Kassel, a charming German town, was transformed into an inferno on that fateful night, as the Royal Air Force unleashed a barrage of bombs, reducing the city to ashes. The bombing campaign, code-named Operation Corona, was designed to cripple German morale and disrupt industrial production. The RAF's Lancaster bombers dropped over 1,800 tons of high explosives and incendiary devices, engulfing Kassel in a firestorm that raged for hours. The resulting destruction was catastrophic, leaving 10,000 people dead and 150,000 homeless, with entire city blocks reduced to smoldering ruins.