UNBOMBING THE WORLD 1911 -> database made by Tjebbe van Tijen/Imaginary Museum Projects in the period 1998-2003 Pages generated from the database UBW01.fmp on 1/2/2004 1 overview of all bombed towns/areas 1911-2003 (815 records) 2 example of itemized bombing raids Afghanistan/Kandahar 3 example visuals output Yugoslavia (pre, kingdom, federal republic, ex-Yugoslavia) data organized in geographical order: geographic level + world region + country/region + area/town brief overview This listing is meant to give an overview so it gives the most brief description of a single aerial bombing or a series of aerial bombings. If an area or town has been bombed several times in its history, it still will be represented just as one line in this overview like London being bombed in WWI, and WWII or Kabul in 1919,1979,1984,1997 and 2001. geographic names As political units/countries/nations are changing over time and cities and areas sometimes change name with a change of borders or government some inconsistencies will be found in this listing (they will be resolved in later versions). statistical sources victims This list gives in several cases estimates of the number of death. These numbers are often not well established, different sources will give different numbers, if numbers exist at all. During the research it became clear that an elaborate system for noting this sources has to be developed (as there will be in some cases ten or more sources to be quoted). This also means that a normalized bibliographical system for these sources needs to be used as well. This bibliographical system exists now, but still needs to be implemented. Another even greater difficulty is the use of Internet sources, as these tend to be either short lived or hard or impossible to be found afterwards, because of changes in the Internet addresses (URLs). There is only one good solution, making a fixed digital archive of each Internet sources BEFORE quoting it. This process of archiving (I have chosen Adobe Acrobat PDF format for this task) needs to automated to be easily and correctly linked to the database. This automated PDF reference process is still in development. This means that many of the Internet references that can be found in the following list have disappeared (though some I have been able to document in the last five years, but they are not yet integrated in the data source for separate records of the database). An example of the evaporation of data sources are the links to the NATO bombardment in Ex-Yugoslavia. Most of these have now vanished from the Internet. itemizing bombing raids Only at a later stage of the development of the Unbombing database did I start with itemizing single attacks/bombing raids. This had to do both with the need of having some sort of global overview first before starting to detail, and also with the fact that many bombing instances are badly documented. In some cases there are detailed lists, as of the British and American raids during World War II on Germany. Italy and the countries they had occupied (based on the archives of the British based Bomber Command). Also here there will be difficulties to decide what level of detail is needed, necessary and realistic to be done in this stage where the whole enterprise is still very much a one person undertaking. I have made a few try-outs in 'itemizing' bombing-raids and one such an example is added to this document (Kabul, during the last Afghan War). There is another interest to do itemizing, at least for some major operations, which is the deployment of 'military poetry' when it comes to giving names to special aerial bombing operations: "Operation Gomorra" (RAF: Hamburg; 1943; 40.000 death), "Operation Thunderclap" (RAF/USAAF: Berlin; Bomber Command had planned to kill 275.000 persons in this operation in 1944, but when finally done in 1945 it did cost "only" 25.000 lives), "Operation Rolling Thunder" (USAAF: North Vietnam; 1965; no exact number of death), "Operation desert Storm" (AAF/RAF: part of the First Gulf War; a few thousand victims, though it is difficult to distinguish between air- and ground war victims in some cases). military casualties This database also does not list YET the number of pilots and other crew men killed during or as result of a bombing mission. Especially the missions flew over Germany during WWII did cost many lives, mainly because of the high level of German air defense. A bomber crewman had a 30% chance of surviving a tour of 30 missions. A quarter of all British army victims came from Bomber Command, 55.000 dead and 18.000 wounded or made prisoner. Not of all of them died in raids on Germany, but just for the sake of making a comparison of this kind of pre-atomic bomb air war, the ratio is 1:10, one air crew for 10 (German) civilians (a rough estimate of German civilian death because of the aerial bombing is between 500 and 600 thousand. A ratio that has totally changed after World War II. Zero casualties at the side of the bombers have occurred, like with the NATO bombing raids over the former Yugoslavia. damage inventory It is not only human lives that are taken by aerial bombing, the destruction wrought to cities and rural land is enormous. Newer versions of the database will have some basic numbers (when found at all): wounded, houses destroyed, number displaced persons, public buildings destroyed, artworks and other cultural goods damaged or lost, surface of land poisoned, invalids, genetic deformations because of chemicals or radiation, scrapple, cluster bombs, mines left, etc.. worldarea/country area/town year(s) bombed by - factor + death - death + source 1 01 North America 194?- 0 wo 2 01 United States of America 0 1.000 1 co 3 01 United States of America Japanese incidentary balloon attacks (West Coast area) 194? 0 b 1 ar 3 01 United States of America New York (World Trade Cente, suicide attack with civil 2001 0 Al Queda k 1.000 2 5 2.500 5.300 ar airplane) 3 01 United States of America Washington (Pentagon, suicide attack with civil 2001 0 Al Queda k 100 3 300 ar airplane) 2 02 Cuba 0 10 co 3 02 Cuba Gibara , Oriente Province (local rising supressed by 1932 0 Cuban Army Air Force 10 http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/alman ar General Gerardo Machado's planes) ac/english/cuba/aviahisto.html 3 02 Cuba Guerilla held areas 1956-1958 0 Cuban Army Air Force http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/alman ar ac/english/cuba/aviahisto.html 3 02 Cuba Havanna (similated bombing attack by Colonel Batista 1934 0 Colonel Batista http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/alman ar against communist demonstration) ac/english/cuba/aviahisto.html 2 02 Domenican Republic 1965 0 http://www.zmag.org/grossmanciv.htm co 2 02 El Salvador 0 10 co 3 02 El Salvador helicopter attacks 0 ar 2 02 Grenada 0 10 co 3 02 Grenada against coup Bishop 0 ar 2 02 Guatemala 0 co 3 02 Guatemala Puerto Barrios, and Missionary Radio Station (by 1954 0 Castillo Armas' air force http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/G ar mistake) uatemala_KH.html 1 02 Middle America 1927- 0 wo 2 02 Nicaragua 0 100 co 3 02 Nicaragua Chinandega 1927? 0 US Mercenaries a http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch14.htm ar 3 02 Nicaragua El Chipote and other guerrilla stronholds of Sandino 1927-1932 0 USA Marine Corps aircrafts a http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchr ar onicles/cc/biplane.html 3 02 Nicaragua Ocatal 1927 0 USA Marine Corps aircrafts a http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchr ar onicles/cc/biplane.html 3 02 Nicaragua positions of rebel forces 1987 0 Nicaraguan airplanes a http://www.mcc.org/misc/drop-today.html ar 2 02 Panama 0 100 co 3 02 Panama workers quarter (Panama City?) 199? 0 ar 2 03 Colombia 0 co 3 03 Colombia rural areas with guerrilla activity 1991-1992 0 Mobile Brigades of Columbian a http://www.hrw.org/hrw/research2/colomb ar army ia.html 1 03 South America 1991- 0 wo 2 04 Albania 0 co 2 04 Austria 0 1.000 co 3 04 Austria Graz 1945 0 USA Air Force a http://www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at:8080/austr ar odir/docs/51372.html 3 04 Austria Linz 1944-1945 0 USA Air Force a http://www.461st.com/missions/missions. ar html 3 04 Austria Pola (Adriatic coast) 1915-1916 0 Italian Air Force a ar 3 04 Austria Salzburg 1944-1945 0 a http://www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at:8080/austr ar odir/timeline20.html 3 04 Austria Wien 1944-1945 0 USA Air Force a http://www.padovanet.it/infogiovani/memo ar ry2000/int_aus_9.asp# 3 04 Austria Wiener Neustadt 1945 0 USA Air Force a http://www.461st.com/missions/monthly/ ar march45.html 2 04 Azerbaijan (Russian 0 co Federation) 3 04 Azerbaijan (Russian Gyimir 1999 0 Russian Federation Air Force a http://members.xoom.com/_XOOM/08249 ar Federation) 9/aviation/chechnya/100599.htm 2 04 Belgium 0 1.000 co 3 04 Belgium Antwerp (including Mortsel) 1914,1940-1945 0 German Zepplins/RAF/USA Air z,a,m 1.000 2 2.130 http://www.ch2bc.org/zepplins/zepplin2.ht ar Force/Luftwaffe (V2) m 3 04 Belgium Brussels 1940,194? 0 RAF/Luftwaffe a The Bomber Command war diaries/Martin ar Middlebrook/1985 3 04 Belgium Ghent 1944 1 RAF a 100 4 428 Middlebrook 1985 The Bomber Command ar war diaries 3 04 Belgium Houffalize 1944-1945 0 RAF a The Bomber Command war diaries/Martin ar Middlebrook/1985 3 04 Belgium Liege 1914,1944-1945 0 German Zeplins, Luftwaffe (V2) zam http://www.ch2bc.org/zepplins/zeppelin1.h ar tm 3 04 Belgium Louvain 1944 1 RAF a 100 1 160 Middlebrook 1985 The Bomber Command ar war diaries 1 = North America; 2 = Middle America; 3 = South America; 4 = Europe; 5 = Africa; 6 = Midle east; 7= Asia; 8 = Pacific/Australia a = aerial bombing; b = balloon; k = kamikaze/suicide attack; m = missile; z = zeplin attack 1 = world area; 2 = country/region; 3 = area/town worldarea/country area/town year(s) bombed by - factor + death - death + source 3 04 Belgium Malines 1944 0 RAF a 100 1 171 Middlebrook 1985 The Bomber Command ar war diaries; p.503 3 04 Belgium Middelkirke 1918 0 RAF a http://british-forces.com/cig/History/histp1 ar .html 3 04 Belgium Namur 1940,1944 0 a John Terraine/The right of the line ar (1985/1988) p.124 3 04 Belgium Ostend 1940-1945 0 Allied Forces a Middlebrook 1985 The Bomber Command ar war diaries 3 04 Belgium Tournai 1944 0 Luftwaffe (V2) m In de scahduw van Icarus/C/C.