It goes further than that.
RAF mechanics had put a deviation (of different degrees) into the Lancasters' bomb sights. During the raid, Mosquito bombers kept a fire burning in Dresden's football stadium by periodically dropping out of the sky and letting go with incendiary bombs. Different groups of planes flew over the city from various angles but the bombardiers all focused on that one central magnesium fire in the city center; the pre-planned "flaw" ensured that as long as the bombardiers targeted that central point, different groups of planes would bomb different NEIGHBORHOODS.
I think it helps a lot of people sleep at night if they insist to themselves that the railyards were the primary target, but they weren't; this raid targeted the city itself.
“...those waves were designed to kill civilians...” [discostu, post 87]
“...The Dresden bombing raid was specifically designed to kill as many civilians as possible.
And you do nothing but defend it or even make jokes about it...” [2banana, post 88]
“...I think it helps a lot of people sleep at night if they insist to themselves that the railyards were the primary target, but they weren’t; this raid targeted the city itself.” [Captain Walker, post 168]
I’ve thought of a couple dozen witty responses to these posts. But all that keyboard work is tiring. I’ll settle for pointing out that no one has posted any factual content.
Part of the confusion stems from the misunderstanding of what “international law” actually says. Or doesn’t say.
It doesn’t say “don’t target civilians.” It says that “reasonable” efforts must be made to avoid harming civilians - which opens things up for reinterpretation. Tweet-length accusations sneering at “intentions” are not reinterpretation (though they do get posted quite a lot here).
RAF Bomber Command tactics of the early 1940s stemmed from system limitations on navigation, aiming, target detection and identification, survivability/vulnerability, countermeasures, and other factors. The assertion that civilians were deliberately targeted has no merit.
USAAF ran into similar limitations in the bombardment campaigns against Japan, 1944-1945.
Many forum members appear to be very concerned about the morality of this or that action by the Allies, during WW2. Which leads to the question: why do you insist with such passion, that the moral must take precedence over the real?