Starting over again in bombed out Frankfurt - 1947/48
May 16, 2014 19:38:05 #
Frankfurt was and is Germany's financial and banking center. In 1939 its population was 553,000, but when the first American troops came in late March, 1945, only 240,000 remained. A year earlier, on March 18, 22, and 24, 1944, the Royal Air Force bombers dropped more than 3,800 high-explosive bombs and over two million incendieries on the highly flammable AltStadt and the city center. 4,822 people -- men, women and children -- died, and some say the toll was about 6,000. 22,000 were seriously injured. 180,000 people then fled the city. 230,000 were reported homeless as 40,000 buildings were destroyed in only three raids. Area bombing proved its value as a disruptive force. Yet many people saw the invading Americans as liberators, because it meant the end of the war. America's leaders tried to correct that impression by reminding the Germans that we were there to punish the Nazis, who became rather difficult to find.
Easter Parade 1948 as people thread their way through ruins
Traditional Frankfurt Christmas Fair is meager in 1947
By early 1948 more than 10 million cubic meters of rubble were moved out
May 16, 2014 19:46:39 #
RichardQ, thank you for posting these and other pictures of post-war Germany and Europe. The black and white format certainly captures the destruction/desolation of the cities that were virtually destroyed by Allied bombing.
May 16, 2014 19:54:14 #
oldart wrote:
RichardQ, thank you for posting these and other pictures of post-war Germany and Europe. The black and white format certainly captures the destruction/desolation of the cities that were virtually destroyed by Allied bombing.
Thank you for your comment, Oldart. I always felt color distracted in such subject matter, and I still feel that way after seeing publication of color shots taken back then, as well as watching Hollywood films set in post-war periods and shot in color. Darryl Zanuck had it right when he shot "The Longest Day" in b/w.
May 16, 2014 20:25:08 #
Richard - I'm a young guy, Vietnam vet from the 101st Airborne and I love your photos and the history that you send with them.
May 16, 2014 20:45:49 #
chase4 wrote:
Richard - I'm a young guy, Vietnam vet from the 101st Airborne and I love your photos and the history that you send with them.
Thank you, Chase4. Most of these images have existed only as contact prints and negatives, so I feel like a new daddy at age 87!
May 16, 2014 21:09:24 #
Beowulf
Loc: Aquidneck Island, RI
Richard, I have enjoyed your several postings of WWII era shots and look forward to any others you will post in the future.
I am in my 70's and was born during the war (my father served in the 17th Field Artillery and didn't lay eyes on me until i was almost three years old. He saw action in North Africa, Sicily/Italy, Austria, and France) and I grew up with his reminiscences of wartime. It turned me into a WWII and 1930's/40's history buff. We lost him in '98.
Thank you for allowing many others who may not be so familiar with that horrendous time to learn and view your great photos.
I am in my 70's and was born during the war (my father served in the 17th Field Artillery and didn't lay eyes on me until i was almost three years old. He saw action in North Africa, Sicily/Italy, Austria, and France) and I grew up with his reminiscences of wartime. It turned me into a WWII and 1930's/40's history buff. We lost him in '98.
Thank you for allowing many others who may not be so familiar with that horrendous time to learn and view your great photos.
May 16, 2014 21:18:35 #
Your images have brought a period of history to us that some have seen, some lived through and some have only heard about. They are a marvel to me. I am enthralled and so appreciative of your work then and now. Thank you.
May 16, 2014 21:24:17 #
Beowulf wrote:
Richard, I have enjoyed your several postings of W... (show quote)
Thank you for your comments, Beowulf. I'm glad your dad made it home from what I know was a traumatic tour of duty. I hope he came home without serious injury. I was lucky in that nobody ever took a shot at me, and I never aimed a gun at anybody, although I once pulled sergeant of the guard duty, when a Polish/DP sentry watching over a storeyard full of goods caught some poor German man who thought he might find some food for his family. My job was to pick him up with a jeep driver and escort him back to the guardhouse for the MPs to take over, so I kept my 45 ready [but not aimed] just in case he wasn't as innocent as he seemed. That was the extent of my "combat" while a member of the occupation army.
May 16, 2014 21:27:55 #
carlysue wrote:
Your images have brought a period of history to us that some have seen, some lived through and some have only heard about. They are a marvel to me. I am enthralled and so appreciative of your work then and now. Thank you.
Thank you, Carlysue. I have trouble processing all this enthusuasm for old snapshots and memories that are sure to be challenged by somebody out there. But I "calls 'em as I see 'em."
May 17, 2014 03:13:11 #
May 17, 2014 07:02:12 #
Kudos Richard. Your sharing of these invaluable mementos is a treasure to us here. Thanks much.
May 17, 2014 07:20:41 #
May 17, 2014 07:25:52 #
I was in Frankfurt/offenbach in 1959, and the rubble had been cleared away by then, but all the other signs of the air assault were still visible.
May 17, 2014 08:25:19 #
I love your pictorial history lessons - thanks so much for sharing with us
May 17, 2014 10:42:40 #
Richard, I thank very much for posting these historical images and your great observation of the suffering the general population had to go through. I went through that area in 1953 and the destruction was still very much there at that time.
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.