On the night of the 13/14th of July 1943, RAF Bomber Command returned to the German city of Aachen again. This time they were carrying what they termed an "arson load". The attack created a firestorm that would take over a day to burn out and kill hundreds. Eleven days later, Operation Gomorrah, the firebombing of Hamburg, was carried out. Historian Dr Philip Blood joins me to discuss the July raid and the many other attacks on Aachen. In this extended episode, we look at Bomber Command's procedures and the intent used to promulgate the bombing offensive and the point at which their purpose became genocidal. WARNING - this episode contains a discussion of death, autopsies and genocide.

★Follow Phil on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/HistorianBlood

★Phil's Academea.edu page with his thesis, papers and reviews can be found here: https://philipwblood.academia.edu/

★Buy Birds of Prey - Hitler's Luftwaffe, Ordinary Soldiers, and the Holocaust in Poland by Philip[ Blood at The Damcasters Bookshop, 10% of each purchase supports the pod, here (UK and EU only): https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9783838215679

★Listen to our Birds of Prey podcast via History Hack here:

Pt.1 - https://historyhack.podbean.com/e/hedge-hopping-with-matt-bone-birds-of-prey-with-dr-philip-blood-pt-1-the-hunt/

Pt.2 - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hedge-hopping-with-matt-bone-birds-of-prey-with/id1506031126?i=1000537603683

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★Visit the Pima Air and Space Museum’s website here: https://pimaair.org/★Learn more about the Titan Missle Museum here: https://titanmissilemuseum.org/

★Find out who is in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame here: https://pimaair.org/about-us/arizona-aviation-hall-of-fame/

★Want to know how the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum is progressing? Find out more here: https://www.tucsonmilitaryvehicle.org/

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