: 3 3 . ▁He ▁was ▁awarded ▁the ▁Hon our ▁Go ble t ▁of ▁the ▁Luft wa ffe ▁() ▁on ▁ 2 6 ▁July ▁ 1 9 4 3 . ▁ ▁In ▁mid - J uly , ▁the ▁Battle ▁of ▁the ▁Ru hr ▁was ▁coming ▁to ▁an ▁end ▁and ▁Bom ber ▁Command ▁ref oc used ▁its ▁efforts ▁on ▁the ▁port ▁city ▁of ▁Hamburg ▁in ▁northern ▁Germany . ▁The ▁cod ename ▁for ▁the ▁attack ▁was ▁Operation ▁G om or rah ; ▁the ▁objective ▁was ▁the ▁destruction ▁of ▁Hamburg . ▁The ▁operations ▁began ▁on ▁ 2 4 ▁July ▁ 1 9 4 3 ▁and ▁during ▁four ▁major ▁night - att acks ▁by ▁the ▁R AF ▁and ▁two ▁minor ▁day - att acks ▁by ▁United ▁States ▁Army ▁Air ▁Forces ▁( USA AF ) ▁between ▁ 4 0 , 0 0 0 ▁and ▁ 5 0 , 0 0 0 ▁civ ili ans ▁were ▁killed . ▁To ▁counter ▁the ▁mount ing ▁success ▁of ▁the ▁German ▁night ▁f ighter ▁force , ▁which ▁was ▁directly ▁attributed ▁to ▁the ▁introduction ▁of ▁the ▁L ichten stein ▁rad ar , ▁the ▁R AF ▁introduced ▁Window ▁( Ch aff ▁or ▁D ü ppel ▁to ▁the ▁Germ ans ). ▁Window ▁was ▁a ▁rad ar ▁counter measure ▁in ▁which ▁aircraft ▁spread ▁a ▁cloud ▁of ▁small , ▁thin ▁pieces ▁of ▁al umin ium ▁which ▁effectively ▁made ▁it ▁impossible ▁for ▁the ▁German ▁rad ar ▁operator ▁to ▁identify ▁the ▁genu ine ▁target . ▁S atur ation ▁of ▁the ▁H imm el b ett ▁control ▁areas ▁by ▁a ▁bom