Hamburg Fireman - World War Two
World War Two, Second World War, W.W.II
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It was the first time we were unable to get control of the fires within a few hours. The SS summoned the fire chief and demanded the fire brigade extinguish all fires by noon the next day. |
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The firemen could not extinguish the building inferno. On the next day, July 25th, bomber command dropped another pounds of incendieries. They were trying to start a firestorm, in which everything in the city would be sucked into the blaze...they succeeded...The fires drew oxygen so ferociously a hurricane-force wind began to blow, a 200 kilometer an hour wind which tore babies from mother's arms and sucked them into the fire. |
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Germans who were burnt to death, lying on the street:
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FIREMAN
There was no smoke, only flames and flying sparks like a snow storm. The heat melted the lens in my protective glasses. I came upon a crowd of people lying and sitting on the street, moaning. They had given up. I joined them, and laid down, my steel helmet against the wind, trying to suck oxygen from the pavement. My clothes kept catching fire, and I had to beat them out. The air got so hot it burned my windpipe. Everyone around me died. The clothing on the women was baked off them, leaving their bodies naked. The bodies didn't burn, but dried out completely. |
