Hambro, Air Commodore

Halsey: “Keep the bastards dying!”

Which he detested) saved him from condemnation both after Leyte and when, in December 1944 and June 1945, he was censured for exposing Third Fleet to typhoon damage.

In May-August 1945, Halsey led Third Fleet (with British Pacific Fleet in cooperation) at Okinawa and in devastating strikes against the Japanese home islands. He was promoted Fleet Adm in December 1945, retiring from active duty in 1947.

Hambro, Air Commodore Sir Charles Jocelyn (1897-1963). Br. Fought in France, 1916—18; head of soe’s Scandinavian section 1941; soe’s second-in-command 1941-42, executive head 194243; exchanged atomic secrets with Americans, 1943-45.

Hamburg, Battle of. The term describes the British night bombing of Germany between July 24 and November 18 1943. It began with a sustained and massive series of attacks upon Hamburg itself and then shifted its focus generally eastwards and towards Berlin. The campaign is sometimes called the Battle of the Central Complex; it was the bridge between the battles of the Ruhr and of Berlin.

During this battle, Bomber Command dispatched 17,021 sorties in 33 major attacks on German targets. The cost was heavy - 695 aircraft failed to return, while 1,123 were damaged, sometimes to the point of total loss. The casualty rate was, though, lower than that suffered in the Battle of the Ruhr and substantially so than in the Battle of Berlin, but the damage was much greater. Hamburg was the most successful episode in Bomber Command’s general area offensive before D-Day.

By far the greatest amount of the damage done was in Hamburg itself, which, on the nights of July 24-25, 27-28 and 29-30 and August 2-3 1943, sustained four huge night attacks by Bomber Command and some lesser activity by the day bombers of the US Eighth Air Force. The four British attacks involved the dispatch of 3,095 sorties carrying nearly 9,000 tons of bombs, about half of which were incendiaries. In these four nights about 50,000 people were killed and 40,000 injured. Close on 1,000,000 people fled from the city. More than half the houses and half the factories in Hamburg were completely destroyed. Some of the bombing was so highly concentrated that firestorms were generated. Speer concluded at the time that six more such attacks would end the war. These, however, could not be achieved; indeed, in the attacks on Hamburg, Bomber Command had special advantages which were either unique to that city or were temporary. Among the former was the relatively short penetration of enemy territory needed and the amount of water in the target area, which produced an unusually good H2S picture. Among the latter was the surprise element caused by Window, used for the first time in these attacks and which the Germans later, to a considerable extent, circumvented. ANF.

“Hamburger Hill” see a shau,

BATTLES OF.

Hamilcar see gliders.

Hamilton, Gen Sir Ian (18531947). Br. Hamilton was one of the most intellectually gifted officers of his generation, while three recommendations for the VC testified to his courage. When serving in Afghanistan in the early 1880s he became a protege of Sir Frederick (later Earl) Roberts, and during the Second Boer War he was Kitchener’s chief of staff, commanding 17,000 men in the final drive against the Boers. From 1910 to 1914 he held the post of GOG, Mediterranean Command. Soon after the outbreak of war in 1914, Kitchener appointed him to lead the Central Force, with responsibility for home defence in the event of invasion. However, on

March 12 1915, he was given his greatest challenge, being made commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force for the forthcoming military operations in the Dardanelles. His plans for the landings on Gallipoli on April 25 1915 were overambitious for brave but largely inexperienced troops with scant logistical support but, even when any chance of an easy success had clearly evaporated, he was slow to ask for reinforcements. His headquarters at Imbros were too distant and he exercised insufficient control over incompetent subordinates such as Hunter-Weston, who wasted lives in futile frontal assaults at Cape Helles. Dissatisfaction with Hamilton increased after his abortive August offensive at Anzac and Suvla, when he again intervened too late to snatch a fleeting opportunity of victory. He was replaced by Monro in October 1915. Considering his many outstanding gifts, Hamilton’s failure at Gallipoli was all the more tragic. PJS.

Hamlet Evaluation Survey (HES). Initiated in 1963 to measure the effectiveness of “pacification” in the Vietnam War. The survey depended on monthly reports filed by American district adviser and was used to support the contention that the US was winning the war. Despite overhaul in 1967 to remove optimistic bias, the survey continued to underrate the communists’ access to the people and hold on their loyalties. It claimed 93 percent of the people were living under Saigon’s influence or control in late 1972, when the Pentagon estimated that communist and front organizations still lived among or had access to 71 percent. WST.

Hampden, Handley Page HP 52

(Br, WWII). Medium bomber/ torpedo bomber; crew 4. Prototype flew June 21 1936. Deliveries began August 1938; ten squadrons by September 1939. First operational mission September 3 1939. Built in Canada. Five squadrons operated as torpedo-bombers 1942 -43. Twenty-three to Russians. Withdrawn end 1943. Production 1,532. Two 965hp Bristol Pegasus engines; max. speed 247mph (397kph); 4,0001b (1,800kg) bombs, four 0.303 in machine guns.