Dresden was slammed around this date in February 1945, 70 years ago. This article doesn't go much into the reasons, behind how the bombing took place, but it does show the pictoral result.
As Wikipdea describes it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II):
In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 722 heavy bombers of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and 527 of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) dropped more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices on the city. The bombing and the resulting firestorm destroyed over 1,600 acres (6.5 km2) of the city centre. An estimated 22,700 to 25,000 people were killed. Three more USAAF air raids followed, two occurring on 2 March and 17 April aimed at the city's railroad marshaling yard and one small raid on 17 April aimed at industrial areas.
Post-war discussion of whether or not the attacks were justified has led to the bombing becoming one of the moral causes célèbres of the war. A 1953 United States Air Force report defended the operation as the justified bombing of a military and industrial target, which was a major rail transport and communication centre, housing 110 factories and 50,000 workers in support of the German war effort.[6] Several researchers have claimed that not all of the communications infrastructure, such as the bridges, were targeted, nor were the extensive industrial areas outside the city centre. Critics of the bombing argue that Dresden — sometimes referred to as "Florence on the Elbe" (Elbflorenz) — was a cultural landmark of little or no military significance, and that the attacks were indiscriminate area bombing and not proportionate to the commensurate military gains.
Remembering Dresden: 70 Years After the Firebombing
In the last months of World War II, Allied bombers conducted several major bombing raids on the eastern German city of Dresden. Beginning on the night of February 13, 1945, more than 1,200 heavy bombers dropped nearly 4,000 tons of high-explosive and incendiary bombs on the city in four successive raids.
Very interesting. And the comments are, too.
Yes. The immediate polarization between "The Allies were just as bad as the Nazis!" and "The Allies were fully justified because Nazis!" is disheartening.