Bomb-line Dresden?
From Hugh Lunghi Sir: I hesitate to go on flogging the Dresden bombing issue but feel it is only fair to do so for the record. Noble Frankland states that if the Russians asked for a bomb-line through Dresden they would hardly ask for it to be bombed (Letters, 13 March). But they did ask for a bomb-line through Berlin (as well as Dresden, Vienna and Zagreb) and for Berlin to be bombed. That is shown in the 40 broadsheet pages of minutes published by the New York Times, 17 March 1955, specifically headed 'Official Minutes of the Yalta Conference', supplied by the State Department. Clearly a target, whether previously
bombed or not, could be designated as part of a bomb-line. General Antonov, quoted in the official minutes, stated, 'It is possible to agree on the objectives for strategic bombing irrespective of the bomb-line.' The minutes show there was considerable discussion on the risks and care needed: it was proposed that the US and British military missions in Moscow should co-operate with the Russians there.
Hugh Lunghi
Fleet, Hampshire
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