last. the air on the night of july twenty seventh one thousand nine hundred forty three british bomber command launched one of its largest raids against hamburg germany second largest city. the pilot recounted how they had left behind an enormous inferno whose glow they could still see three hundred kilometers away. in one night three hundred fifty thousand homes were destroyed the working class neighborhood of hama brooke was totally demolished all told there were forty two thousand six hundred deaths and what was known as operation gomorrah. an eyewitness noted. i saw roofs lift off into the sky bodies caught fire like tinder