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Darmstadt was bombed a number of times during World War II. The most devastating air raid on Darmstadt occurred on the night of 11/12 September 1944 when No. 5 Group of the Royal Air Force (RAF) bombed the city. 〔These attacks killed 12,300 inhabitants.〕 66,000 of the 110,000 inhabitants of Darmstadt at the time became homeless; allegedly, 20% of the victims were under the age of 16, and women comprised 64.5% of the victims. Darmstadt lost between 12,500 and 13,500 inhabitants during World War II. The calligraphic memorial Durmstädter Brandnamen lists about 4,000 names.〔(Schriftkunst-Mahnmal im Weißen Turm; Echo, 17. Dezember 2014 )〕 Darmstadt had few industrial targets of note, a Merck chemical factory (far away from the city center) being one of them. By comparison with other German cities, preparations for bombing raids were less effective and flak defences had been depleted to provide defence for other cities. ==Minor raids== On the night of 23/24 September 1943 Darmstadt was bombed by 21 Avro Lancasters and 8 De Havilland Mosquitos of No. 8 Group RAF. Although it was a diversionary raid to draw night fighters away from the main 628-aircraft raid on Mannheim, the small force of bombers caused extensive damage in the university town that had little industry and which had not been seriously bombed before.〔(Royal Air Force Bomber Command: Campaign Diary September 1943 )〕 On the night of 24/25 April 1944, some RAF planes bombed Darmstadt and other towns when, due to low cloud, they failed to find the main target of the night which was Karlsruhe.〔(Royal Air Force Bomber Command: Campaign Diary April 1944 ), raf.mod.uk; accessed 19 January 2015.〕 An attack on the night of 25/26 August 1944 by No. 5 Group RAF was a failure. The Master Bomber had to return to base and his deputies were shot down en route. The pathfinder "Illuminating Force" flares were dropped too far to the west. As a result, most of the Main Force did not bomb at all, with a number diverting to bomb Russelsheim instead; 95 buildings were hit in Darmstadt and 8 people were killed by the scattered bombs which did hit the town.〔(Royal Air Force Bomber Command: Campaign Diary August 1944 ), raf.mod.uk; accessed 19 January 2015.〕〔Hastings, p. 394〕 After the main raid there was a further diversionary raid to draw night fighters away from the main target of Pforzheim by 4 RAF Mosquitos on the night of 23/24 February 1945.〔(Royal Air Force Bomber Command: Campaign Diary February 1945 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bombing of Darmstadt in World War II」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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