WWII March 1945 - Boulogne-sur-Mer after bombing

sketchfab

Nine days after Allied forces stormed the Normandy shores, 297 Royal Air Force bombers unleashed a devastating assault on Boulogne-sur-Mer, one of the seven impregnable strongholds of the Atlantic Wall. Their payload failed to find its mark, instead leveling the city center and inflicting catastrophic destruction. This horrific bombing would prove to be the deadliest aerial onslaught of the war. Thanks to a treasure trove of old scanned photographs taken on March 22, 1945, during an aerial reconnaissance mission, we've managed to recreate a stunning model of Boulogne-sur-Mer as it stood when the damage was still evident and the scars of the Allied landing were fresh. We're grateful to IGN for its incredible archive of aerial photographs, which has allowed us to take a thrilling journey back in time.