Operation Tigerfish was the air raid on Freiburg in the evening of 27 November 1944 by the Royal Air Force with about 2,800 dead.
The name Tigerfish goes back to Air Vice-Marshal Robert Saundby, an avid fisherman who codenamed all German cities "fitted" for carpet bombing with a Fish code.Data sheet Fishcodes . Saundby was the deputy of Air Chief Marshal Arthur Harris, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command.
Background
Dateof air raidWalter Vetter (Hrsg.): Freiburg in Trümmern (in ruins) 1944–1952, Rombach, Freiburg. p. 171: „in accordance with a chart elaborated during the war with estimated numbers."Numberdropped bombs 10.05.1940 69 03.10.1943 12 07.10.1943 7 09.09.1944 only on-board-guns 10.09.1944 only on-board-guns 12.09.1944 2 29.09.1944 only on-board-guns 07.10.1944 only on-board-guns 08.10.1944 only on-board-guns 03.11.1944 8 04.11.1944 21 21.11.1944 15 27.11.1944 14.525This number is based on: Gerd R. Ueberschär: Freiburg im Luftkrieg (during the air raids) 1939–1945. Freiburg im Breisgau/München, 1990, p. 242. . Walter Vetter gives an estimated number of 50.000 bombs. 02.12.1944 34 03.12.1944 49 17.12.1944 74 22.12.1944 5 25.12.1944 only on-board-guns 29.12.1944 13 30.12.1944 47 01.01.1945 32 04.01.1945 10 15.01.1945 59 08.02.1945 248 10.02.1945 44 13.02.1945 1 18.02.1945 18 21.02.1945 7 22.02.1945 36 24.02.1945 20 25.02.1945 1024 26.02.1945 79 28.02.1945 1861 04.03.1945 53 13.03.1945 24 16.03.1945 1801 After Freiburg was mistakenly bombed by the German Luftwaffe on 10 May 1940 when 57 people were killed, the city remained spared from attacks until October 1943.
For a long time, people in Freiburg had lived in the hope that they would not have to suffer a major attack. The city was classified only as air protection location category 2 in 1935.Heiko Haumann, Hans Schadek (Hrsg.): Geschichte der Stadt Freiburg. Band 3: Von der badischen Herrschaft bis zur Gegenwart. Stuttgart 2001, . . As a consequence, Freiburg had to make arrangements for adequate protection of the population by the construction of shelters and bunkers without getting any financial resources from the state. The hope of being spared from bombing still existed, when air raids were made on nearby cities because Freiburg was not included in the target list of the Allies at the forefront.
In autumn 1943, the Allies dropped leaflets in northern Germany that homeless people from the Reich would be welcome in the city. The intention was to trigger a movement of refugees to Freiburg. This propaganda campaign remained, however, without consequences.Heiko Haumann, Hans Schadek (Hrsg.): Geschichte der Stadt Freiburg (History of Freiburg) Volume 3: Von der badischen Herrschaft bis zur Gegenwart (From the Badish rule to the present day) Stuttgart 2001, , p. 360
From 3 October 1943, there was the first light bombing. Thus, on 7 October 1943, when aircraft of the U.S. Air Force (USAAF, 1st Bomb Division) bombed rail facilities of the city.
On 1 April 1944 the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) flew an attack on Ludwigshafen. However, the aircraft turned away and headed for its secondary target - Freiburg. Instead, the bombers mistakenly attacked the Swiss city Schaffhausen.
On 3 November 1944, the freight railway station and the airfield of Freiburg were the target of 16 bombers of the 9th U.S. tactical fleet. On 21 November 1944, there was a further attack.Gerd R. Ueberschär: Freiburg im Luftkrieg (during the air raids) 1939–1945. Freiburg im Breisgau/München, 1990. p. 181 et seqq. .
Target In the city there was hardly any enterprises of military importance. The Bomber's Baedeker listed in 1944 Mez AG, Deutsche Acetate Kunstseiden A.G. „Rhodiaceta" and Hellige & Co. as well as the Gasworks of Freiburg as goals of category 3. Only the railway junction appears in Category 2. Purely military targets were not mentioned.cf. the extract from the so-called Bomber’s Baedeker in: Gerd R. Ueberschär: Freiburg im Luftkrieg (during the air raids) 1939–1945. Freiburg im Breisgau/Munich, 1990. P. 107. .
Freiburg came increasedly into the focus of the Allied Bomber Command when the front approached from the west to the frontier. Due to its convenient location on the Rhine Valley Railway and the Freiburg–Colmar railway via Breisach to the Alsace Freiburg played an increasingly important role for troop movements. The Allies assumed in 1943 that it would be possible for the Wehrmacht to move seven divisions from the Eastern to the Western Front within 12 to 14 days.The Casablanca Conference, III, P. 539. In: United States Department of State / Foreign relations of the United States. The Conferences at Washington, 1941–1942, and Casablanca, 1943. (1941–1943) That is why General Eisenhower ordered on 22 November 1944 to attack railway and transportation hubs from the air. After a daylight attack of the Americans on Offenburg the British should bomb Freiburg the following day. Because the "transport connections bordered built-up areas",Gerd R. Ueberschär: Freiburg im Luftkrieg 1939–1945. Freiburg im Breisgau/Munich, 1990. P. 196 et seqq. . Freiburg was considered particularly suitable for a carpet bombing according to the Area Bombing Directive, which aimed for the largescale destruction of residential areas. This is proven not least by the mission order that the target should be to destroy the city and the adjacent railway system.Gerd R. Ueberschär: Freiburg im Luftkrieg (during the air raids) 1939–1945. Freiburg im Breisgau/Munich, 1990. .
Attack
The preparation of the bombing on 27 November 1944 was made by 59 de Havilland Mosquito bombers of the No. 8 Pathfinder Group and was coordinated through a mobile oboe system in France.raf.mod.uk: RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Zugriff am 27. Januar 2010 The aim point was the intersection Habsburgerstrasse / Bernhardstrasse.Gerd R. Ueberschär: Freiburg im Luftkrieg 1939–1945. Freiburg im Breisgau/Munich, 1990. S. 225. . After the labeling of the target area with red markings the order had been given to mark the area with even larger amounts of red and green markings. The marking and bombing was coordinated by a master bomber. In the event that this would not have been audible by the bomber pilots, the mission order stipulated to drop as many bombs as possible. First bombs should be dropped on red, then red and green, then green and finally on yellow markings.cf.: Gerd R. Ueberschär: Freiburg im Luftkrieg 1939–1945. Freiburg im Breisgau/Munich, 1990. S. 219, P. 398 Ill. 123. .
Between 19:58 and 20:18 the Freiburg bombing was carried out by 292Stadt Freiburg: Tausende Spreng- und Brandbomben verwüsteten am 27.11.1944 die Stadt (thousands of demolition bombs and firebombs destroyed the town on 27/11/1944) in: Amtsblatt (official gazette) of 29 November 2004 Lancaster bombers of No. 1 Group RAF which dropped 3002 explosive (1,457 t) and 11,523 incendiary bombs and bombs mark (266 t) dropped.Gerd R. Ueberschär: Freiburg im Luftkrieg (during the air raids) 1939–1945. Freiburg im Breisgau/Munich, 1990. S. 242. . Only one Lancaster bomber was lost. The cause for that could not be clarified definitely.Gerd R. Ueberschär: Freiburg im Luftkrieg (during the air raids) 1939–1945. Freiburg im Breisgau/Munich, 1990. P. 237. .
Aftermath
Casualties The death toll was 2,797, approximately 9,600 people were injured.Heiko Haumann, Hans Schadek (Hrsg.): Geschichte der Stadt Freiburg. Band 3: Von der badischen Herrschaft bis zur Gegenwart. P 361. Stuttgart 2001, Among the dead were the theologian Johann Baptist Knebel, the artist Hermann Gehri and astrologer Elsbeth Ebertin.For a name liste of the victims see: Kriegsopfer der Stadt (war victims of the city) Freiburg i. Br. 1939–1945, Freiburg 1954 After the bombing on 27 November 1944 many people left the city. On 31 December 1944, the population stood at 63,962. In late April 1945, it reached a low point of 57,974. Only in early 1950 did the population reach the same as prior to the bombing.Gerd R. Ueberschär: Freiburg im Luftkrieg (during the air raids) 1939–1945. Freiburg im Breisgau/Munich, 1990. S. 380. .
Destruction
Almost completely destroyed were the historic old town, the suburbs of Neuburg, Betzenhausen and Mooswald and the northern part of the Stühlinger. All in all about 30% of homes were destroyed or severely damaged.Ueberschär, p. 381. Whole industries such as Hüttinger Elektronik, Grether & Cie. and M. Welte & Söhne were destroyed. Numerous historical buildings were destroyed in the attack. Almost all have been reconstructed: Old Church St. Louis (13th/19th century) Church of St. Martin (14th century) St. Conrad (built in 1929 by Brenzinger & Cie. under Carl Anton Meckel, one of the first churches of concreteWerner Wolf-Holzäpfel: Der Architekt Max Meckel 1847–1910. Studien zur Architektur und zum Kirchenbau des Historismus in Deutschland., Josef Fink, Lindenberg 2000, , S. 257 f.) Gerichtslaube (court loggia, 14th century) Basler Hof (1494/96) Kornhaus (grain house, 1498) Zum Walfisch (1514/16; all burnt, only facade and bay window rescued) Old town hall (1557/59) Peterhof (1585/87) University Church (17th century) St. Michael's Chapel (18th century) Deutschordenskommende (1768/73) Palais Sickingen (1769/73) Charles's barracks (1773/76) Collegium Borromaeum (1823/26) Culture and Festival Hall at the city garden (built in 1854 by Friedrich Eisenlohr)Stadt Freiburg: Der neue Hauptbahnhof Freiburg, Presse und Informationsamt/Stadtplanungsamt, Freiburg Juli 2001, S. 55 City Theatre (1905/10) Station including catenary and track systems)Hans-Wolfgang Scharf, Burkhard Wollny: Die Höllentalbahn. Von Freiburg in den Schwarzwald. Eisenbahn-Kurier-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1987, , S. 128 Bertoldsbrunnen (1806 by Franz Xaver Hauser) Only slightly damaged was the town's landmark, the Freiburg Minster.
Remembrance The victims of 27 November 1944 are remembered in Freiburg by various memorials and regular commemorative events.Ute Scherb: Wir bekommen die Denkmäler, die wir verdienen (we receive the monuments we deserve). Freiburger Monumente im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (monuments of Freiburg of the 19th and 20th centuries). Stadtarchiv (town archive) Freiburg im Breisgau 2005. . S. 196ff.
Memorials
Tomb and memorial at the main cemetery: of the victims of the bombing 1664 could be buried in a tomb and memorial as well as in other graves in the main cemetery of Freiburg. The site was inaugurated on 27 November 1958 by Mayor Joseph Brandel. Memorial for the victims of the 1939-1945 war in the main cemetery: Next to the consecration hall of the main cemetery a cross with a figure, "The Mourner" by Richard Engelmann, remembers the victims of the bombing of Freiburg during the Second World War. After long negotiations and deliberations, the cross was inaugurated on 18 October 1951. On the west tower at the entrance to the Freiburg Minster the victims of the attack are commemorated and the slight damage to the cathedral by the otherwise devastating bomb attack is pointed out. This memorial plaque was erected in 1994 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the bombing. As it is told that a drake in the municipal park warned before the bombing, the statue of a drake was created by Richard Bampi which was presented as a gift to the citizens of Freiburg by Mayor Wolfgang Hoffmann. The statue was inaugurated on 27 November 1953. A crucifix in the Deutschordensstraße which is at this point since 1963 bears the inscription: "In the year of the war 1944 during the great attack, the collegiate church Heiliggeiststift on Gauchstraße was destroyed and the thiscross considerably damaged. In 1957, the Heiliggeiststift was reconstructed at this place and the cross was erected here in 1963." On the archway at the main entrance of the University Hospital Freiburg is a plaque with the inscription: "Destroyed by enemy action on 27 November 1944, built again in 1945 -1953".