Bombing of Königsberg in World War II

The bombing of Königsberg was a series of attacks made on the city of Königsberg in East Prussia during World War II. The Soviet Air Force had made several raids on the city since 1941. Extensive attacks carried by RAF Bomber Command destroyed most of the city's historic quarters in the summer of 1944. Königsberg was also heavily bombed during the Battle of Königsberg, in the final weeks of the war.

In 1941, acting mainly in retaliation for the German bombing of Moscow, Joseph Stalin personally ordered the Soviet Air Force to bomb Königsberg. Eleven Pe-8 bombers attacked the city on 1 September 1941. The Soviets did not lose a single bomber in the raid. The Soviet Air Force bombed the city again on 26 July 1942, 27 August 1942 and 15 July 1943. On the night of 28 April 1943, a bomber dropped an 11,000 pounder on the city's area, the largest bomb in the Soviet inventory.

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