A rare original WW2 U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey damage assessment report on A.T.G. Maschinenbau G.m.b.H., at Mockau airfield, near Leipzig, Germany. The report was produced in September 1945, and records the effects of the 8th Air Force raids in February, May and July 1944. A confidential document, it was issued with a restricted circulation, each copy individually numbered. This is copy number 53. The report is well illustrated with plans, photographs and diagrams, showing the results of the raids on the ATG Maschinenbau Mockau plant.
A.T.G. MASCHINENBAU, LEIPZIG: A.T.G. stands for Allgemeine Transportanlagen-Gesellschaft. In 1934, it was contracted with Junkers to produce aircraft, but its true nature had to be hidden during this early period of German rearmament, so it was designated a "Schattenwerk" or Shadow Work. It first began production of the Junkers W 33 and 34, and the Ju 86D. A temporary order for the Ju 52 was issued and expired in December 1937. This was followed by production of the He 111 B and E starting in April 1938. From 1940 till about 1944, the Ju 88 was the primary production aircraft, with mass production starting in the summer of 1943. In January 1944, the company was renamed the ATG Maschinenbau GmbH Leipzig. In 1944, it began to produce assemblies for the Ju 388, which went into production in July 1944 at a branch in Bernburg. Its final work was producing assemblies for the Me 262 in 1945.
In 1934, the first production line for series production of the Junkers W 33 and W 34 had been set up, of which 21 and 199 units, respectively, were built. The first major order was for the Ju 52 bomber. ATG quickly expanded into one of the largest companies in Leipzig. Production of the Ju 86A, D and G and the Heinkel He 111 E and H began even before the Ju-52 production finished in December 1937. Final assembly and flight operations took place on the Leipzig-Mockau Airport. During WW2 The main programme from 1940 to 1944 was the series production of the Ju 88A bomber. This made the works an important Allied bombing objective, and from December 4, 1943, the ATG production facilities and the Leipzig-Mockau airfield were repeatedly the target of Allied air raids, which caused major damage. On January 1, 1944, the company was renamed ATG Maschinenbau GmbH Leipzig. Production of the Ju 388 high-altitude bomber had been in preparation since 1944, but final assembly only began in the Leipzig-Kleinzschocher and Mockau plants from September 1944. The final order completed at ATG was the production of parts for the Focke-Wulf Ta 152 high altitude fighter in February 1945. The ATG employed a large number of prisoners of war and forced labour, as well as prisoners from numerous concentration camps.
Bombing of Leipzig: During the night of 3 December 1943, the Royal Air Force attacked Leipzig. Between 3:50 am and 4:25 am, 442 bombers dropped a total of almost 1400 tons of explosives and fire bombs. In the city centre, where the buildings were densely crowded, the air raid caused a firestorm. Hans Rumpf, the general inspector of fire fighting, happened to be in Leipzig during the attack. He said the firestorm was even more intense than the one in Hamburg during Operation Gomorrah. More than 1800 people were killed in the attack. In the city centre many historic buildings fell victim to the attack. 1,067 commercial buildings, 472 factory buildings, 56 schools, and 9 churches were also destroyed.
During the so-called 'Big Week' in February 1944, Leipzig was one of the first targets to be attacked by British and American bombers. On 20 February between 3.15 am and 4.20 am residential areas in the south (Connewitz) as well as residential and industrial areas in the southwest of Leipzig (Schleußig and Großzschocher) were hit. During this night raid more than 700 bombers dropped about 2300 tons of bombs. In the afternoon of the same day, more than 200 bombers of the 8th US Air Force attacked industrial facilities in the northeast of the city, dropping about 700 tons of bombs. In total, about 970 people were killed.
