20 See Hamburg Police Report, pp. 17, 35–6; and Erhard Klöss (ed.), Der Luftkrieg über Deutschland 1939–1945: Deutsche Berichte und Pressestimmen des neutralen Auslands(München, 1963), p. 43. For a picture of which areas were hit, see Plot of Night Photographs No. 172, taken 29/30 July 1943, UK National Archives, AIR 24/257.

21 Helmuth Saβ, FZH 292–8, Ri–S.

22 Ibid.

23 See Carl F. Miller (ed.), Appendixes 8 through 19 to the Hamburg Police President’s Report on the Large Scale Air Attacks on Hamburg, Germany, in World War II(Stanford, December 1968), Appendix 19, sheet 28, pp. 405–7. See also Hans Brunswig, Feuersturm über Hamburg(Stuttgart, 2003), p. 257.

24 A monument to these 370 people stands today in the central reservation of Hamburgerstrasse, close to a huge new shopping centre.

25 In Günther Severin (ed.), Briefe an einen Pastor(unpublished), letter 43.

26 Ibid.

27 Hans J. Massaquoi, ‘Operation Gomorrha’, in Volker Hage (ed.), Hamburg 1943: Literarische Zeugnisse Zum Feuersturm(Frankfurt am Main, 2003), p. 261.

28 Horatio Bond, who handled fire-damage analysis for the Physical Damage Division of the USSBS, estimated 800 died – see his Fire and the Air War(Boston, 1946), p. 86. Uwe Bahnsen and Kerstin von Stürmer estimate 1,000–5,000, in Die Stadt, die sterben sollte: Hamburg im Bombenkrieg, Juli 1943(Hamburg 2003), p. 54.

29 Adolf Pauly, in Severin (ed.), Briefe an einen Pastor, Letter 43.

19    The Tempest

1 William Shakespeare, Complete Works, ed. Peter Alexander (London, 1951), Julius Caesar, I, iii, 46–52: Cassius tries to convince Casca that the terrible thunderstorm over Rome is a good omen.

2 Hans Erich Nossack, Der Untergang(Hamburg, 1981), p. 69.

3 See Hamburg Police Report, pp. 70–72. The four special hospital trains were destroyed in the night raid of 29 July.

4 Wanda Chantler (née Wanziunia Cieniewska-Radziwill), interview with the author, 5 July 2004.

5 Hamburg Police Report, p. 21. The German text is reproduced in Erhard Klöss (ed.), Der Luftkrieg über Deutschland 1939–1945: Deutsche Berichte und Pressestimmen des neutralen Auslands(München, 1963), p. 53.

6 Franz Termer, in Renate Hauschild-Thiessen, Die Hamburger Katastrophe vom Sommer 1943 in Augenzeugenberichten(Hamburg, 1993), p. 175.

7 On 30 July 1943 Harris split his force into three for raids on Turin and Genoa in northern Italy, and Remscheid in the Ruhr valley. The Italian raids were called off by the Air Ministry at short notice, so only the Remscheid raid went ahead. See UK National Archives, AIR 24/257.

8 Night Raid Report no. 391, UK National Archives, AIR 14/3410.

9 Operations Record Book of 1409 Met. Flight, UK National Archives, AIR 29/867.

10 Operations Record Book of 83 Squadron, Pathfinder Force, UK National Archives, AIR 27/687.

11 UK National Archives AIR 27/538.

12 These were a 7 Squadron Stirling, piloted by Pilot Officer W. E. Stenhouse, whose undercarriage collapsed on landing; and a 300 Squadron Wellington of the Polish Air Force, which burst into flames when Flight Lieutenant J. Spychala was forced to crash-land in a field in Nottinghamshire. See UK National Archives, AIR 27/1657 and AIR 27/100. See also W. R. Chorley, Bomber Command Losses vol. 4 (1943)(Hersham, 2004), pp. 254 and 258.

13 Bill McCrea, A Chequer-Board of Nights(Preston, 2003), p. 82.

14 Typescript diary of Major J. K. Christie, 2–3 August 1943, RAF Museum Hendon, MF10016/5. Christie’s rank was a Norwegian one.

15 McCrea, Chequer-Board, p. 82.

16 Colin Harrison, interview with the author, 8 December 2004. James Sullivan, interview with the author, 9 December 2004.

17 Sergeant C. C. Leeming, 620 Squadron, quoted in Martin Middle-brook, The Battle of Hamburg(London, 1980), p. 310.

18 Ted Groom, 460 Squadron, interview with the author, 11 November 2004.

19 Manuscript diary of Sergeant Dennis George Eli Brookes, RAF Museum Hendon, X001–3536/010.

20 UK National Archives, AIR 27/203. See also Gordon Musgrove, Operation Gomorrah(London, 1981), p. 153.

21 Sergeant A. Stephen, in Middlebrook, Battle of Hamburg, pp. 312–13.

22 These were: a 35 Squadron Halifax, piloted by Sergeant E. Solomon (of which Sergeant Stephen was a crew member), a 214 Squadron Stirling (McGarvey), a 300 Squadron Wellington (Smyk), and a 419 Squadron Halifax (Sobin). All these planes had survivors to testify to the fact that ice brought them down. Several others were lost without trace, and it is likely that some were also victims of the conditions.

23 This was a Lancaster of 115 Squadron piloted by Pilot Officer R. J. Mosen. See Chorley, Bomber Command Losses, p. 257.

24 I.e. 3rd Gruppeof 1st Nachtjagdgeschwader. There are no accurate equivalents to German units in the RAF or the USAAF; however, this can be loosely translated into British terms as 3 Squadron of No. 1 Night Fighter Group, or in American terms as 3rd Group of 1st Bombardment Wing. See Appendix D, page 367.

25 Wilhelm Johnen, Duel Under the Stars(Manchester, 1994), p. 73.

26 There are several instances of this happening on that night. For example, Leonard Cooper’s 7 Squadron plane was attacked five times by a pair of night fighters before his pilot managed to lose them (interview with the author, 19 November 2004); Flight Lieutenant C. M. Shannon’s 76 Squadron plane was approached three times by the same Messerschmitt before losing it – see Gordon Musgrove, Operation Gomorrah(London, 1981), p. 151.

27 See Chorley, Bomber Command Losses, p. 256.

28 These four are: a 12 Squadron Lancaster piloted by Flight Officer S. Norris, a 158 Squadron Halifax (Davie), and two 405 Squadron Halifaxes (Phillips and Gregory). Ibid., pp. 255–8.

29 Rudolf Schurig, quoted in Rudolf Wolter, Erinnerung an Gomorrha(Hamburg, 2003), pp. 125, 131–2; Schurig corroborates both the figures and the sentiments in Renate Hauschild-Thiessen’s Die Hamburger Katastrophe vom Sommer 1943 in Augenzeugenberichten(Hamburg, 1993), p. 200.

30 For Peter Swan’s own description of his ordeal, see Kevin Wilson, Bomber Boys(London, 2005), pp. 276–8.

31 Trevor Timperley, interview with the author, 17 November 2004.

32 Colin Harrison, interview with the author, 8 December 2004.

33 Bill McCrea, interview with the author, 8 December 2004.

34 This figure does not include the 57 Squadron Lancaster written off on take-off, but it does include a Wellington of 166 Squadron (Burton) that was lost while laying mines in the Elbe estuary. See Chorley, Bomber Command Losses, pp. 254–9.

35 UK National Archives, AIR 14/3410.

36 Hamburg Police Report, p. 17; Klöss (ed.), Der Luftkrieg, pp. 43–4.

37 See, for example, Waldemar Hansen’s, Friedrich Sparmann’s, Helene Hadenfeldt’s and N.N.’s accounts in Hauschild-Thiessen, Die Hamburger Katastrophe, pp. 169, 182, 183–4, 186–8.

38 Hamburg Police Report, pp. 36–7.

Part Three

20    City of the Dead

1 Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, vol I: Inferno, canto 28, lines 1–3, trans. and ed. Robert M. Durling (New York, 1996). This canto describes the beginning of Dante’s final descent through the ninth circle of hell to its frozen core. Dante goes on to say, ‘It is no task to take in jest, that of describing the bottom of the universe’ (canto 32, lines 7–8); sentiments that I could not help but keep with me as I wrote this chapter.

2 For statistics on damage to the harbour installations, see USSBS, Economic Effects of the Air Offensive against German Cities: A Detailed study of the Effects of Area Bombing on Hamburg, Germany(November 1945), p. 12.