More than 20,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in the German city of Dortmund after a 4,000 pound World War II bomb was discovered.
The 1943 battle saw the British Empire (Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) attack the Ruhr Area of Germany, which had coke plants, steelworks, and 10 synthetic oil plants. The campaign bombed twenty-six major Combined Bomber Offensive targets. The targets included the Krupp armament works in Essen (near where my mother was born in a British military hospital), the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant (Gelsenkirchen), and the Rheinmetal-Borsig plant in Düsseldorf.
City authorities said they expect the operation to defuse the bomb will be completed by 2.30pm UK time (3.30pm local time).
While unexploded WWII-era bombs are regularly discovered in Germany, they are rarely as big as the one uncovered in Dortmund.
Thousands of people evacuated from their homes in Germany after discovery of 4,000-pound World War Two bomb
More than 20,000 have been forced from their homes
Explosive found by experts scouring old aerial photos for ordnance
Bomb dropped during Battle of the Ruhr, a five-month campaign led by the British Empire aimed at crippling Adolf Hitler's war effort
By Lizzie Parry
3 November 2013
Daily Mail
More than 20,000 people have been forced from their homes as German authorities prepare to defuse a massive bomb dating back to World War Two.
Thousands of properties have been evacuated in the west German city of Dortmund.
The 4,000-pound bomb was discovered after experts analysed old aerial photographs while searching for unexploded ordnance dropped on Germany's industrial Ruhr region by Allied aircraft.
Thousands of people have been offered shelter in the Westfalen Hall, in Dortmund after being forced from their homes
Experts examining old aerial photographs of Dortmund discovered the 4000-pound bomb, which is thought to have been dropped by the Allies during the Battle of the Ruhr
City authorities said they expect the operation to defuse the bomb will be completed by 2.30pm (3.30pm local time).
While unexploded WWII-era bombs are regularly discovered in Germany, they are rarely as big as the one uncovered in Dortmund.
A similar discovery two years ago prompted another mass evacuation, affecting 45,000 people in the city of Koblenz, along the River Rhine.
Rescue workers helped people from their homes today. The city authorities said they expect the operation to defuse the bomb to be completed by 2.30pm or 3.30pm local time
FIVE-MONTH BOMBING CAMPAIGN AIMED TO CRIPPLE GERMAN WAR EFFORT
An RAF Halifax bomber over the target during an attack on a synthetic oil plant in the Ruhr during the Second World War
The Battle of the Ruhr was a five-month campaign of strategic bombing launched in March 1943 by the British during World War Two.
British Empire bombers had within their sights the vast network of coke plants and steelworks as well as 10 synthetic oil plants, in a bid to cripple Nazi Germany's war effort.
The campaign bombed 26 key targets, including the Krupp armament works in Essen, the Norstern synthetic oil-plant in Gelsenkirchen and the Rheinmetal-Borsig plant in Düsseldorf.
Organised defence and the cloud of industrial pollutants producing a semi-permanent smog or industrial haze hampered accurate bombing.
The British bomber force was made up of the twin-engined Vickers Wellington medium bomber and the four-engined Short Stirling, Handley Page Halifax and the Avro Lancaster. Britain's Lancaster bomber was the most accurate and effective bomber of WWII, dropping about as many bombs on Germany as the entire USAAF.
British raids were carried out at night, the losses during daylight missions proving too heavy to bear.
Between them the Allies mounted 24-hour bombing raids, with the United States air force inflicting a series of raids during daylight hours, with close groups of bombers offering cover to one another.
The raids carried out during the Battle of the Ruhr severely disrupted German production with steel production falling by 200,000 tons and the armaments industry facing a steel shortfall of 400,000 tons.
Hitler and his minister for armaments Albert Speer were forced to cut planned increases in production.
Read more: Thousands of people evacuated from their homes in Germany after discovery of 4,000-pound World War Two bomb | Mail Online
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The 1943 battle saw the British Empire (Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) attack the Ruhr Area of Germany, which had coke plants, steelworks, and 10 synthetic oil plants. The campaign bombed twenty-six major Combined Bomber Offensive targets. The targets included the Krupp armament works in Essen (near where my mother was born in a British military hospital), the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant (Gelsenkirchen), and the Rheinmetal-Borsig plant in Düsseldorf.
City authorities said they expect the operation to defuse the bomb will be completed by 2.30pm UK time (3.30pm local time).
While unexploded WWII-era bombs are regularly discovered in Germany, they are rarely as big as the one uncovered in Dortmund.
Thousands of people evacuated from their homes in Germany after discovery of 4,000-pound World War Two bomb
More than 20,000 have been forced from their homes
Explosive found by experts scouring old aerial photos for ordnance
Bomb dropped during Battle of the Ruhr, a five-month campaign led by the British Empire aimed at crippling Adolf Hitler's war effort
By Lizzie Parry
3 November 2013
Daily Mail
More than 20,000 people have been forced from their homes as German authorities prepare to defuse a massive bomb dating back to World War Two.
Thousands of properties have been evacuated in the west German city of Dortmund.
The 4,000-pound bomb was discovered after experts analysed old aerial photographs while searching for unexploded ordnance dropped on Germany's industrial Ruhr region by Allied aircraft.
Thousands of people have been offered shelter in the Westfalen Hall, in Dortmund after being forced from their homes
Experts examining old aerial photographs of Dortmund discovered the 4000-pound bomb, which is thought to have been dropped by the Allies during the Battle of the Ruhr
City authorities said they expect the operation to defuse the bomb will be completed by 2.30pm (3.30pm local time).
While unexploded WWII-era bombs are regularly discovered in Germany, they are rarely as big as the one uncovered in Dortmund.
A similar discovery two years ago prompted another mass evacuation, affecting 45,000 people in the city of Koblenz, along the River Rhine.
Rescue workers helped people from their homes today. The city authorities said they expect the operation to defuse the bomb to be completed by 2.30pm or 3.30pm local time
FIVE-MONTH BOMBING CAMPAIGN AIMED TO CRIPPLE GERMAN WAR EFFORT
An RAF Halifax bomber over the target during an attack on a synthetic oil plant in the Ruhr during the Second World War
The Battle of the Ruhr was a five-month campaign of strategic bombing launched in March 1943 by the British during World War Two.
British Empire bombers had within their sights the vast network of coke plants and steelworks as well as 10 synthetic oil plants, in a bid to cripple Nazi Germany's war effort.
The campaign bombed 26 key targets, including the Krupp armament works in Essen, the Norstern synthetic oil-plant in Gelsenkirchen and the Rheinmetal-Borsig plant in Düsseldorf.
Organised defence and the cloud of industrial pollutants producing a semi-permanent smog or industrial haze hampered accurate bombing.
The British bomber force was made up of the twin-engined Vickers Wellington medium bomber and the four-engined Short Stirling, Handley Page Halifax and the Avro Lancaster. Britain's Lancaster bomber was the most accurate and effective bomber of WWII, dropping about as many bombs on Germany as the entire USAAF.
British raids were carried out at night, the losses during daylight missions proving too heavy to bear.
Between them the Allies mounted 24-hour bombing raids, with the United States air force inflicting a series of raids during daylight hours, with close groups of bombers offering cover to one another.
The raids carried out during the Battle of the Ruhr severely disrupted German production with steel production falling by 200,000 tons and the armaments industry facing a steel shortfall of 400,000 tons.
Hitler and his minister for armaments Albert Speer were forced to cut planned increases in production.
Read more: Thousands of people evacuated from their homes in Germany after discovery of 4,000-pound World War Two bomb | Mail Online
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