From June 10, 1943, the RAF and the Americans intensified their air raids on German cities. The Allies' "Combined Bomber Offensive" began: During the day, the Americans launched precision bombings - at night, the RAF followed with area bombings. The naval assistant WV still remembers an event on June 11, 1943 that was significant for Cuxhaven: Alarm! Once again, enemy units were reported to be approaching. It was clear summer weather and we were soon able to spot and measure the planes. It was a large formation of around 30 B 17 aircraft (American heavy long-range day bomber "Boeing B 17 Flying Fortress). From Heligoland, which was usually a navigational point of approach for these operations, it flew into the mouth of the Elbe from the northwest. The English and Americans used the Elbe as a route for attacks on Berlin and Hamburg, in order to drop their bomb loads there day or night. As soon as the formation was within range of our guns, our battery, like all the others, opened fire from all barrels. Undeterred, the formation first passed Cuxhaven in the direction of Brunsbüttel. One of the first aircraft (later it was assumed that it was the lead aircraft) was hit, turned south with a long plume of smoke and then crashed in the direction of the Wurster Wattes. The entire formation then turned and flew directly towards Cuxhaven. Naval assistant H.Sch. added: At the time, I was E-Messer at the 6m base and had to follow the formation closely. When the planes turned around and headed for Cuxhaven, I watched as one after the other the bomb hatches opened and the bombs tumbled out. A whole carpet came down, from the middle of the southern fairway across the harbor area and into the city. Although our battery was firing itself, we felt the vibrations of the bombs hitting. They flew away again as they had come, leaving a huge cloud over the city area. There were no German fighter planes to be seen, and these "flying fortresses" flew without their own fighter protection. Our battery fired at the formation as long as it was still within range of our guns. When we returned to the barracks after the mission, everyone wanted to know what was going on. In all the questions, you could hear concern for the parents and relatives, friends and relatives. Marine helper GM, who had returned from vacation, reported on the damage he had seen and the losses. We only learned of the full extent of the destruction the next day and the day after that.

Im Archiv der Stadt Cuxhaven kann man über diesen Bombenangriff folgendes lesen. Neben ernsten Schäden am Postgebäude, Pressehaus und dem Niemeyerschen Haus, Ecke Deichstraße am Kämmererplatz, in der Delft- und Nordersteinstraße waren bei diesem Angriff 39 Tote zu beklagen. 

Rescue and cleanup work began immediately after the attack. Although the press building had suffered considerable damage, newspapers could still be printed at the usual lunchtime. Mail processing was also not interrupted. However, the destroyed counter hall could only be put back into operation after a new building had been constructed on July 29, 1960.

The "Cuxhavener Tageblatt" reports on the help provided by the population and many organizations for those affected under the headline: "Cuxhaven on probation": "The buried people were taken from the air raid shelters, the wounded were bandaged by lay helpers and taken to the German Red Cross stations.

People who had been completely bombed were taken in by the neighborhood... The air raid police and the Wehrmacht immediately sent out relief teams, and when the all-clear was given, everyone, whether organized or unorganized, pitched in as best they could. Until dark, men from the Navy and the Reich Labor Service, from the air raid police and the party organizations, the fire brigade, the Hitler Youth, etc. could be seen everywhere, dusty and sweaty, working with shovels. Trucks from all companies rolled away the rubble, but ordinary men, who had no other job, worked just as hard and determinedly, whether they were cleaning up their own house, the house next door or the company. The crowds of homeless people, those completely bombed and those whose homes were threatened by unexploded bombs, went to the reception centers that the NSV had set up in various schools. The women of the National Socialist Women's League looked after these reception centers with exemplary zeal and almost touching care, and the dishes and food that the National Socialist Women's League kept in large warehouses proved how useful the precautions had been. The food was plentiful and excellent, and in the next few days the Wehrmacht kitchens cooked the food... The next day the quarters offices also went into action, using large lists to assign quarters to the homeless. The Gaufilmstelle drove through the streets with loudspeakers and announced orders to the population, our craftsmen met in five glazing centers, not just the glaziers, but also tailors, shoemakers, mechanics, electricians, etc. to repair the windows that had been brought in. The carpenters repaired the broken frames and, above all, put the grocery stores in order. This time there was no Whitsun for Cuxhaven. The work was carried out with iron determination, and it is amazing how quickly the piles of rubble have disappeared from the streets and how everything is slowly returning to its old ways, as far as possible...