Bombing of France during World War II

Between the time of the German victory in the Battle of France and the liberation of the country, the Allied Forces bombed many locations in France. In all 1,570 French cities and towns were bombed by the Allies between June 1940 and May 1945. The total number of civilians killed was, at least, of 68,778 men, women and children (including the 2,700 civilians killed in Royan).[1]

Aerial view after the bombardment in Vire, Normandy, 1944

The total number of injured was more than 100,000. The total number of houses completely destroyed by the bombings was 432,000, and the number of partly destroyed houses was 890,000. The cities that saw the most destruction were the following:[2]


The bombings in Normandy before and after D-Day were especially devastating. The French historian Henri Amouroux in La Grande histoire des Français sous l’Occupation, says that 20,000 civilians were killed in Calvados department, 10,000 in Seine-Maritime, 14,800 in the Manche, 4,200 in the Orne, around 3,000 in the Eure. All together, that makes more than 50,000 killed. During the year 1943 alone, 7,458 French civilians died under Allied bombs.


The deadliest Allied bombings during the German occupation were:

On May 27, 1943, Allied bombings killed 3,012 French civilians in bomb runs over Marseille, Avignon, Nîmes, Amiens, Sartrouville, Maisons-Laffitte and Eauplet.[4][5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Eddy Florentin: Quand les Alliés bombardaient la France, Perrin, Paris 1997.
  2. ^ Jean-Claude Valla, La France sous les bombes américaines 1942-1945, Librairie nationale, Paris 2001.
  3. ^ "La Rochelle / Sauver la Rochelle plutôt que Royan? - en quelques mots".
  4. ^ Henri Amouroux, La Grande histoire des Français sous l’Occupation, volume 8.
  5. ^ Roger Céré and Charles Rousseau, Chronologie du conflit mondial, SEFI, Paris 1945, page 253.

Further reading

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