Cologne 1945: Combat footage or not?

Cologne, March 1945

Cologne was a devastated, smoking hell. Being the closest major German city to England, the Allies had bombed it repeatedly during the war. The Allies had launched no less than 262 air raids against it by March 1945, including the first 1000-bomber raid ever assembled against any target on May 31, 1942. Cologne had been paying the price of the war earlier and harder than anywhere else in Germany, and it had lost 95% of its population. In essence, aside from absolutely essential personnel and a few troops, Cologne was nothing but a deserted shell, of no value to anyone except as a place on the map to occupy.

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