A professor from Bangor University and a local city councillor are investigating the identity of a Bangor student who is said to have saved one of Germany’s top universities from being bombed during WWII. This act allowed the university to help feed Europe after the Nazi surrender in 1945.
During the bombing of Stuttgart by the RAF and US Air Force from 1940 onwards, the area was almost totally blitzed by target and carpet bombing from RAF Lancaster, Wellington and Mosquito bombers, however, the ancient University of Honheneim remained intact. Bangor Councillor Mark Roberts said this was due to a single Bangor University student or lecturer joining the RAF at the outbreak of war. This person became one of the Bomber Command forward targeting officers, responsible for deciding which sites not to hit under any circumstances.
“He had previously worked at the prestigious Department of Agriculture in Bangor and was aware of the equally important work in crop production, livestock breeding, fertilizer, and soil research development at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart. He directly appealed to the Ministry of Food, the War Office, and Bomber Command to spare Hohenheim from Allied bombing at all costs. He stated that without Hohenheim’s academic and research contributions to food production, Europe might have faced starvation after the war.”
During World War II, RAF and US bombers relentlessly attacked Stuttgart for four years in an effort to destroy the city’s military war factories, railway lines, and crucial ball-bearing and vehicle production sites. Despite this, the University itself was specifically ordered to be saved “at all costs.”
Hohenheim University was so well protected against accidental hits that in later years of the war, the more accurate Mosquito bombers were used over Stuttgart instead of the ‘hit-and-miss’ Wellington and Lancasters.
Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Christian Dunn of Bangor’s School of Environmental and Natural Sciences is currently collaborating with Cllr. Roberts to explore history. He said: “It would be fantastic if we could identify the enterprising and visionary University student or staff member who recognised the significance of Honhenheim University and saved it from certain destruction. However, many of our students and staff volunteered for military service at the outbreak of the war, making it difficult to pinpoint them in our University records. We do know, though, that both Bangor and Honhenheim were global leaders in higher education and understanding of agricultural production. Without research, Europe would have faced starvation. Food rationing in Britain was only lifted in 1954, long after the war, and with the mass relocation of refugees and transient populations, Europe was in an even worse state.”
During the years 1940-1945, Allied bombing in and around Stuttgart was relentless. In the early years, an average of 300 aircraft per night carried out bombing runs, but this number increased to up to 598 bombers in one night in 1944, when Stuttgart was almost completely destroyed. In total, 27,000 tons of high explosives and more than 1.3 million incendiary bombs were dropped. The bombings resulted in the deaths of 4,562 Germans and the displacement of thousands more.
“It’s incredible to me that the Honhenheim University, located just a few miles outside the city centre but close to critical targets such as the rail marshalling yards and factories producing magnetos for the German Luftwaffe and Panzer tanks, as well as military equipment by Bosche, managed to survive. Especially considering that the University to the south of the city was on the narrow ‘fly-out’ corridor for bombers. Crews would typically jettison bombs randomly in this area to gain extra height and avoid German anti-aircraft guns and night fighters before returning home,” said Mr. Roberts.
“Wonderfully, Honhenheim remains one of Europe’s finest agricultural and natural resources universities” said Prof Dunn.
“The University of Bangor has a strong history in teaching and researching environmental and agricultural issues. Although it lost its Agriculture Department status some years ago, it played a significant role in the survival of Hohenheim University during wartime. There is a desire to identify and honour the individual who advocated for a strict “no-fly zone” around Hohenheim University. This person potentially deserves recognition such as an Honorary Doctorate or even a Nobel Peace Prize today!”
Cllr Roberts added: “I first heard of this story directly from an elderly former Wellington bomber Sergeant Navigator of 40 Squadron RAF but not knowing where Honhenheim was or really knowing the relationship between it and Bangor I didn’t pay much attention. Then I later got to know more of Honhenheim from a dear friend Sophie Reimers who is part of the university president’s senior staff there … and now I wish I’d paid more attention to what the survivor of umpteen bombing raids told me over a couple of beers.
“The lovely old chap I met, a decorated RAF bomber navigator, explained that there were umpteen levels of ‘don’t bomb’ sites mapped out for them. Residential areas, cultural and historic building were listed as ‘avoid if possible’, others were red-marked as ‘AVOID ABSOLUTE’ and these included areas where Allied PoWs or Resistance fighters were known to be imprisoned by the Germans. Honhenheim University fell into this latter category. He remembered it quite well as it was dangerously close to one of his primary targets … but it was a case of finger off the ‘bombs drop’ trigger!
“I really hope it’s not too late to find out who this savour was and thus complete the story in his tribute” added Cllr. Roberts.
Professor Dunn added: ‘If we can put a name to this visionary, then it will be easier to research the wartime records which will be buried somewhere in official government archives.”
Photos: (1) Bombs released over Stuttgart, 1944 (2) Low-level aerial photograph of the devastated city centre of Stuttgart, 1945 (3) The University of Honheneim
