World War II Diaries:The Complete War Report
1943 December
E52 Jan 28, 2018
Several squadrons of the RAF bomb Berlin, dropping more than 1,500 tons of bombs that destroy two factories owned by Siemens and several railway centers located around the city. Flak and German fighters shoot down 40 Allied aircraft and 228 crew members die. So far 2700 Berliners have been killed and another 250,000 have lost their homes. Nazi Party leaders have ordered swastika pennants to be flown on the piles of rubble to lift the morale of a bewildered population that had believed itself safe from such acts of war. In Warsaw (Poland) German security forces execute a hundred employees of the municipal tram lines in retaliation for the recent acts of sabotage. After the fall of Mussolini, Hitler has strengthened his own security measures to the maximum, to the extent of not revealing to his closest confidantes the dates of his trips. During his stay at headquarters he covers his head with a heavy armoured cap.