Uploaded December 2020 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Speaker: Alastair Noble
Hitting the Heart of Prussian Militarism: The RAF and the Potsdam Raid
The Potsdam Raid by Bomber Command on the evening of 14-15 April 1945 marked the last mass RAF attack on a German city of the Second World War. Over 500 Lancasters and Mosquitoes were despatched. It was the first time Bomber Command had sent four-engined Lancaster bombers into the Berlin defence zone since March 1944, the end of the bloody Battle of Berlin.
However, by April 1945, the circumstances were far more favourable for the attacking force. There was now little enemy territory to traverse before the target was reached. Nazi Germany was being throttled in a vice – by the time of the raid the Western Allies were on the River Elbe while the Red Army stood on the River Oder. The Third Reich was in the throes of defeat and its air defence capabilities were nearly exhausted – in its truncated territory there was no such thing as early warning, the Luftwaffe was rarely seen, and the flak was at the front.
Bombs had fallen on Potsdam before, largely because of its proximity to Berlin. In mid-April 1945 Potsdam was the target. It was the capital and administrative centre of the province of Brandenburg which surrounded Berlin. Potsdam was also the historic home of the Prussian Army with intact depots and barracks crucial for the Nazi regime’s determination to mount last-ditch resistance. These were Bomber Command’s primary targets.
This paper examines the exercise of devastating air power by Bomber Command at the zenith of its capabilities. It will consider the order for the attack and the reasoning for the raid. Was Potsdam a legitimate target or does the raid deserve the condemnation heaped on it by commentators such as Jorg Friedrich? They underline the cultural damage to the city’s historic heart and the high civilian death toll.
There will also be an attempt to assess the impact of the operation – a task made more challenging as bomb-scarred Potsdam was captured by the Red Army less than a fortnight later.
Speaker: Alastair Noble
Hitting the Heart of Prussian Militarism: The RAF and the Potsdam Raid
The Potsdam Raid by Bomber Command on the evening of 14-15 April 1945 marked the last mass RAF attack on a German city of the Second World War. Over 500 Lancasters and Mosquitoes were despatched. It was the first time Bomber Command had sent four-engined Lancaster bombers into the Berlin defence zone since March 1944, the end of the bloody Battle of Berlin.
However, by April 1945, the circumstances were far more favourable for the attacking force. There was now little enemy territory to traverse before the target was reached. Nazi Germany was being throttled in a vice – by the time of the raid the Western Allies were on the River Elbe while the Red Army stood on the River Oder. The Third Reich was in the throes of defeat and its air defence capabilities were nearly exhausted – in its truncated territory there was no such thing as early warning, the Luftwaffe was rarely seen, and the flak was at the front.
Bombs had fallen on Potsdam before, largely because of its proximity to Berlin. In mid-April 1945 Potsdam was the target. It was the capital and administrative centre of the province of Brandenburg which surrounded Berlin. Potsdam was also the historic home of the Prussian Army with intact depots and barracks crucial for the Nazi regime’s determination to mount last-ditch resistance. These were Bomber Command’s primary targets.
This paper examines the exercise of devastating air power by Bomber Command at the zenith of its capabilities. It will consider the order for the attack and the reasoning for the raid. Was Potsdam a legitimate target or does the raid deserve the condemnation heaped on it by commentators such as Jorg Friedrich? They underline the cultural damage to the city’s historic heart and the high civilian death toll.
There will also be an attempt to assess the impact of the operation – a task made more challenging as bomb-scarred Potsdam was captured by the Red Army less than a fortnight later.
