During the latter stages of
World War II,
Pforzheim, a town in southwestern
Germany, was bombed a number of times. The largest raid, and one of the most devastating
area bombardments of the war was carried out by the
Royal Air Force (RAF) on the evening of February 23, 1945. As many as 17,600 people, representing 31.4% of the town's population, were killed in the air raid. About 83% of the town's buildings were destroyed, two-thirds of the complete area of Pforzheim and between 80 and 100% of the inner city.