During the latter stages of World War II, Pforzheim, a town in southwestern Germany, was bombed several times. The largest raid, 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. Some 17,600 people, or 31.4% of the town's population, were killed. 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. Minor raids The first Allied air raid on Pforzheim took place on April 1, 1944 when an attack by United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) bombers caused comparatively minor damage and killed 95 people. Further attacks by the USAAF followed, the largest on 24 December. Another on 21 January 1945 caused 56 casualties. The RAF also carried out several nighttime nuisance raids on Pforzheim and other towns with de Havilland Mosquito light bombers. The raids, consisting of around six Mosquitos, forced the Luftwaffe to respond. They also helped confuse the defences, diverting resources away from the main bomber streams. These nuisance raids drove civilians into shelters and disturbed their sleep. Three consecutive raids occurred on the nights of October 2, 3 and 4, 1944 with a further three raids in October and one in November 1944. The RAF lost one aircraft in these raids. After the devastating air raid of February 23, 1945, there were smaller air raids on Pforzheim. On March 4, USAAF B-24 Liberator aircraft bombed the area around "Kupferhammer". On March 14, 16, 18th, 19th, 20th and 24th, the railway facilities were bombed. On March 17, the motorway at Pforzheim was bombed, and on March 23 the area in Eutingen Valley was bombed. Reasons for the main raid A report compiled for RAF Bomber Command dated 28 June 1944, stated that Pforzheim was "one of the centres of the German jewellery and watch making trade and is therefore likely to have become of considerable importance to the production of precision instruments [of use in the war effort]." An Allied report issued in August 1944 stated that "almost every house in this town centre is a small workshop" and that there were a few larger factories in the south and one in the north of the city centre. An attack on the city would destroy the "built-up area, the associated industries and rail facilities". There were