Objectives for the attacks on Belgrade, 6-8 April 1941?

[ChristianK]

Gentlemen,

are there any available Luftwaffe/OKW documents mentioning the actual objectives for the infamous attacks on Belgrade in April 1941?

I know about Hitler's demand for the "destruction" of Belgrade from the air in Directive 25 - but what was the actual meaning of these words? An aerial bombing of civilian areas (a "terror" bombing with psychological effects) or an attack on targets of military and political importance? Or a combination of both? Many secondary sources are not very clear on this issue...


Kind regards,

Christian

[Chris Goss]

From a pilot from 8./KG 2:
The first attack was against Belgrade. Our targets were the bridges over the Danube and the Sava. This was followed by a number of attacks on targets in Belgrade that were important to the war effort. The fighters escorting us were Bf 109s and Bf 110s from Hungary and Bulgaria. They did a splendid job-hardly an enemy fighter came close to do any damage. The Kette formation proved itself. It made concentrated simultaneous defensive fire from all aircraft. Our attackers probably suffered far greater losses than we did. Flak was quite accurate but also without significant results. The attacks on Belgrade were a complete success. An additional objective was the disruption or rail and road traffic, the destruction of trains and troop concentrations.

[ChristianK]

Thanks for the reply Chris. Not an official document, but interesting nonetheless. Where is this from?

[Chris Goss]

Diary of Lt Josef Steudel

[ChristianK]

Oh so this an entry made at the time of the the attack itself? Well this make this comment much more valuable. Is this diary published somewhere?

[Andy Mitchell]

Christian,

Is this of help - Anlage 5 zum Lagebericht 576

[Chris Goss]

The diary is the property of the family and they are allowing me to use it for my Do 217 book and already have done so for the Do 17 book

[ChristianK]

Thanks Andy! I was browsing through these files already but did not care to look in the "Luftlage West" ones. Good spot. The list of targets which got hit indicates that the Luftwaffe was indeed aiming for targets of operational importance; at least as its first priority..

[ChristianK]

Originally Posted by Chris Goss

The diary is the property of the family and they are allowing me to use it for my Do 217 book and already have done so for the Do 17 book

Ok, thanks for the info!

[vathra]

From a pilot from 8./KG 2:
The first attack was against Belgrade. Our targets were the bridges over the Danube and the Sava

I would have to check it, but this look suspicious. I don't think that bridges over the Sava were the target, as well as over Danube. Germans would need them soon.

Bridges were later demolished by Yugoslav Army.