The city of Vienna in Austria was bombed 52 times during World War II,[citation needed] and 37,000 houses of the city were lost,[citation needed] 20% of the entire city. Only 41 civilian vehicles survived the raids, and more than 3,000 bomb craters were counted.[citation needed]
History
After a lone Soviet air raid conducted on 4 September 1942,[1] Vienna was reached by western Allied bombers in 1944, when the Allied invasion of Italy allowed them to establish an air base at Foggia. Following the Normandy Invasion the greater part of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) was transferred to the West.[citation needed] Remaining Luftwaffe shot down one-tenth of 550 bombers in June 1944.[citation needed]
The air defences of Vienna were aided by a ring of anti-aircraft batteries set up around the city and three pairs of Flak towers. These were large anti-aircraft gun blockhouses built in the city. Due to the increasing lack of fuel, by autumn 1944, artillery on the ground was the only defence against air raids. It typically took some 5,000 small-calibre and 3,400 large-calibre shells to bring down one bomber. During the day, one out of 125 planes was shot down on average. During the night, this dropped to only one out of 145. However, roughly one-third of the bombers and escorts suffered heavy damage. Some Vienna factories were moved to bomb-proof sites such as caves (e.g. the Seegrotte near Hinterbrühl) or hidden in other ways. The military industry boosted its production,[specify] also by use of forced labour of concentration camp inmates and POWs. Bypasses for traffic junctions had been established before the bombings and traffic did not come to a halt until the very last days of the war.
By early 1945 Vienna had already faced 1,800 bombs.[citation needed] In February and March 1945, 80,000 tons of bombs were dropped by US and British aircraft, destroying more than 12,000 buildings, and 270,000 people were left homeless.[citation needed]
The 464 BG[6] and 465 BG earned Distinguished Unit Citations,[5] as the Heinkel-Süd plant in Floridsdorf was hit, destroying the third prototype of the He 177B four engined bomber, and possibly damaging the incomplete fourth prototype He 177B airframe.[7]
The Kagran oil refinery was bombed "in the Vienna, Austria area".
February 7, 1945
Korneuburg
The Korneuburg oil refinery was bombed "in the Vienna, Austria area".
February 7, 1945
Lobau
The 32 BS bombed the Lobau oil refinery.
February 7, 1945
Schwechat oil refinery
February 14, 1945
Floridsdorf
February 14, 1945
Lobau
February 14, 1945
Schwechat
February 15, 1945
Korneuburg
February 20, 1944
Schwechat
February 20, 1945
Lobau
The Lobau oil refinery and the Floridsdorf marshalling yard at Vienna were bombed. "The attack was outstandingly successful, resulting in severe damage to the boiler house, virtual destruction of the distillation unit pump house, the fractionating tower probably hit, and serious damage to tankage and rail sidings.[10]
March 12, 1945
Floridsdorf
B-24s and B-17s bombed the Floridsdorf oil refinery. The 747 bombers and 229 fighter planes caused heavy damage to the city centre and the Vienna State Opera and the Burgtheater burnt, and the Albertina, the Heinrichshof (on Ringstraße) and the Messepalast (Trade Fair Palace) were heavily damaged. The Philipphof (a block of apartments opposite to the Albertina and the State Opera House) collapsed, burying some 200 people who had sought shelter from the raid in its cellars. Most of the victims have never been unearthed and the Mahnmal gegen Krieg und Faschismus (English: Memorial against War and Fascism) has been erected there.
March 14, 1945
During the briefing for bombing the Vienna oil refinery, the briefing officer told crews to avoid the St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Vienna State Opera, the Schönbrunn Palace and other historic buildings and schools. Due to weather, the alternate target (Wiener Neustadt marshaling yards) was bombed.[8]: 228–9
March 15, 1945
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109 B-17s bomb the oil refinery at Ruhland (the Fifteenth's deepest penetration into Germany). 103 others bomb the alternate target, the refinery at Kolín, Czechoslovakia. 470+ other bombers attack targets in Austria, including Moosbierbaum, Schwechat, and Vienna/Floridsdorf oil refineries.
March 16, 1945
Floridsdorf
March 16, 1945
Korneuburg
March 1945 (mid)
300 bombs were dropped on the Tiergarten Schönbrunn, the world's oldest zoo. 2,000 animals out of 3,500 died including a bull rhino, a favourite of the zoo-keepers.
March 16, 1945
Schwechat
March 20, 1945
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In Austria, 760+ B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, hit the Korneuburg and Kagran oil refineries.
Vienna oil refinery(ies) bombed. On April 2, Soviet troops began the Vienna Offensive.
March 30, 1945
North Goods Depot
In the last Lone Wolf mission, 11 x aircraft using PFF strike Wien North Goods yard between 1034 ~ 1220 hrs.
April 16, 1945
"The advances of our ground forces have brought to a close the strategic air war waged by the United States Strategic Air Forces and the Royal Air Force Bomber Command." (Spaatz dispatch to Doolittle and Twining).[11]
^"Meeting No. 45/6"(PDF). Enemy Oil Intelligence Committee. February 6, 1945. Archived from the original(PDF) on August 21, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-22.