Hamburg street before the bombing Among the targets hit in Little Blitz Week was Hamburg, which VIII Bomber command struck in collaboration with RAF Bomber Command in “Operation Gomorrah.” Hamburg’s shipyards produced U-boats, and its oil refineries were crucial for the German war effort. What made this operation different was it was the first to make widespread use of what the British called “Window” and the Americans named “Chaff.” This was bundles of aluminum strips, cut to the wavelengths of the German radars, as the bundles broke open after they were thrown out of the bombers, the foil strips floated to the ground. While they were in the air, they effectively blinded the German radars, which returned nothing but “snow.”
My grad school office-mate was a young child in Hamburg and could retell the horrifying experiences of watching everything around them melt from the intense heat, including family members who were overcome by the smoke. An indelible memory for him that I acquired and which contributed to my abhorrence of wa for what it is, an uncivil enterprise dressed up as some necessity by men with power and goals. No conventions can make warfare just or good or honorable. Your account today, and my Fred's experience, shows it for what it is. Vile, violent, murderous, and the victims, children and complicit adults and "good people" telling of it's necessity while mourning their personal losses. Thugs rob you in the streets, statesmen rob us of our children in the name of some holy cause or some national imperatives. Sadly, the thugs may be the more honorable of the two for they only take what you have on you, not the generations of children who will never come forward.
TC, your vivid report of Operation Gomorrah reminded me of the theme behind your SUMMER OF CLIMATE COLLAPSE?, in which you referred to Robert Oppenheimer, and the destruction we can bring to the human race. Your picture ‘A firefighting crew overcome by the fire’ in this piece reminded me not only of war but also of the Climate Crisis, which we have, again, brought on ourselves.
The horrors of war! Your exquisite writing kept me reading. I always knew about Dresden but not Hamburg. I visited Bremen about 15 years ago with a friend whose in-laws lived nearby. As we entered a main street in the centre of town, my friend said “every new building you see is built on a bombed site”. The stark contrast of a few old buildings lightly sprinkled among the myriad new was shocking when looked at through the lens my friend had just given me. I have never forgotten that moment. It was mild compared to what you describe. The mind boggles.
My grad school office-mate was a young child in Hamburg and could retell the horrifying experiences of watching everything around them melt from the intense heat, including family members who were overcome by the smoke. An indelible memory for him that I acquired and which contributed to my abhorrence of wa for what it is, an uncivil enterprise dressed up as some necessity by men with power and goals. No conventions can make warfare just or good or honorable. Your account today, and my Fred's experience, shows it for what it is. Vile, violent, murderous, and the victims, children and complicit adults and "good people" telling of it's necessity while mourning their personal losses. Thugs rob you in the streets, statesmen rob us of our children in the name of some holy cause or some national imperatives. Sadly, the thugs may be the more honorable of the two for they only take what you have on you, not the generations of children who will never come forward.
TC, your vivid report of Operation Gomorrah reminded me of the theme behind your SUMMER OF CLIMATE COLLAPSE?, in which you referred to Robert Oppenheimer, and the destruction we can bring to the human race. Your picture ‘A firefighting crew overcome by the fire’ in this piece reminded me not only of war but also of the Climate Crisis, which we have, again, brought on ourselves.
The human is a dangerous, dangerous animal.
I’m shocked. Your writing is so much better than good. Thanks for the wake-up.
Thank you.
The horrors of war! Your exquisite writing kept me reading. I always knew about Dresden but not Hamburg. I visited Bremen about 15 years ago with a friend whose in-laws lived nearby. As we entered a main street in the centre of town, my friend said “every new building you see is built on a bombed site”. The stark contrast of a few old buildings lightly sprinkled among the myriad new was shocking when looked at through the lens my friend had just given me. I have never forgotten that moment. It was mild compared to what you describe. The mind boggles.
It's awfully damned hard to be the good guys sometimes.
It's awfully damned hard to be the good guys sometimes.