[Laurent Rizzotti]

25 August 1940: first RAF raid
Later that afternoon, eighty-one British Hampden bombers were preparing for what to be the first attack to be made on the German capital Berlin. "If ever a bomb drops on Berlin, then you can call me Meier" G?g once joked convinced that British bombers would never be able to reach the capital. That night, the Hampdens did get through and Berlin was bombed, although damage was described as only being light.
8 August 1941: first Soviet raid
The Red Airforce targets Berlin for the first time in the war. Five Ilyushin Il-4 heavy bombers took off from bases in Estonia. Two bombers were shot down, two failed to find Berlin and one dropped its bombs just outside the city.
6 March 1944: first US raid
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 250: 504 B-17s and 226 B-24s are dispatched to hit industrial areas in the suburbs of Berlin; fierce fighter opposition claims 69 bombers (the highest number lost by the Eighth Air Force in a single day) and 11 fighters; the bombers claim 97-28-60 Luftwaffe fighters; details are:
1. 248 B-17s hit secondary targets in the Berlin area; 18 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 172 damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 8 WIA and 184 MIA.
2. 226 B-17s hit targets of opportunity at Templin, Verden, Kalkeberge, Potsdam, Oranienburg and Wittenberg; 35 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; casualties are 15 WIA and 354 MIA.
3. 198 B-24s hit the primary target (Genshagen industrial area), secondary targets in the Berlin area and targets of opportunity at Potsdam; 16 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 54 damaged; casualties are 15 KIA, 8 WIA and 148 MIA.
Escort is provided by 86 P-38s, 615 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 100 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; results are:
1. P-38s claim 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 is lost, the pilot is MIA.
2. P-47s claim 36-7-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-47s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged; casualties are 2 WIA and 5 MIA.
3. P-51s claim 43-1-20 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-51s are lost and 2 damaged; casualties are 5 MIA.
The fighters also claim 1-0-12 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground.

By the way, the French raid of 7-8 June 1940 was also totally unefficient, and just a propaganda affair. The crew had orders to raid Berlin but not to bomb the city itself (for fear of reprisals against Paris?), so dropped bombs in the suburbs....