At the end of World War II, 80 years ago, around sixty Boeing B-17 bombers of the US Air Force mistook Prague for Dresden and dropped bombs on various residential districts of the Czech capital. The bombing carpet hit areas such as Vyšehrad, Vinohrady, and Pankrác. A total of 700 people were killed in the attack.
On 14th February 1945, nearly 1,400 bombers and about 1,000 fighter aircraft took off from England with targets in Germany: alongside Dresden and Magdeburg, Chemnitz was also a target of the attack. Most bombers were headed for Dresden – a total of 461, escorted by 316 P-51 Mustang aircraft.
During the US air raid, dozens of residential houses, a hospital, and the historic Emmaus Monastery were destroyed or severely damaged. The reason why only residential areas were bombed remains unclear to this day.
What is certain is that the 62 American aircraft were actually en route to bomb Dresden. Speculation suggests that the pilots simply confused the two cities (“Target: large city at river bend”) or that wind and weather conditions led to a last-minute change in their original mission.
In March 1945, Prague became the target of an airstrike again – this time bombs fell on the industrial suburbs of Libeň and Vysočany. 370 people lost their lives in the attack. In the last two months of the war, the industrial towns of Kladno, Kralupy, and Plzeň (Pilsen) were also bombed, and Ústí nad Labem, Brno, and particularly Ostrava suffered severe damage.
