine of 1943

1944|

* Tempest
* Monte Cassino / Anzio
* Korsun–Cherkassy
* Narva
* U-Go
* Imphal
* Ichi-Go
* Kohima
* Overlord
* Neptune
* Mariana and Palau
* Bagration
* Western Ukraine
* Second Battle of Guam
* Tannenberg Line
* Warsaw Uprising
* Eastern Romania
* Liberation of Paris
* Dragoon
* Gothic Line
* Belgrade offensive
* Battle of San Marino
* Lapland
* Market Garden
* Estonia
* Crossbow
* Pointblank
* Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945
* Philippines (1944–1945)
* Leyte
* Syrmian Front
* Hungary
* Budapest
* Burma (1944–1945)
* Ardennes
* Bodenplatte
* Dutch famine of 1944–1945

1945|

* Vistula–Oder
* Battle of Manila
* Battle of Iwo Jima
* Indochina
* Vienna offensive
* Project Hula
* Western invasion of Germany
* Bratislava–Brno offensive
* Battle of Okinawa
* Second Guangxi campaign
* West Hunan
* Italy (Spring 1945)
* Battle of Berlin
* Prague offensive
* Surrender of Germany
* document
* Borneo
* Taipei
* Naval bombardment of Japan
* Manchuria
* Atomic bombings
* Debate
* South Sakhalin
* Kuril Islands
* Shumshu
* Surrender of Japan
* Potsdam Declaration
* document
* End of World War II in Asia

* World portal
* Bibliography
* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template