I'm opening this thread to debunk yet another myth about Paris, namely the myth that Paris was not bombed during World War II.
This thread is a copy and paste of a thread on the French forum. I have translated the explanations in English.
During World War II, Paris was not as heavily bombed as other European cities such as Warsaw, Rotterdam or London, but it suffered bombing raids nonetheless. Those are now largely forgotten, leading to the myth of a city that was spared destruction, probably because most of the bombings took place in working-class districts of Paris, which people tend to disregard (if it's not Haussmannian, it's not Paris... yet another cliché).
Paris was essentially bombed by the British and the Americans, and not by the Germans, which is probably another reason why most people prefer to forget about these embarassing bombings by allies of France. The reason why there were relatively few German bombings is because the French Third Republic declared Paris an "open city" in June 1940 to spare its population (the Battle of France was already lost, so the government thought it was preferable to save the then 6 million inhabitants of Greater Paris rather than make a totally useless last stand in Paris and risk the lives of millions of people). This still leads to lots of hateful comments from American far-right circles, as we've seen these past few years, so I don't need to insist on this.
Then in August-September 1944 the retreat of the German army across northern France was so sudden and rapid that a few days after the liberation of Paris in the end of August 1944 the French capital was beyond German bombing range, so Hitler could not "burn Paris" as he intended to do, but he did use his deadly V1 and V2 on Antwerp and London which remained under German bombing range until almost the end of the war unlike Paris.
Concerning the Allies, the British and the Americans targetted the many factories located in Greater Paris, one of Europe's largest concentration of industries which were used by the German occupation forces. That's why it is essentially the working-class districts of Paris that suffered from the Allied bombing raids.
The most terrible bombing raid took place on the night of April 21, 1944 in the area of the Porte de La Chapelle, in the 18th arrondissement. The entire area was destroyed (Anglo-American bombers targetted the La Chapelle marshalling yard, which they largely missed). 641 people were killed and 377 wounded during that raid, which is a death toll as high as during the worst nights of the London Blitz, and a higher death toll than during the very famous Coventry bombing raid of November 1940 by the German Luftwaffe! Today the Coventry bombing raid is still remembered far and wide, but the Paris bombing raid of April 21, 1944 is largely forgotten, I wonder why.
These are some pictures of the Porte de La Chapelle area in the 18th arrondissement after the April 21, 1944 bombing raid:
Rue Championnet, near Montmartre, on April 22:
The Métro repair shops in St Ouen were also destroyed during the same Allied bombing raid:
This is what a Parisian living in the 7th arrondissement (where the Eiffel Tower is located), and who owned a factory at the Porte de La Chapelle, wrote about that awful night of blitz in a letter to his wife who was refugee in Brittany (publisher's notes between brackets):
Moving to another area of Paris, the working-class district of Billancourt, to the south of the 16th arrondissement, was during the war a favorite target of the Allies because the Renault factories were located there. At the end of the war, the Billancourt district was almost entirely destroyed. Many people were killed.
In this video you can see images of Billancourt after the British bombing raid of March 4, 1942 which killed 348 people:
http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=AFE85000752
In April 1944 the Renault factories in Billancourt were bombed yet again. Some bombs fell on line 9 of the Métro and damaged the Billancourt underground station:
Other Métro stations that were deeper underground than the Billancourt station were used as shelters during bombing raids, same as in London. For example here at Pyrénées Métro station:
In comparison, people seeking refuge in the London tube across the Channel:
In order to protect the Paris industrial output from Allied bombings, the Germans transformed some Métro stations into war workshops working for the German war machine. Here the Porte des Lilas Métro station photographed shortly after the liberation of Paris:
Bombings happened also during the daytime. Here at the Longchamp Racecourse (horse racecourse that is) in March 1943, people are running to the shelters during an Allied bombing:
Not everybody managed to reach the shelters on time:
(to be continued... with more pictures of bombing raids over Paris)
This thread is a copy and paste of a thread on the French forum. I have translated the explanations in English.
During World War II, Paris was not as heavily bombed as other European cities such as Warsaw, Rotterdam or London, but it suffered bombing raids nonetheless. Those are now largely forgotten, leading to the myth of a city that was spared destruction, probably because most of the bombings took place in working-class districts of Paris, which people tend to disregard (if it's not Haussmannian, it's not Paris... yet another cliché).
Paris was essentially bombed by the British and the Americans, and not by the Germans, which is probably another reason why most people prefer to forget about these embarassing bombings by allies of France. The reason why there were relatively few German bombings is because the French Third Republic declared Paris an "open city" in June 1940 to spare its population (the Battle of France was already lost, so the government thought it was preferable to save the then 6 million inhabitants of Greater Paris rather than make a totally useless last stand in Paris and risk the lives of millions of people). This still leads to lots of hateful comments from American far-right circles, as we've seen these past few years, so I don't need to insist on this.
Then in August-September 1944 the retreat of the German army across northern France was so sudden and rapid that a few days after the liberation of Paris in the end of August 1944 the French capital was beyond German bombing range, so Hitler could not "burn Paris" as he intended to do, but he did use his deadly V1 and V2 on Antwerp and London which remained under German bombing range until almost the end of the war unlike Paris.
Concerning the Allies, the British and the Americans targetted the many factories located in Greater Paris, one of Europe's largest concentration of industries which were used by the German occupation forces. That's why it is essentially the working-class districts of Paris that suffered from the Allied bombing raids.
The most terrible bombing raid took place on the night of April 21, 1944 in the area of the Porte de La Chapelle, in the 18th arrondissement. The entire area was destroyed (Anglo-American bombers targetted the La Chapelle marshalling yard, which they largely missed). 641 people were killed and 377 wounded during that raid, which is a death toll as high as during the worst nights of the London Blitz, and a higher death toll than during the very famous Coventry bombing raid of November 1940 by the German Luftwaffe! Today the Coventry bombing raid is still remembered far and wide, but the Paris bombing raid of April 21, 1944 is largely forgotten, I wonder why.
These are some pictures of the Porte de La Chapelle area in the 18th arrondissement after the April 21, 1944 bombing raid:
Rue Championnet, near Montmartre, on April 22:
The Métro repair shops in St Ouen were also destroyed during the same Allied bombing raid:
This is what a Parisian living in the 7th arrondissement (where the Eiffel Tower is located), and who owned a factory at the Porte de La Chapelle, wrote about that awful night of blitz in a letter to his wife who was refugee in Brittany (publisher's notes between brackets):
The April 21, 1944 Anglo-American bombing raid over Paris outraged all of France, and was a big blunder on the side of the Allies just a few weeks before the Normandy landing. The Vichy leader Marshal Pétain personally went to Paris a few days after the bombing and received a triumphal welcome (an event that French bashers often compare with the triumphal welcome received by Charles de Gaulle only 4 months later during the liberation of Paris, forgetting to mention the particularly tragic circumstances of Pétain's visit to Paris).
Moving to another area of Paris, the working-class district of Billancourt, to the south of the 16th arrondissement, was during the war a favorite target of the Allies because the Renault factories were located there. At the end of the war, the Billancourt district was almost entirely destroyed. Many people were killed.
In this video you can see images of Billancourt after the British bombing raid of March 4, 1942 which killed 348 people:
http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=AFE85000752
In April 1944 the Renault factories in Billancourt were bombed yet again. Some bombs fell on line 9 of the Métro and damaged the Billancourt underground station:
Other Métro stations that were deeper underground than the Billancourt station were used as shelters during bombing raids, same as in London. For example here at Pyrénées Métro station:
In comparison, people seeking refuge in the London tube across the Channel:
In order to protect the Paris industrial output from Allied bombings, the Germans transformed some Métro stations into war workshops working for the German war machine. Here the Porte des Lilas Métro station photographed shortly after the liberation of Paris:
Bombings happened also during the daytime. Here at the Longchamp Racecourse (horse racecourse that is) in March 1943, people are running to the shelters during an Allied bombing:
Not everybody managed to reach the shelters on time:
(to be continued... with more pictures of bombing raids over Paris)