BBC - A History of the World - Object : Incendiary bomb dropped on Portsmouth

Partly melted incendiary bomb from Portsmouth ©Portsmouth City Council

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An estimated 38,000 incendiaries were dropped on the City of Portsmouth by the German air force between 1940 and 1944.This incendiary bomb is one of many thousands dropped on the City of Portsmouth by the German air force between 1940 and 1944. It was intended to burn whatever building it fell on, killing anyone trapped inside and causing great destruction. These bombs contained thermite, which burned at a very high temperature, with a casing of magnesium. There are still traces of the sand used to extinguish the fire attached to the metal. Incendiary bombs were used by all nations involved in World War II - casings for 'baskets' of the bombs were made in Portsmouth. The firestorms the British and American air forces created with incendiaries in Dresden, Hamburg, Tokyo and Kobe, killed thousands. Across Europe and Japan the bombs destroyed acres of buildings; more than any other single weapon they changed the face of cities worldwide, suddenly and dramatically. In Portsmouth alone some 6,600 buildings, nearly a tenth of the city, were destroyed.

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1. At 17:12 on 2 June 2011, new_germany wrote:
On the 16th of March 2001, the Coventry´s "Cross of the nails" has been handed over to the City of Würzburg.

Würzburg, one of Germany´s most beautiful cities, of unimaginable artistic value, with 35 churches and the UNESCO world heritage Residence, has been turned into rubble and ashes.

At 9.25 to 9.42 p.m. each year, the City of Würzburg marks it´s total destruction by the air raid of the RAF Bomber group Nr. 5 by a
Memorial Requiem
by the ringing of all bells of the 35 churches, starting and finishing with the biggest bell of the Würzburg Cathedral:

Watch and listen: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm-WUUVXP6k

256 high explosive bombs
300.000 incendiary bombs dropped on Würzburg
5.000 victims

"Never the good is brought by Wars, you, Peace, is we all long for."

"Peace to our poor city."

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