ALLIED WAR CRIMES AGAINST THE GERMANS FROM 1939 TO 1945

The progress of the Allied bombing campaign which helped to win the Second World War has been graphically illustrated in this extraordinary animation.

The map pinpoints the exact location of every bombing raid by either the Royal Air Force or the United States Army Air Forces from the start of the conflict in 1939 until its end six years later.

It vividly demonstrates the importance of the 1.6million tonnes of explosive deployed against the Nazis and their allies - and the way Britain and America collaborated in the war.

The animation was created by researchers from the Imperial War Museum in order to mark the re-opening of the American Air Museum in Duxford, Cambridgeshire.

It is the first time the full extent of the Allies' strategic bombing campaign against Hitler has been documented in this graphic format.

The video shows how in the early years of the war bombing raids were deployed relatively seldom, becoming more important as the conflict went on.

The US joined the war in December 1941, and from then on the RAF and the USAAF worked together to defeat the Germans in Europe.

The UK and US committed countless war crimes through these bombing raids primarily at innocent population centers. The worst took place in Dresden.