The Dresden trip took 12 hours. On this trip, I could still see the fires 500 miles away from Dresden. People's War memories »

"There were fires everywhere with a terrific concentration in the centre of the city," said one Pathfinder pilot.

RAF crew reported smoke rising to a height of 15,000 ft (4,572 m).

This was followed by another attack in daylight by 311 US heavy bombers.

The Americans sent 450 B-17 Flying Fortress long-range bombers which arrived at 1230 local time. The pilots witnessed fires still blazing from the night before.

The same number of bombers flew to the city of Chemnitz, south-west of Dresden, to attack railways and factories and yet more attacked Magdeburg.

A major road bridge across the Rhine at Wesel was also hit.

The Times newspaper reports 19 German planes destroyed along with 98 locomotives and 185 railway cars.

Dresden is regarded by the Allies as the centre of its rail network linking eastern and southern Germany with Berlin, Prague and Vienna.

Last night, the RAF also hit oil plants at Nuremberg, Bonn and Dortmund.

Fighter Command Spitfires also pinpointed V weapons sites in the Netherlands that have launched hundreds of flying bombs against England in the last year.

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