Hamburg: the Decisive Stage
Title
Hamburg: the Decisive Stage
Description
An article about another attack on Hamburg. It is annotated 'No 6 2/3 8/43
Language
Type
Format
Two newspaper cuttings
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0009
Transcription
[inserted] No 6 2/3 8/43 [/inserted]
Hamburg: the decisive stage
SEVEN SQUARE MILES NOW DEVASTATED
Express Air Reporter BASIL CARDEW
THE Battle of Hamburg – greatest test battle of the air war that all the world is watching – was last night stated officially to have been brought nearer to a decisive stage with Bomber Command's fourth obliterating attack within little more than a week.
The raid, I estimate, has brought the total weight of bombs dropped on Germany's largest port in the space of nine days and nights to about 10,000 tons.
Before the colossal air fleet set out from Britain on their last big raid Air Chief-Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, who is directing the battle, knew that an area of seven square miles – nearly 4,500 acres – had already been devastated, equal to almost seven times the size of the City of London.
Such damage, stated the Air Ministry last night, is unparalleled in the history of air warfare.
In this fourth great raid, although the bombs fell on Hamburg, in effect they fell on every industrial city in Germany, for all Germany, especially the population of Berlin, now know that Hamburg has become a test city.
The result of the battle here will prove whether a gigantic industrial area can be eradicated from the air.
This is no bid to destroy the city building by building but, by the air bombardment of a concentrated area, to wipe out Hamburg as a pillar in the German war machine.
Single buildings or blocks of buildings may stand. But when the R.A.F. has finished there is likely to be no water, power, drainage, transport and communications, few workers' houses intact, or shops, feeding places, and markets.
Hamburg: the decisive stage
SEVEN SQUARE MILES NOW DEVASTATED
Express Air Reporter BASIL CARDEW
THE Battle of Hamburg – greatest test battle of the air war that all the world is watching – was last night stated officially to have been brought nearer to a decisive stage with Bomber Command's fourth obliterating attack within little more than a week.
The raid, I estimate, has brought the total weight of bombs dropped on Germany's largest port in the space of nine days and nights to about 10,000 tons.
Before the colossal air fleet set out from Britain on their last big raid Air Chief-Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, who is directing the battle, knew that an area of seven square miles – nearly 4,500 acres – had already been devastated, equal to almost seven times the size of the City of London.
Such damage, stated the Air Ministry last night, is unparalleled in the history of air warfare.
In this fourth great raid, although the bombs fell on Hamburg, in effect they fell on every industrial city in Germany, for all Germany, especially the population of Berlin, now know that Hamburg has become a test city.
The result of the battle here will prove whether a gigantic industrial area can be eradicated from the air.
This is no bid to destroy the city building by building but, by the air bombardment of a concentrated area, to wipe out Hamburg as a pillar in the German war machine.
Single buildings or blocks of buildings may stand. But when the R.A.F. has finished there is likely to be no water, power, drainage, transport and communications, few workers' houses intact, or shops, feeding places, and markets.
Collection
Citation
“Hamburg: the Decisive Stage,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 24, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/38137.
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