Operation Hurricane was a 24-hour bombing operation to "demonstrate to the enemy in Germany generally the overwhelming superiority of the Allied Air Forces in this theatre" (in the directive to Harris ACO

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the Strategic bombing during World War II#Europe, strategic bombing of Germany in W ...

)Bishop p. 334. and "cause mass panic and in the Ruhr, disrupt frontline communications and demonstrate the futility of resistance" (in the words of the Official RAF History). During the day of 14 October 1944, 957 RAF Bomber Command aircraft dropped of high explosive and of incendiaries on

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

. Also during the day, USAAF

VIII Bomber Command 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

Mission 677 made PFF attacks on

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

marshaling yards at

Gereon Gereon of Cologne (), who may have been a soldier, was martyred at Cologne by beheading, probably in the early 4th century. History The Roman Martyrology states that "In Cologne in Germany, the Saints Gereon and his companions, martyrs, who with ...

, Gremberg, and Eifelter; as well as

Euskirchen Euskirchen (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Öskerche'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Euskirchen (district), district Euskirchen. While Euskirchen resembles a modern shopping town, it also has a history dating ba ...

.McKillop October 1944 A second RAF raid on Duisburg during the night of in two waves about two hours apart dropped a further 4,040 tonnes of high explosive and 500 tonnes of incendiaries. In some cases RAF crews flew both the daylight and night-time raids; a total of nearly eleven hours flying time in During the same night the RAF also bombed Brunswick (), destroying the town centre. Nearly fifty Mosquitos carried out nuisance raids and from No. 100 Group targeted German

night fighter A night fighter (later known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor post-Second World War) is a largely historical term for a fighter aircraft, fighter or interceptor aircraft adapted or designed for effective use at night, during pe ...

operations. In RAF Bomber Command had flown losing dropping approximately of bombs and killing over in Duisburg alone.

Notes

References

* Bishop, Patrick (2007). ''Bomber Boys: Fighting back 1940 — 1945'', Harper Press, 2007, * McKillop, Jack.
U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II

Federal Depository Library Program Electronic Collection of the United States
!--Retrieved 2009-04-02--> * Staff {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurricane, Operation 1944 in Germany World War II strategic bombing of Germany Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United States October 1944 in Europe