I see that Armourer has already used small bits of my Standard Dresden answer so I will post the whole thing here.
The biggest problem with dealing with the matter of the bombing of Germany is that it is judged against modern morals and standards of behaviour.
I am not in any way denying the fact that what happened in Dresden was horrific and appalling. I do deny that the men who undertook the mission have any crime to answer for.
The latest survey on how many died, done by a commission sponsored by the German Government found between 18 and 25,000 people died.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germ...
The bombing of an industrialised town from the air in an attempt to destroy its industry or cause such loss of morale amongst its inhabitants that they ceased to work was NOT a crime by the Rules of War in 1945. The bombing of Coventry, London and other British Cities in 1940 and 1941 was also NOT a War Crime.
In early 1945 the war was far from over. The Allies were still camped outside the borders of Germany, V2 rockets were still falling. The Allies had just fought the battle of the Bulge where the supposedly defeated Germans suddenly punched a huge hole in the Allied lines, German Rocket and Jet aircraft were coming off the production lines and proceeding to rip the hell out of the allied air fleets.
It was an operation undertaken due to many reasons.
1. A request from the Russians at the Yalta conference in February
1945. General Antonov "We want the Dresden railway junction bombed"
Meeting between the Chiefs of staff as reported by an interpreter. Records kept at the Public Records office in Kew
2. It was a German base of operations against Marshall Koniev`s left flank as he advanced into Germany. (See above)
Captured German High Command documents from Berlin in 1945 state that "Dresden is to be fortified as a military strong point, to be held at all costs." These statements are also backed up by decrypts from Ultra at Bletchley Park.
3. Munitions storage in the old Dresden Arsenal.
4. Troop reinforcement and transport centre shifting an average 28
troop trains through the marshaling yards every day. Intelligence from Russian and other sources stored in the Public Records office in Kew
5. Communications centre. Most of the telephone lines connecting
High Command to the Eastern front went through Dresden.
6. Quote from The Dresden Chamber of Commerce 1944. "The work rhythm of Dresden is determined by the needs of our army."
There were 127 factories in the Dresden Municipal area. The most
famous of these was Zeiss the celebrated camera and optics maker. In 1945 it was turning out Bomb aiming apparatus and Time fuses. (If you think the Dresden China Works making those lovely shepherdesses are more famous, they are actually made in Meisen 12Km down the River and always have been.)
A factory that previously made Typewriters and sewing machines was making Guns and ammunition
The Waffle and Marzipan machine manufacturer was producing torpedoes for the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe.
The arts and crafts workshops in the old town were using their woodworking skills to make the tail assemblies for V-1s.
Other factories were turning out such non warlike goods as Searchlights, Aircraft components, Field Telephones and 2 way radios.
"Anyone who knows Dresden only as a cultural city would be very surprised to be made aware of the extensive and versatile activity that make Dresden ONE OF THE FOREMOST INDUSTRIAL LOCATIONS OF THE REICH. (My Capitals)
Sir Arthur Harris? A Post war exponent of the bombing campaign?
Nope both wrong.
It comes from the Dresden City Council Yearbook of 1942.
The men who carried out these acts did so in the desire to make a world in which their descendants and countrymen, of whom I am one, could live in freedom from persecution and with a freedom to ask questions and form their own opinions. To those of you who feel it necessary to label them war criminals may I ask if you think that you could have asked a similar question under Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan?
Legally?
The "Rules of War" for WW2 were The Hague convention
(Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague, IV), October 18, 1907) which was ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1908 was the international standard at the time of WW2.
These rules state. The officer in command of an attacking force must, before commencing a bombardment, except in cases of assault, do all in his power to warn the authorities.
This was done by the USAAF and RAF.Leaflets were dropped warning that any German cities were liable to be bombed during hostilities and telling the residents to leave.
It also states that "In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps must be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided that they are not being used at the time for military purposes.
It is the duty of the besieged to indicated the presence of such buildings or places by distinctive and visible signs, which shall be notified to the enemy beforehand.
The bombed cities of Germany all had industrial and military centres in them. Including Dresden. I do enjoy how people above stil spout the old lines of "Dresden was an open City" ( Complete BS. It had been designated as a military strongpoint) and "Dresden had no manufacturing" (Apart from the 127 factories making everything from bullets to tails for VI pilotless bombs to be fired indiscriminately at London and Antwerp)
Were the civilian and religous centres marked and told to the Allies beforehand? NO!!!.
So LEGALLY, the bombing was LEGAL by the "Rules of War" prevailing at the time.
Morally?
The worst thing you can do in war is fail to prosecute it to the fullest extent. Go after the enemy, harass them at every opportunity, kick them harder and harder until they give up. The Germans could have prevented the terrible losses they suffered from 1943 onwards by realising they were beaten and sending a message that they would give up. As they didn`t the Allies one aim was to beat them with the smallest loss of life on the Allied side. This is how you win a war. Anything else just causes more casualties in the long run
To give an analogy. if you found a man in your house about to rape your wife, would you smite him across the back of the head and say "excuse me old fellow, please go away"? NO!! What happens in that case is he truns round beats you senseless or kills you and still rapes your wife. If, However, you kick seven bells of S****e out of him until he wasn`t moving any more. Problem solved.
Ray