Leskovac, YU/SB, 6 September 1944, 15th AF mission

[Leendert]

Have just about finished reading Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy Maclean telling of his time in wartime Yugoslavia (among many other things...).

A passage in the book is devoted to the heavy bombing of the town of Leskovac, on 6 September 1944. Although Maclean writes he saw Fortresses,, I gathered the mission was done by B-24s of 98 BG, 449 BG, 450 BG and 464 BG.

Were more Groups involved? This to get a full(er) picture.

Thanks for info.

Leendert

[RSwank]

The 376th BG also flew that mission:

https://www.armyaircorps-376bg.com/1944_06_sep.html

[Buckeye30]

(From the 5th Bomb Wing History all 6 B-17 Groups flew missions).
2BG Mission 270 ORADEA (Romania) M/Y
99BG Mission 258 same
301BG Mission 341 same
463BG Mission 98 same
483BG Mission 87 same
97BG Mission 347 BELGRADE
They would over-fly Serbia to Oradea (?).



Regards
Nick

[Leendert]

Fitzroy Maclean must have been mistaken in his book. The B-24 groups were on the mission to Leskovac.
On the other hand, he was quite exact describing the shooting down of Beaufighter NV215 of 19 Sqdn SAAF at Valjevo on 17 September 1944 (RAFVR crew F/O Cyril Mason and P/O John Peacey, both killed).

Regards,
Leendert

[Stig Jarlevik]

Our friend Geoffrey Sinclair is once again talking through me and wishes to add the following mission details:


All visual bombing
Hungary,
Nyiregyhaza M/Y bombing between 1110 and 1114 B-24 from 460th, 464th, 465th, 485th, plus 1 B-24 from the 485th attacking Kiskun

Romania bombing between 1055 and 1108 B-17,
Oradea/East M/Y 99th, 483rd
Oradea/Sebes Koros RR/Br 463rd
Oradea/West M/Y 2nd, 301st

Yugoslavia bombing between 1057 and 1059 B-24,
Novi Sad/East M/Y 454th, 459th
Novi Sad/South M/Y 455th, 456th

Belgrade/East RR/Br bombing at 0956 B-24 from 451st, 461st

Leskovac M/Y bombing at 1213 B-24 from 98th "some bombs in town".
Leskovac Troop Concentration bombing between 1208 and 1218 B-24 from 376th, 449th, 450th

No ground fire reported at Leskovac, the bombers dropped 1,000 pound bombs 0.1 to 0.01 fusing,
98th 25 effective, 2 non effective sorties, 61 short tons dropped, 3 short tons jettisoned
376th 28 effective sorties, 79 short tons dropped, 4 short tons jettisoned
449th 28 effective sorties, 69 short tons dropped, 1 short ton jettisoned
450th 21 effective, 7 non effective sorties, 51.5 short tons dropped

Escorted by 23 P-38 from 82nd FG.

Also being run on the 6th were evacuation flights from Romania, escorted by 16 P-51 from the 52nd FG.


Cheers
Stig

[vathra]

There were more than a 1000 civilian casualties in bombing of Leskovac on September 6th.
Considering tonnage dropped, too much, many times more than in other bombings in Yugoslavia.

It was Allied bombing with the most civilian casualties in Yugoslavia.

[Leendert]

Thanks for all additional details. Yes, I read about the civilian casualties when looking for more info. Maclean makes a reference to it in his book, gaining my interest.

Regards, Leendert

[Buckeye30]

Stig would you mind asking Geoffrey a question ? as I don't see the 97BG on his post. According to their mission list they went to Belgrade on the 6th; it has a mission number so I presume it's correct. Just curious.
Thanks
Nick

[Stig Jarlevik]

I have asked him Nick

Geoffrey wish to add the following:

There is a sort of assumption behind WWII air raid casualties that they all about the heavy bomber raids on the major cities. Plenty of small settlements were bombed. The cities had warning and shelter systems not available to smaller settlements, the less warning and the less shelter the more lethal each bomb became on average. Towns and villages tend to grow up around cross roads, river crossings or the high ground and the like coming with improvements like rail stations and sidings, bridges or small ports, or simply just provide shelter and a high point like a church steeple. If you are living in a small community near or containing something considered militarily important what chance you have no real warning or shelter the day the bombers turn up?
Hence why the USSR reports (via Fredrick Taylor) about as many killed in air raids as Germany, with other reports they stopped counting the dead from air raids on Stalingrad before 6th Army arrived when it hit about 40,000.
For Germany over the course of WWII it was around 1 death per 2.2 short ton of bombs dropped on the country, or about 0.45 deaths per short ton. In the allied bombing of France over the course of the war it seems civilian deaths per ton of bombs were around a quarter of the attacks on Germany.

In WWI about 300 metric tons of bombs dropped on the UK killed about 1,400 people, or about 4 deaths per short ton. Projecting this figure onto late 1930’s capabilities was a big factor in estimates of airpower capacity. The WWII raid results in terms of damage done and people killed varied widely.

In WWII about 70,000 metric tons of conventional bombing killed 51,509 civilians in the UK, about 0.66 deaths per short ton of bombs.

About 3,600 tons of explosives on V1s killed 6,184 people, 1.5 deaths per short ton
About 1,100 tons of explosives on V2s killed 2,754 people, 2.2 deaths per short ton.

The 1,000 bomber raid on Cologne in May 1942 dropped 1,697.8 short tons of bombs, killing either 469 or 486 people including 52 military personnel, or about 0.3 deaths per ton of bombs. This was a new high for deaths in a single raid.

The Mosquito only raid on Hamburg on 30 September 1944 dropped 65.5 short tons of bombs, 103 people were killed including some trampled to death in a panic, 1.6 deaths per ton of bombs.

The 5th April 1943 strike on Antwerp, 104 B-17s of which 82 were rated as effective, dropping 245.5 tons of bombs on the industrial area, as the primary target, 936 civilians killed or around 4 deaths per ton of bombs. The inhabitants realised too late the target was in their city.

When the 15th AF attacked rail facilities in Marseilles on 27 May 1944 over 1,500 French civilians were killed, along with 500 houses destroyed. There had been an attack in December 1943. According to the French report on the raid the population discounted the chance of further attacks and did not take good precautions. Some 72 bombers attacked, dropping 177.5 short tons of HE bombs versus the French estimate of 130 aircraft attacking, about 8.5 deaths per ton of bombs.

The raid that caused the Hamburg firestorm dropped 2,707.2 short tons of bombs, causing somewhere around 15 deaths per ton. The raid that caused the Dresden firestorm dropped 2,978.4 short tons of bombs, about 8.4 deaths per ton of bombs. Pforzheim lost 17,600 dead from 1,825 tons of bombs, around 9.6 death per ton of bombs.
HE and incendiaries are usually best to destroy things, AP to break into shelters and fragmentation bombs best against people, create a firestorm and shelters go from safe to lethal.


Stig

[Stig Jarlevik]

Originally Posted by Buckeye30

Stig would you mind asking Geoffrey a question ? as I don't see the 97BG on his post. According to their mission list they went to Belgrade on the 6th; it has a mission number so I presume it's correct. Just curious.
Thanks
Nick

Here is Geoffrey's answer

15th AF Target and Duty Sheets, 97th Bomb Group.
31-Aug-44 Bucharest/Popesti PW/evac
01-Sep-44 Mesgrada RR/Br
03-Sep-44 Belgrade/Sava RR/Br
04-Sep-44 Genoa UB/Base
05-Sep-44 Budapest/North RR/Br
08-Sep-44 Brod/South M/Y
10-Sep-44 Vienna/Schwechat O/Ben
12-Sep-44 Munich/Lechfeld A/F
13-Sep-44 Blechhammer/N (I.G. Farben) O/Sy
15-Sep-44 Athens/Kalamaki A/F
17-Sep-44 Budapest/Rakos M/Y
18-Sep-44 Subotica M/Y
19-Sep-44 Blechhammer (I.G. Farben) O/Sy
20-Sep-44 Budapest/South RR/Br

Cheers
Stig