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Bombing of Hamburg in World War II

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The large port city of Hamburg was very heavily bombed many times by the RAF and the USAAF during World War II.

An Avro Lancaster over Hamburg - the curved streaking is caused by a combination of the movement of the photographing aircraft and the long exposure time required for taking photographs at night

The battle of Hamburg

File:FirestormHamburg.jpg
Firestorm in Hamburg

The Battle of Hamburg codenamed Operation Gomorrah was a series of air raids conducted by the Royal Air Force on the city of Hamburg beginning in the end of July 1943. It was at the time the heaviest assault in the history of aerial warfare and was later called the Hiroshima of Germany by British officials.

The operation was originally formulated by British Air Marshal Arthur "Bomber" Harris (who famously said of the Germans "They have sowed the wind and so shall they reap the whirlwind") and was actually a joint effort between the RAF Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Force (specifically 8th Air Force Bomber Command), who combined to create an "around-the-clock" bombing mission spanning 8 days and 4 nights--the Americans conducting the daylight raids with the British following after nightfall. Harris signed the order for the operation "Bomber Command Order No. 173" on May 27th.

The operation was conducted almost a month later. On July 24th, at approximately 00:57AM, the first bombing started by the RAF and lasted almost an hour. A second daylight raid by US Air Force was conducted at 2:40PM. A third raid was conducted on the morning of the 26th. The night attack of July 26th at 00:20AM was extremely light (due to a severe thunderstorm and high winds over the North Sea during which a considerable number of bombers jettisoned the explosive part of their bomb loads) with only two bomb drops reported. That attack is often not counted when the total number of Operation Gomorrah attacks is given. There was no day raid on the 27th.

File:Hamburg - 1944-45.jpg
Typical bomb damage in Hamburg. This picture was taken sometime in 1944 or 45

On the night of July 27th, shortly before midnight, 739 aircraft attacked Hamburg. Owing to unusually warm weather, along with the deliberate planning of the raids (which trapped the city's firefighters in the bombed-out center of the city by following-up with incendiary bombing of the periphery), the bombings culminated in the spawning of the so-called "Feuersturm" (firestorm). Quite literally a tornado of fire, this phenomenon created a huge outdoor blast furnace, containing winds of up to 150 mph (240 km/h) and reaching temperatures of 1500 degrees Fahrenheit (800 degrees Celsius). It caused street asphalt to burst into flame, cooked people to death in air-raid shelters, sucked pedestrians off the sidewalks like leaves into a vacuum cleaner and incinerated some eight square miles (21 km²) of the city. Most of the casulties (40,000) of Operation Gomorrah were suffered this night.

On the night of July 29, Hamburg was again attacked by over 700 aircraft. The last raid of Operation Gomorrah was conducted on August 3rd.

Operation Gomorrah caused at least 50,000 deaths and left over a million German civilians homeless. Approximately 3,000 aircraft were deployed, 9,000 tons of bombs dropped, and 250,000 houses destroyed. Hamburg was hit by air raids another 69 times before the end of World War II.

The British Bomber Command lost 12 bomber the first day of the attack, on the whole 440 with the top of this city during the war.

Time line of Hamburg air raids during World War II

Bombing raids By the RAF on Hamburg took place:[1]

  • The night of 10/11 September 1939. 10 aircraft dropped leaflets.
  • The nights of nights of 15/16 and 16/17 November 1940: A heavy raid by a total of over 200 aircraft. On the first night damage was caused to the Blohm & Voss shipyard and over 60 fires were started. On the second night only 60 aircraft found their target and damage was far less. These two nights of bombing were only 24 hours after a very large raid by the German Luftwaffe on Coventry on the night of 14/15 November 1940. However the raid must have been planned more than 24 hours in advance, so although these raids are often stated to be revenge attacks, it is unlikely that they were planned to be so.
  • The night of 12/13 March 1941: heavy raids on Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin by a total of 257
  • The night of 13/14 March 1941: 51 people were killed, the highest number in a sigle raid to date
  • April 1941. During the month Hamburg was a main target.
  • May 1941. Hamburg was bombed several times during the month. Raids now usually contained about 100 bombers.
  • The night of 11/12 May 1941: a heavy raid by 92 aircraft.
  • The night 27/28 June 1941: Raid on Bremen but most bombed Hamburg an error of 50 miles. 11 out of 35 bombers were shot down by night fighters.
  • The night of 14/15 January 1942: Heavy raid by 95 aircraft. Only 48 aircraft claimed to have bombed Hamburg. Altona station hit and 12 fires - 7 large started. 6 people killed and 22 injured. No aircraft reported lost
  • The night of 15/16 January 1942: Heavy raid by 96 aircraft. 52 bombers claimed to have bombed Hamburg successfully. 36 fires started 3 of them large, 3 people killed and 25 injured. 11 Bombers lost.
  • The night of 17/18 January 1942: Bremen the main target for 83 aircraft, but Hamburg bombed as a secondary target causing 11 fires and casualties of 5 dead and 12 injured.in Hamburg. 4 bombers lost.
  • The night of 16/17 February 1942, small raid by one or two bombers. No details.
  • The night of 8/9 April 1942: larget raid to date on a single target. Carried out by 272 aircraft. Raid was considered a failure. 17 people were killed and 119 injured. 5 planes lost
  • The night of 17/18 April 1942 large raid by 173 aircraft. 75 fires, 33 classed as large were started. 23 people were killed and 66 injured. 8 aircradt lost.
  • The night of 3/4 May 1942 1942: small raid by 81 aircraft were dispatched on the 100th anniversary of a great fire in Hamburg. 53 aircrafte were estimated to have hit the target. 113 fires of which 57 were large were started. 77 were killed, 243 injured and 1,624 bombed out. 5 aircraft were lost.
  • The night of 26/27 July 1942. Large raid by 403 aircraft Widespread damage was caused, mostly in housing and semi-commercial districts rather than in the docks and industrial areas. At least 800 fires, 523 being large, were started. 823 houses were destroyed and more than 5,000 damaged. More than 14,000 people were bombed out. 337 people were killed and 1,027 injured. 29 aircraft were lost, 7.2 per cent of the force.
  • The night of 28/29 July 1942. Large raid by 256 aircraft. Bad weather meant only 68 bombed in the target area. 56 fires, 15 of them large were started. 13 people were killed and 48 injured with. Bomber losses were high 15.3 per cent for the main group bombing that night.
  • The day of 3 August 1942. light raid by 10 aircraft.
  • The day of 18 August 1942. nuisance raid by 1 Mosquito.
  • The day of 19 September 1942: nuisance raid by 2 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 13/14 October 1942: light secondary target raid. 2 large fires were started; 8 people were killed and 43 injured.
  • The night of 9/10 November 1942: heavy raid by 213 aircraft. There were 26 fires started of which 3 were large ones. 3 people killed and 16 injured. 15 aircraft lost lost, 7.0 per cent of the force.
  • The night of 30/31 January 1943: medium raid by 148 aircraft. It was the first H2S radar attack of the war. H2S use was not successful and the bombs were scattered. However 119 fires were started of which 71 were large. 58 people were killed and 164 injured. 5 aircraft were lost, 3.4 per cent of the force.
  • The night of 3/4 February 1943:heavy raid by 263 aircraft. Bad weather effected the bombers with many turnig back early. Damage was light for what was planned to be a large raid. 16 bombers were lost, 6.1 per cent of the force, many to night fighters.
  • The night of 3/4 March 1943: heavy raid by 417 aircraft. The pathfinders marked the wrong target mistaking a mud bank as the docks with their H2S radar, so most of the bombs landed 13 miles downstream from the centre of Hamburg, around the small town of Wedel. Those bombs which landed on Hamburg did considerable damage starting 100 fires, killing 27 people killed a 95 injuring 95. The damage to Wedal was extensive. 10 aircraft lost, 2.4 per cent of the force.
  • The night of 13/14 April 1943: nuisance raid by 2 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 26/27 June 1943: nuisance raid by 4 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 28/29 June 1943: nuisance raid by 4 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 3/4 July 1943: nuisance raid by 4 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 5/6 July 1943: nuisance raid by 4 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 24/25 July 1943: A large raid by 791 aircraft, marked the opening of the "Battle of Hamburg". Chaff (code named window) was used for the firt time. In clear weather visual and H2S marking was accurate and on the town centre. 728 aircraft dropped the bombs bombs in 50 minutes. Less than half the force bombed within 3 miles of the centre with a bomb creapback of six miles. Damage was caused in the central and north-western districts, particularly in Altona, Eimsbüttel and Hoheluft. The Rathaus (Town Hall), the St. Nikolai church, the main police station, the main telephone exchange and the Hagenbeck Zoo were among the well-known landmarks to be hit. About 1,500 people were killed which was the largest outside the range of Oboe (navigation) which helped to concentrate the boming pattern. Thanks to window only 12 aircraft were lost, 1.5 per cent of the force.
  • The night of 25/26 July 1943: diversionary nuisance raid by 6 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 26/27 July 1943: nuisance raid by 6 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 27/28 July 1943: A large raid by 787 aircraft guided in by pathfinders using H2S. Bombing about 2 miles east of city centre. Because of the unseasonally dry conditions, a firestorm was created in the built-up working-class districts of Hammerbrook, Hamm and Borgfel. The boming was more concentrated than the RAF was usually able to manage at this stage of the war. In just over half an hour it is estimated that 550-600 bomb loads fell into an area measuring only 2 miles by 1 mile and this gradually spread the fire eastwards. The firestorm lasted for about three hours, consuming approximately 16,000 multi-storeyed apartment buildings and killing an estimated 40,000 people died, most of them by carbon monoxide poisoning when all the air was drawn out of their basement shelters. In the aftermath fearing further raids, two thirds of Hamburg's population, approximately 1,200,000 people fled the city.
  • The night of 28/29 July 1943: nuisance raid by 4 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 28/29 July 1943: A large raid by 777 aircraft guided in by pathfinders unsing H2S. The plan was to bomb the untouched norhtern suburbs. But a mistake in making led to the boming of an area just south of the area devastated by the firestorm three night before. The residential areas of Wandsbek and Barmbek districts and parts of the Uhlenhorst and Winterhude were severly dammaged and wide spread fires but no fire storm. 28 aircraft 3.6 per cent of the force was lost.
  • The night of 2/3 August 1943: A large raid by 740 aircraft dispatched on a raid to Hamburg but bad weather stopped all but a few bombers reaching Hamburg many bombed secondary targets instead. 30 aircraft, 4.1 per cent of the force was lost.
  • The night of 22/23 August 1943, diversionary nuisance raid by 6 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 5/6 November 1943, Hamburg and other cities raided by a total of 26 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 1/2 January 1944, diversionary raid by 15 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 11/12 March 1944, nuisance by 20 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 6/7 April 1944, raid by 35 Mosquitos. One aircraft lost.
  • The night of 26/27 April 1944, diversionary raid by 16 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 28/29 April 1944, raid by 26 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 22/23 June 1944, diversionary raid by 29 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 22/23 June 1944, diversionary raid by 26 Mosquitos. 1 aircraft lost.
  • The night of 26/27 July 1944, diversionary raid by 30 Mosquitos. 1 aircraft lost.
  • The night of 28/29 July 1944, A large raid by 307 aircraft. The raid was not a success, the bombing was scattered and German sources estimated that only 120 bombers landed their load on the city. 22 aircraft were lost mainly to night fighters.
  • The night of 26/27 August 1944, diversionary nuisance raid by 13 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 29/30 August 1944, diversionary nuisance raid on Hamburg one of five cities bombed by a total of 53 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 6/7 September 1944, nuisance raid by 32 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 26/27 September 1944, diversionary nuisance raid by 6 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 30 September/1 October 1944, raid by 46 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 12/13 October 1944, raid by 52 Mosquitos. 1 aircraft lost.
  • The night of 30 November/1 December 1944, diversionary raid by 53 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 11/12 December 1944, raid by 28 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 27/28 December 1944, nuisance raid by 7 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 16/17 January 1945, diversionary nuisance raid by 9 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 8/9 March 1945, large raid by 312 aircraft. It was an attack intended to destroy the type XXI U-boats being built in the Hamburg shipyards. But cloud cover limited the damage done. 1 aircrat lost.
  • The night of 21/22 March 1945. raid by 159 aircraft on the Erdölwerke refinery which was put out of action for the rest of the war. 4 aircraft lost.
  • The night of 30/31 March 1945, raid by 43 Mosquitos.
  • The day of 31 March 1945, large raid by 469 aircraft on the the Blohm & Voss shipyards to destroy the type XXI U-boats under construction. But cloud cover prevented serious dammage to the target, but there was considerable damage to houses, factories, energy supplies and communications over a wide area of southern Hamburg. 11 aircraft lost mainly to German day fighters.
  • The night of 2/3 April 1945, nuisance raid by 1 Mosquito
  • The day of 8 April 1945, USAAF raid on the shipyards.
  • The night of 8/9 April 1945, large raid by 440 aircraft on the shipyard areas but partial cloud caused the raid to become dispersed. There was some dammage to the yards by it was not clear whether the dammage was American or British or both.
  • The day of 9 April 1945, 57 Lancasters of No. 5 Group RAF attacked oil-storage tanks (40 aircraft) and U-boat shelters (17 aircraft of No. 617 "Dambuster" Squadron with Grand Slams and Tallboy bombs). Both attacks were successful. 2 Lancasters were lost from the raid on the oil tanks.
  • The night of 9/10 April 1945, diversionary raid by 24 Mosquitos.
  • The night of 13/14 April 1945, diversionary raid by 87 Mosquitos.

Notes

  1. ^ RAF Bomber Command Campaign Diary


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