When The RAF Accidently Bombed A School - Operation Carthage 1945

Sometimes in war, everything goes wrong even when it goes right. This was the case for the RAF in March 1945 when it launched Operation Carthage. In a bid to destroy a Gestapo HQ and save hundreds of Danish resistance fighters from being exposed, 20 Mosquitos attacked Copenhagen. In one of the worst disasters of its type, bombs fell on a school in error. Over 100 Danes would die.
💰 Want to start an online business with KZbin?
This KZbin channel is no accident and the success I've had so far was no mere fluke, it's all been planned out and executed in a very meaningful way. However, I can't take credit for knowing how to do all that, I had to learn and I learned from the best!
Listen to my advice for building a successful KZbin channel: • How Does Phil From Cal...
Follow me on my other channel, / passiveincomephil
3D print your own gaming controls
Get an Enders 3 Pro like me: amzn.to/3dFXts3
Go over to authentikit.org/
🕹️ My gaming equipment:
Joystick: amzn.to/2TP6h40
Rudder Pedals: amzn.to/38c3YAx
Elevator Trim: amzn.to/3oQWNn8
Head Tracking: amzn.to/34Qpvwd
Wishlist: amzn.to/385dXHD
Welcome to my channel where I share my love of history and aviation. I first fell in love with military aviation when reading Biggles books as a boy, then I studied history at university. I like finding interesting stories and sharing them with others.
I also followed this passion into the real world and managed to get a Private Pilot's Licence on 10th May 2014.
I'll share my gameplay from the IL2 Sturmovik Great Battles series as well as the Cliffs of Dover series and DCS series too, to give my stories drama. Feel free to subscribe, like and comment!
System Specs:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i-7 10700K CPU @ 3.80GHz 3.79 GHz
Ram: 32.0 GB
GPU: Geforce RTX 2070 SUPER
VR: Pimax 5k plus
Screen resolution (capture): 1920*1080
64-bit OS - Windows 10
⏱️ Timestamp:
0:00 intro
⭐ Some recommended other channels are:
/ @tj3
/ @militaryaviationhistory
/ @montemayorchannel
/ @thearmchairhistorian
/ theimperatorknight
#aviationhistory#history

[@CalibanRising]

🧥 Have you always wanted a distinctive and authentic leather flying jacket? Check out the fantastic range from Legendary USA here: calibanrising.com/flying-jacket/

[@rogernull6151]

I know a woman whose mother attended that school. Her mother was ill the day of the bombing & stayed home. Being sick saved her life. She later moved to Wisconsin, USA.

[@mang075]

Same my unkels mom went to that school and was too ill that day, really lucky.

[@christianbolt5761]

My mom survived, my aunt died at 17.

[@HollywoodMarine0351]

I never knew about this raid until recently watching the Danish movie “The Shadow in My Eye” (aka, The Bombardment). Good movie with a sad ending due to the fog of war.

[@vincentlefebvre9255]

Same thing for me. I did watch the movie.

[@samrodian919]

It's a great shame, that the school was hit by one wave plus two earlier aircraft, and the subsequent loss of life of 86 children. The fact that one aircraft crashed nearby the school almost certainly caused the two from the earlier wave to bomb around the crash site/ school and although the planning was meticulous, the fog of war in the form of large plumes of smoke from the crash and bombings drew the last wave into hitting the school erroneously with very tragic results. Can you imagine those poor pilots and observers thinking about this raid in later civilian life, especially if they had gone on to have their own children? It must have haunted them for the rest of their lives.

[@sugisdoomguy54]

I’m a Dane and I have no words other than RIP to my fellow danes

[@petervandyk7173]

One of the things making this raid particularly difficult is that Copenhagen was/is a "city of towers", the amount of church bell towers, spires on the Royal palaces and other large buildings eg the old stock exchange, leave little room over the residential parts of the city. And then there was the heavy industry (eg. the ship yard Burmeister & Wain, Carlsberg brewery, the Rifle Syndicate) with their tall chimneys, the loading cranes on the harbour docks etc. All of this in a rather small area. So it's close to a miracle only one plane crashed after a collision. But still with disastrous effect.

[@kjeldpedersen666]

Very good vid, mate. I’m a Dane and I guess I have to thank you for presenting us Danes as so brave, fighting the German occupation right from the start on the 9. of April 1940. Truth is, however, that the Danish people largely was kind of split between acceptance, will to fight back and indifference the first couple of years after the occupation. The indifference part was probably the most common attitude, not least as there was conspiracy theories that the occupation in fact was secretly agreed between the Danish and the German governments - and that this was the real explanation when it comes to the weak and very short resistance from the Danish military forces on the day of the occupation. It’s even a fact that hundreds of young Danes volunteered to fight for the Germans on the eastern front following Operation Barbarossa in 1941. Not necessarily because they very Nazi’s, but many saw communism as a bigger treat - others were simply adventurers... You are right, however, that the Danish resistance movement had grown very strong during the last couple of years after 1943. And the attitude in the Danish people had clearly turned against the Germans as the Nazi terror regime showed its true face. Therefore, in spite of the tragedy of the RAF accidentally bombing the school, most Danes understood the this was the terrible conditions of being at war.

[@CalibanRising]

Thanks for watching. It's a fascinating part of this conflict that I would love to learn more about. From the British perspective, I feel we always concentrate more on Norway than Denmark in those early days of 1940.

[@kjeldpedersen666]

@@CalibanRising No wonder that you’ve been concentrating more on the Norwegians as they clearly right from the start took a more honorable stance against Germany in those days in April/May 1940. In defense of the Danish one might say, that Norway also has better conditions of doing so with the geographical conditions of the country. The fjords, mountains and woods made it possible to delay the German advances considerably, lay traps and so on. The Norwegian military wasn’t stronger than the Danish, in fact maybe even weaker. But The Norwegians very quickly got help from a British/French expedition force. And with the Norwegians fighting very bravely and stubbornly it took - as far as I remember - at least a couple of months for the Germans to occupy the country. And with a considerable loss of troops and material. In the long run, however, the Germans couldn’t be held back. The Norwegian government and the King fled to London and started a government in exile, much as was the case with the Polish. From London they could openly back the buildup of a Norwegian resistance movement, and there was hard resistance against the Germans right from the start. The Danish government stayed in the country and tried to get the best out of the situation. Germany accepted that Denmark had its own government with free democratic elections as long as there wasn’t too much trouble in the country. As a consequence of this the Danish government couldn’t openly support a resistance movement. This situation held up until October 43, when the Germans demanded that resistance people should be executed. The Danish government couldn’t accept this and resigned. The Danish police got arrested and was send to concentration camps. For the rest of the occupation it was pure German occupation policy in Denmark... Almost needless to say that the resistance movement only grew after this behavior from the Germans. But in the spring of 1945 the Gestapo had gathered dangerously much information about the resistance movement and that was the reason that it was seen as urgent to destroy the archives in the Shell House in a bombing attack.

[@bofoenss8393]

Very nice video. If you are interested, the Mosquitoes made a similar raid on Gestapo HQ in Aarhus Denmark in late October 1944, which was highly successful and a contributing factor to deciding Operation Carthage was feasible. You can look up "Aarhus Air Raid". Alongside Operation Jericho and Operation Carthage, this raid can be rightly said to be one of the most successful precision strikes of WW2 yet very little is known about it. It was the same Mossie Wing (140 Wing) that conducted these three mentioned raids.

[@CalibanRising]

Thanks for watching. I actually spoke about those raids in another video, exploring the 'best' Mossie raids of WW2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXu2Z4Wddp6gp8U

[@plunder1956]

My father was a pharmacology student on his way to the University in Copenhagen that day and threw himself to the ground when the planes flew over his head. I know that his family were involved in aspects of the resistance, but the details were very sketchy. My uncle told me some things about it, but my father never did.

[@a.g.6224]

Great video.Not the first time schools were bombed during the war.on 4th October 1944 RAF Lancasters bombed the U boat pens in Bergen and some of the bombs hit a childrens school nearby.66 children were killed.It was a waste of resource since none of the bombs were powerfull enough to break trhough the roofs of the pen.

[@CalibanRising]

Thanks for watching guys. If you thought the video was interesting in any way, then please give it a like and help this channel to grow. I really appreciate your support!

[@SirDaffyD]

Great informative video. I watched The Bombardment today on Netflix, and posted about it in a Facebook group I'm in about WWII history. One of them put me onto this video off yours. Thought I'd sub to your channel while he, only to find I already have. lol.

[@CalibanRising]

Cheers Adrian. I have to admit it was me who commented on your post, a bit of shameful self-promotion. I also watched the Netflix movie (which inspired this video) and thought it was very compelling.😀

[@SirDaffyD]

@@CalibanRising . LOL, Small world.

[@brrebrresen1367]

it would not be the first time the RAF bombed a school filled with civilians and with Mosquitoes. but in difference to Copenhagen the bombing of the u-boat bunkers at Laksevaag there was no "accidents" or "miscalculations" that affected the outcome, just British admiralty wanting results and ignoring the costs... the result was 61 children, 2 teachers and 16 men from the civilian airdefence died on Holen Skole at Laksevaag under the bombing 4th of october 1944. A total of 193 Norwegian civilians died as a result of the bomb raid, 180 was wounded, 60 houses was totally destroyed and over 700 people was homeless. 2 uboats was damaged since they had not been inside the bunker. the main objective, the bunker, was unharmed. a 2nd raid was done 29th of October, only hitting civilian population killing 52 Norwegians. 3'rd time is the charm and 12th January 1945 they loaded up with the 5000kg "tallboys" and this time they managed to score a single hit on the bunker and lightly damage 2 uboats and killing 20 Germans. though the lack of results caused one of the Lancaster to hunt down and drop their tallboy on the fleeing minesweeper "M1" with the result being quite obvious with 20 of the 34 aboard the tiny minesweeper being instantly killed and only registered minesweeper to be taken out with a tallboy.

[@mariusgabrielc.pioquid4984]

I really liked this explanation/ documentary as a war history nerd, just reminded me of "the bombardment" ok Netflix (related to operation Carthage) and have been recently thinking if it should be considered a warcrimes even though it was an "accident"

[@vincentlefebvre9255]

I did watch it on netflix. Very good movie.

[@phunkeehone]

Nice one, you have clearly done your research. Cheers from a Danish history head. Btw, just as an info: the Aar in Aarhus is pronounced almost as an oar used for rowing. :-)

[@CalibanRising]

Thanks for the feedback. You know us Brits, terrible with foreign languages 😀

[@phunkeehone]

@@CalibanRising Don't worry about it, we are often mocked for sounding like we speak with a potato in our mouths. And probably for a reason. So I don't blame you guys. 😄 But keep it up, you bring some interesting stories I haven't heard about.

[@drippyamongus3235]

1:20 it was not infact a "capitulation" it was a surrender or peace agreement between the Danish government and hitler to give up early to save as many soldiers as possible in a unwinnable war and also keeping the government and only hsve soldiers in the country and thats it. Even though Denmark was almost fully self governing there were still a bunch of Resistance in the country.

[@PATRICKJLM]

Most of the people who died in the school were drowned in the basement where they went to take cover and got trapped. I don't remember if the water that flooded the basement was from broken water pipes or the fire fighters.

[@hammer1349]

In regards to the park vs water point. At rooftop height, it is possible that the water might not even have been visible to the pilots as they came in on the approach. With the crash obscuring the actual target, and given the amount of bombs dropped, i am honestly surprised the casualties were as low as they were.

[@CalibanRising]

📢 If you've enjoyed this video, Why not watch another one. Or even better, support this channel through Patreon, giving a virtual tip or making a usual purchase through one of my affiliate links (at no extra cost to you). 👍Find more details here: calibanrising.com/support/ I appreciate your help and together we can make this channel even better!

[@zillsburyy1]

March of 45 why did they wait so long?!

[@josiahgarcia9033]

Honestly I thought it would be higher casualties

[@chlordk]

During the war in Denmark, there were at the most 2000 in the resistance at any point of time. The day the war ended there was many more. Greetings from Denmark.

[@snake273able]

Why?

[@Julian-Moon]

86 😢

[@geordiedog1749]

Just don’t watch the film about it. It’s brilliant but…….oh my God! It’s depressing. Really. Really. Depressing. Probably one of very few actual anti war films.

[@CalibanRising]

Yes, horrible to think of what happened to those kids.

[@jamesbond8608]

If it was so risky and difficult why do it.? more harm than good.? these are not jolly boys own adventures . think of those poor little kids probably cheering the brave r a f just before they were blown to bloody tatters.!

[@anthonylewis3128]

Title a bit misleading ! Nothing and no body is infallible!

[@CalibanRising]

Thanks for the feedback. I know what you mean, I found this a very interesting part of WW2 history.

[@simonclark29041978]

There is a good film on Netflix about this

[@nivek5031]

😓

[@Recliner09886]

It wasn’t there fault is was a complete accident all the smoke and fog and many other factors that caused that accident.

[@weybye91]

Not the first time the Brits bombed Copenhagen

[@aljawisa]

Joan of Arc defeated Britain, the royalty has a long memory.

[@Stephen-Ballyclare]

very misleading click bait to state that mosquitoes target a school, deliberately despicable and a great disservice to those that flew on those missions, regardless of your, title stating accidentally The RAF bombed a school,

[@CalibanRising]

Thanks for the feedback Stephen. I'm not sure how far you got in the video, but this title describes the events fairly accurately.

[@TheGroundedAviator]

As a Kiwi, I'd use our terminology for it... we partly fucked up. At least we admit it, unlike the Yanks much of the time, or even the Poms. I know I had a relative who navigated them, I don't know if he was involved though.

[@peace-now]

I am a New Zealander. It was the New Zealand Squadron that was the third wave. I am disgusted and ashamed. I am sorry tat we New Zealanders murdered children and nuns. It is a terrible attocity against Danes from my country, New Zealand.

[@tekha1977]

As a Dane I will like to say that I believe the pilots turned the mission down twice. First time because they didn’t have enough good quality photos of the target, the Danish resistance took hundres of fresh photos and send them to London. Then they turned it down because the didn’t have rooftop photos to determin the best approach. Within a week Danish resistance had provide London with hundreds of rooftop photos around Copenhagen. By then the pilots must have felt they had to though it since so many people had risk their lives taking photos under the nose of the Gestapo. I honestly believe the pilots felt preassured into something they really didn’t want. The Danish took full responsability of the tragic looses by having the Danish king issue a medal to every pilot /bomber/navigator after the war. Their is absoloutly no reason why any one should look down upon the New Zealand crews flying this mission, the Danish resistance new the risk better than anyone, they decided it was worth it.

[@gib37]

There is no good side in war.

[@hangar1873]

Well, kind of habit for Brits... I remember Morlaix, France. an infant school was bombed in 1943. About 40 children's dead. War is war.

[@CalibanRising]

I don't think I'd heard of that incident. As you say, war is war. As much as I admire these men and their courage they were but men who made mistakes and had to live with them.

[@missa2855]

Bombing Copoenhagen is a bad habit of the brits. once in 1801, then again in 1807 and then yet again in 1945.

[@frednurk4342]

The title is a disgrace and patently not true.

[@CalibanRising]

If you have information that disproves the accepted narrative of events that day, I would absolutely love to be corrected.

[@frednurk4342]

Mosquitoes target school?