Then I thought: what if the Germans found out that I was condemned to death? On 13 February 2003, during the commemoration of the 58th anniversary of the Bombing of Dresden, inhabitants of Dresden, Germany, including survivors of the firestorm of 1945, joined together with witnesses of the bombing of Guernica to issue an appeal to the people of the world: The framework has proved its mettle, but will the country coalesce into a governable entity whose members will find a way to cooperate for the common good? In the last months of World War II, Allied bombers conducted several major bombing raids on the eastern German city of Dresden. The bombing was controversial because Dresden's contribution to the war effort was minimal compared with other German cities â though it was a key transport junction and used by German forces to defend the country against Soviet forces approaching from the east. Even so, our bodies shook as the ground vibrated. What follows is Victors graphic account of the fate of Dresden, Dresden the city with no defences, there are accounts of what Victor found whilst helping to find survivors and his accounts of seeing people sucked into fires, three bombing raids followed each other, nationality means nothing when you are helping to find civilans hopefully trapped in their cellars where they might have escaped the firestorm Letters: Perhaps instead of a memorial to Bomber Command we should have a memorial to all the powerless people who become victims of war … Renner’s family made it safely to the home of one of his dentist father’s patients. 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By February 15, Dresden, in eastern Germany, was a smouldering ruin â 2,400 tons of high explosives and 1,500 tons of incendiary bombs were dropped on the city. I have every respect for the brave lads of the RAF who flew those bombers. After half an hour, the second wave of bombers started to thin out. The first three shelters we uncovered were empty, but further examination of the third revealed a tunnel leading to another shelter. DRESDEN, Germany (AP) — Soviet troops were pressing into Germany from the east and the other Allies from the west, but for 12-year-old schoolboy Eberhard Renner the war seemed far away. Day two. Worse, we felt ourselves being sucked towards the inferno by a huge force as air rushed in to replace the vacuum caused by the blasts. Rifleman Victor Gregg recalls the firestorm left behind when Allies attacked the city in 1945 After neo-Nazis began inflating the figure further, talking of 500,000 to 1 million victims of a “bombing Holocaust,” the city established an expert commission to investigate. On February 13th 1945 the Allies began a series of air raids against the German city of Dresden. The phosphorous clung to their bodies, turning them into human torches. The flames became more intense. No one challenged me as I walked against the people moving westwards, pushing their most treasured belongings in small handcarts, prams, anything on wheels. The door was a massive affair bolted from the outside â which had been the general practice to prevent overcrowding. But we were stopped by the scorching heat. We'd been chosen to fight the battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands, which ended in a major defeat for our side. It is from the memories of common people who survived the Dresden Bombing of February 13-14, 1945, that we can understand why somewhere between 130,000 and 300,000 common people had to die. The Fire-bombing of Dresden An eye-witness account Since the facts of the combined USAF and RAF raids on Dresden became known, mostly through the novel 'Slaughterhouse Five' by Kurt Vonnegut, there has been great controversy as to why this appalling raid was considered necessary. Middlebrook draws on personal accounts by participants, witnesses and survivors from both sides and from as many different kinds of involvement as possible: flight and ground crew, anti-aircraft gunners, radar operators, controllers, air raid wardens, night fighter pilots, civilians. “She was burned to a cinder, had become very small, but her hand was held up and on it was her gold wedding band, shining, not blackened at all,” said the 82-year-old retired architecture professor. On the 75th anniversary of the start of the bombing, this is his eyewitness account of the devastation he left behind. Adapted from Dresden: A Survivor's Story, February 1945 by Victor Gregg with Rick Stroud, published by Bloomsbury at £5.99. 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