Cathedral

[billrunnels]

On May 9, 1945 I was on one of the crews from the 303rd to complete the first "Continental Express" flight over Germany. After buzzing Brussels we headed down the river Rhine at a very low altitude. When passing the Cathedral at Cologne, Germany we had to gain altitude to clear the wreckage of the bridge. The attached photo will give you some idea as to how low we were. We did not take this picture.

 

[Crimea_River]

Amazes me to this day that that cathedral survived the bombings given all the destruction around it.

 

[billrunnels]

Amazes me to this day that that cathedral survived the bombings given all the destruction around it.

It is amazing.

 

[pbehn]

It is a fabulous building, and the first thing you see walking out of the railway station. Compared to most European cathedrals it is actually quite new being completed in 1880.

 

[Gnomey]

Great stuff Bill!

 

[billrunnels]

It is a fabulous building, and the first thing you see walking out of the railway station. Compared to most European cathedrals it is actually quite new being completed in 1880.

It looked beautiful from the river as well. Marvelous structure. Glad it didn't receive more damage than it did.

 

[pbehn]

It looked beautiful from the river as well. Marvelous structure. Glad it didn't receive more damage than it did.

It was actually hit by 14 bombs during the war, maybe its the vaulted structure but they are all much stronger than they look, or maybe they have a charmed life. Here is Caen

 

[MIflyer]

I think that was the cathedral where at a meeting with the RAF Gen Eaker said, "I'm sorry to have to report that we hit the cathedral at Cologne yesterday."

And RAF Marshall "Bomber" Harris replied, "Good! I've been aiming at the damn thing for a year!"

Actually, for the 8th AF mission hit to Munster railyards in October 1943, the aiming point was the cathedral, since the bomb strike area would tend to fall short and trail back, hitting the RR yards and the houses for the people who worked there.

There must not have been much around the Cologne cathedral worth bombing.

 

[pbehn]

There must not have been much around the Cologne cathedral worth bombing.

Just the city of Cologne named after the Roman Emperor Agrippa's wife Colonia.

 

[billrunnels]

I think that was the cathedral where at a meeting with the RAF Gen Eaker said, "I'm sorry to have to report that we hit the cathedral at Cologne yesterday."

And RAF Marshall "Bomber" Harris replied, "Good! I've been aiming at the damn thing for a year!"

Actually, for the 8th AF mission hit to Munster railyards in October 1943, the aiming point was the cathedral, since the bomb strike area would tend to fall short and trail back, hitting the RR yards and the houses for the people who worked there.

There must not have been much around the Cologne cathedral worth bombing.

I suspect the rail yards were a prime target in 1943.

 

[MIflyer]

Bill:

Did y'all take the ground crews on a tour of Europe right after the end of the war?

The US pretty much did not just bomb cities in Europe. We were aiming at specific targets, factories, rail yards, etc.

Bomber Harris thought the way to win the war was "de-housing." Burn down the places where people lived and they would rise up and overthrow the Nazi government when they had enough. That did not happen nor even come close. Even the Germans who decided they did not like the war were more scared of their Nazi govt than they were of Allied bombs.

But Bomber Harris even disliked diverting Bomber Command from de-housing to hitting factories and transportation systems.

 

[billrunnels]

Bill:

Did y'all take the ground crews on a tour of Europe right after the end of the war?

Yes. I crewed on two May 9th and 12th. Each trip was about 9 hours. The first was the day following end of the war and we drew flak when passing over a fortified Sub Pen in the North Sea. This Cathedral low level pass took place on the first trip.