Bombings of Heilbronn in World War II During World War II , the German city of Heilbronn was bombed many times by both the British and the Americans . The largest air - raid occurred on December 4 , 1944 , but there were many previous attacks targeted at Heilbronn that were almost as damaging . These raids continued until the end of World War II ; in 1944 , Heilbronn was attacked to a point where alarms in the city were almost daily . Altogether , an estimated 7 , 000 inhabitants lost their lives during the bombing . Initial air raids . The first raid occurred on December 17 , 1940 . Three high - explosive and 20 incendiary bomb s were released upon the city , resulting in the destruction of 20 houses and the damaging of 70 more . Three people were killed , and a further twelve were injured . Two days later , heavy anti - air defence was installed in the city , but was soon replaced by a lighter version , due to military requirements . August 1941 - May 1942 . Between August and November 1941 , the city was bombed four times . However , the resulting damage was minimal . During the day of one of these raids , individual fighter - bombers had been seen flying close - to and around the city . On May 7 , 1942 , a raid struck the city center , destroying or damaging approximately 150 houses , and killing seven people . Casablanca conference . In January 1943 , the Allies held a conference concerning the future direction of the war . Included in this was the strategic bombing of Germany . Under the agreed strategy the United States would make attacks on precision targets by day ( including traffic junctions and specific industrial targets ) , while the British would attack at night , which would in consequence be less accurate ( " area targets " ) , in particular on industrial cities . After this conference , the two nations upheld their respective assigned ' duties ' , and while the Americans conducted fairly accurate air assaults on individual targets , such as German war plants , Luftwaffe airfields , and military ports , the British were successful in their endeavour of attacking German urban centres , leaving many in ruins . Numerous German cities and towns were destroyed in 1943 , but Heilbronn was not targeted for destruction . 1944 . While 1943 may have proved a good year for Heilbronn , 1944 saw one of the worst air - raids to hit the city . In January and February , Heilbronn suffered a two - week - long attack by the Royal Air Force . These raids and Heilbronn ' s struggle continued into April , by when the city had been utterly devastated , and air - raid alarms sounded almost daily . By July , store opening times were extended to make up for lost shopping time . Later in the year , the attacks grew so bad that theater in the city was abolished , and the local police decided to enforce a ban on any decorations in windows that could be potentially flammable . However , help eventually did come , when gau leader Wilhelm Murr arrived in the town on August 5 , supplied with air - defense devices and weaponry . By the beginning of September , the number of air - raid alerts sounded in the city had risen to a staggering 160 . September . By September 1944 , Allied forces were seriously considering a major assault on Heilbronn . At this time , frequent and near - daily alerts were still occurring in the city , but on September 8 , four alarms were triggered due to bombers heading for Nuremberg . The alarms happened from 1 : 45 am to 2 : 31 am , 11 : 34 am to 12 : 42 pm , 2 : 38 to 3 : 48 pm and from 10 : 30 pm to 11 : 42 pm . The following day , September 9 , only one alert sounded . However , in the morning of the day after that , September 10 , approximately 100 airplanes of the 8th US Air Force went over Heilbronn . Even though this mission was centred on an aircraft plant in Günzburg , with a secondary target of a marshalling yard in Ulm , there was close cloud cover that day , but Heilbronn was the secondary target . Over Heilbronn , the sky was cloudless , and the actual assault was visible to the populace . Soon after 11 : 30 that morning , Allied planes struck at Heilbronn ' s stations and ports and the marshalling yard . Then ensued a bombardment of the city that continued for several hours , causing the death of over 280 people , with an estimated further 400 in need of help due to injury . The raid also caused the loss of over 300 houses . Almost 100 cars were badly damaged or destroyed , many other buildings and stations were rendered irreparable . The planners of this raid called these statistics " very good results " afterwards . The ensuing fires were too much for the local brigade to handle ; help had to be called from places such as Gronau , Lauffen am Neckar , Untereisesheim , Schwaigern and Weinsberg , among others . Even with this aid , the extinguishing of the many fires , both in and around Heilbronn , took several days . The fire that had started after the city hall was destroyed took three days alone to put out . In addition to this , cattle from surrounding regions had been injured by falling bomb fragments ; many of these animals had to be slaughtered . This resulted in a lot of work for veterinarians in the area . October . In the late summer and early autumn of 1944 , the Allied forces developed Oboe , a radio - beacon based navigational system . However , targets in southern Germany were about 500 to 600 km away from the transmitters , and because radio signals spread in a linear way and do not follow the Earth ' s curvature , aircraft had to be led over the target region at a height of approximately 10 , 000 metres . This required the use of the light and almost completely wooden Mosquito airplanes . With the establishment of Oboe , and in control of a fleet of six Mosquitoes ( directed by Oboe ) , the Allies staged a strike on the city that commenced at 9 : 30 pm . The railway facilities were targeted by three of these planes , while the city center was assaulted by two aircraft . The next day , the 28th , the railroad was hit again , this time under fire from five Mosquitoes . Two days later , six aircraft attacked the railroad again , and the city center . After this , several more attacks caused intense fire . During these raids , at least half a dozen attacks had hit the city , all in October . Despite this , the city remained a target . December Raid . On the evening of December 4 , 1944 , 282 Lancaster bombers of 627 Squadron and ten escort fighters flew over the city in loose formation . The night was thickly clouded , this factor altered the approach height of the planes . At 7 : 18 the first plane flew over , but it was the second plane that dropped 10 bombs with long - term fuses onto the city about one minute later . Immediately after dropping the bombs , this plane began its return flight . At 7 : 20 , flare marker s were dropped on the city in order to allow accurate bombing by the rest of the squadron . A ' flashlight bomb ' was dropped , and exploded at 600 feet . After all the flares were released , the area was illuminated as bright as day . This light was clearly distinguishable to the bomber pilots , and they were subsequently ordered to go in and assault . After the flare markers , the flashlight bombs , and other such devices used for targeting were released and were functioning effectively , Lancaster PB 251s dropped the first load of high explosives . Approximately 5 , 800 bombs , dropped from a height of 3 , 800 metres , hitting the city at 7 : 29 . The attack continued until 9 : 38 , with a further 1 , 200 tonnes of bombs released upon the city , and 380 devastating the marshalling yard . Within a period of half an hour , over 6 , 500 people , including 1 , 000 children under 10 years of age , lost their lives . The exact number of victims is impossible to determine because many corpses were burned beyond recognition . Due to the number of incendiary bomb s that fell on the city , and the number and impact of the bombs , fires burned throughout the night , entering the city was impossible for days . Aftermath . Although 62 % of the city was destroyed , the damage in relation to the number of bombs and the force of the attack is remarkable for several reasons . Many German cities and towns were already in ruins , or were burnt - out by prior bombardments ; the British would have preferred to attack with high explosive bombs in order to maximise the damage caused . The entire old section of the town was destroyed . Donations to the city were instrumental to the city ' s repairs and victim aid . During the actual attack , German defenses could do little . Two anti - aircraft positions at the Neckar and 14 German Junkers Ju 88 night fighters fought against the British bombers . The RAF lost eleven aircraft . Since the bombing was conducted on a Monday evening , much of the population of Heilbronn was positioned in or around the city center , but at the first signs of attack , many fled to a high bomb shelter ( the General Wever tower ) , and two other low shelters ( in the industrial area and at " Kaiser Friedrich - Platz " ) . Many also fled to an air raid shelter nearby . However , by 8 : 00 pm the city centre was engulfed in flames , and anyone inside these buildings either burned to death or were asphyxiated . Many people who attempted to leave the city were also burnt on the roads . In the end , the air raid shelter collapsed , anyone left inside was killed . To make matters worse , the urban hospital was left in ruins , so it was nearly impossible to treat the wounded . A great many people were able to take refuge in the emergency military hospital , or a converted mental hospital located in nearby Weinsberg . After the fires were under control , rescue work and clearing up of the town began and help was sought from the surrounding area . On the night of 5 December the number of dead was stated to be approximately 4 , 000 with another 3 , 000 injured . Burials . A task force was chosen to find the dead and to rescue any bodies . The dead that were found were brought to the city cemetery . Even then , there were not enough coffins for all the dead , Ulm and other cities supplied a total of 1 , 000 caskets . When it was found that the cemetery , as well as other places , could not provide enough space to adequately lay to rest the deceased , the resolution was that an honor cemetery ( mass grave ) be built at the edge of the forest near the valley of the Köpfer Creek . The work on this project began on 6 December , while the dead were brought on carriages to the Köpfer Valley . < br > On 8 December , the burnt - out city center and the collapsed air raid shelter were accessed by salvage teams , and more dead were returned to the families for burial . Salvage work continued for over three weeks , into the Christmas of 1944 . Many dead could not be retrieved , particularly in heavily damaged road courses . Many would simply have been impossible to locate or bring out , whether from the air - raid shelter , or the ruins of the city center ; it is assumed that there are many human remains still in the soil . Attacks until the end of the war . Up to the end of the war , several raids , while much less powerful or as damaging as the attack in December 1944 , were centered on Heilbronn . These attacks were relatively minor and were more focused on other parts of southern Germany , with Heilbronn receiving much less attention than before . On 12 April 1945 , US forces occupied the city , after a ten - day battle over the Neckar crossings . At the war ' s start , Heilbronn had almost 14 , 500 buildings . During the war 5 , 100 buildings were destroyed and another 3 , 800 badly damaged . Heilbronn ' s population shrank to 46 , 350 . Reconstruction and recovery . After the war had ended , Emil Beutinger , a former pre - Nazi era mayor , re - entered office and took responsibility for the enormous task of reconstruction and repair of the city . This task was continued and completed by his successors in office , Paul Metz and Paul Meyle . Reconstruction milestones included the rededication of the historic city hall in 1953 and the reopening of the community centre . Starting in 1951 , US forces were permanently stationed in the city . The Americans added several of their own buildings . They also used barracks built before World War II . Present day Heilbronn . Today , Heilbronn thrives , but while the city itself has all but recovered , the memory of the attacks and all who died as a result lives on . It now has approximately 120 , 000 residents , and is currently the 6th largest city in Baden - Württemberg , at almost 100 square kilometers in area . Heilbronn is also known as the " major economic centre " of the Heilbronn - Franken region , an area that encompasses almost all of the Northeast section of Baden - Württemberg . Memorials . The first memorial commemoration of those who died took place on 26 August 1945 . Since then , an annual memorial service has been held , and on December 4 , many people come to the honor cemetery to reflect on the dead . The destruction and subsequent reconstruction has reshaped the landscape , its effects are still visible today . The unsalvageable rubble from the attacks has been dumped into the Neckar River and Böckinger Lake . Context and background information . Prior to the Allied bombing campaign against German cities , German aggression , apart from starting World War II , was expressed in many bombing attacks against other countries , both neutral and Allied . Unprovoked German bombing of Rotterdam , Warsaw , Belgrade , and many others throughout Europe occurred before Allied retaliation against German cities and military targets ; many nations suffered . The war was not a one - sided conflict , and it is important to note that while Germany was the instigator of the war , many civilians were killed on both sides .