London Blitz took place during the World War 2. The blasts at Hyde Park and Regents Park kill 11 people and injure 50 others. The History Place - World War II in Europe Timeline: London During the Blitz London during the Blitz A view of Big Ben through barbed wire entanglement. [139], Probably the most devastating attack occurred on the evening of 29 December, when German aircraft attacked the City of London itself with incendiary and high explosive bombs, causing a firestorm that has been called the Second Great Fire of London. Sewer, rail, docklands, and electric installations were damaged. The oil-fed fires were then injected with water from time to time; the flashes produced were similar to those of the German C-250 and C-500 Flammbomben. Thereafter, he would refuse to make available any air units to destroy British dockyards, ports, port facilities, or shipping in dock or at sea, lest Kriegsmarine gain control of more Luftwaffe units. To prevent German formations from hitting targets in Britain, Bomber Command would destroy Luftwaffe aircraft on their bases, aircraft in their factories and fuel reserves by attacking oil plants. In recent years a large number of wartime recordings relating to the Blitz have been made available on audiobooks such as The Blitz, The Home Front and British War Broadcasting. Explore Docklands at War. The government up until November 1940, was opposed to the centralised organisation of shelter. [47], London had nine million peoplea fifth of the British populationliving in an area of 750 square miles (1,940 square kilometres), which was difficult to defend because of its size. This was when warfare deliberately included civilian populations. When Gring decided against continuing Wever's original heavy bomber programme in 1937, the Reichsmarschall's own explanation was that Hitler wanted to know only how many bombers there were, not how many engines each had. [186] At the time it was seen as a useful propaganda tool for domestic and foreign consumption. [64][65] The government distributed Anderson shelters until 1941 and that year began distributing the Morrison shelter, which could be used inside homes. [175], Between 20 June 1940, when the first German air operations began over Britain, and 31 March 1941, OKL recorded the loss of 2,265 aircraft over the British Isles, a quarter of them fighters and one-third bombers. [71], According to Anna Freud and Edward Glover, London civilians surprisingly did not suffer from widespread shell shock, unlike the soldiers in the Dunkirk evacuation. [50] London hospitals prepared for 300,000 casualties in the first week of war. [145] Use of incendiaries, which were inherently inaccurate, indicated much less care was taken to avoid civilian property close to industrial sites. The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain. [10] Bombing failed to demoralise the British into surrender or do much damage to the war economy; eight months of bombing never seriously hampered British war production, which continued to increase. The AOC Bomber Command, Arthur Harris, who did see German morale as an objective, did not believe that the morale-collapse could occur without the destruction of the German economy. [140] The first group to use these incendiaries was Kampfgruppe 100 which despatched 10 "pathfinder" He 111s. Aviation strategists dispute that morale was ever a major consideration for Bomber Command. Throughout 1940, dummy airfields were prepared, good enough to stand up to skilled observation. A summary of Harris' strategic intentions was clear. [44] Disputes among OKL staff revolved more around tactics than strategy. [145] The shift from precision bombing to area attack is indicated in the tactical methods and weapons dropped. [9] and a large raid on the night of 10-11 May 1941. [90][91], Y-Gert was an automatic beam-tracking system and the most complex of the three devices, which was operated through autopilot. [161] Another raid was carried out on 11/12 May 1941. Workers worked longer shifts and over weekends. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. When the Luftwaffe struck at British cities for the first time on 7 September 1940, a number of civic and political leaders were worried by Dowding's apparent lack of reaction to the new crisis. [148], Hitler's interest in this strategy forced Gring and Jeschonnek to review the air war against Britain in January 1941. In January, Swansea was bombed four times, very heavily. The GL carpet was supported by six GCI sets controlling radar-equipped night-fighters. In March 1941, two raids on Plymouth and London dehoused 148,000 people. The Luftwaffe gradually decreased daylight operations in favour of night attacks to evade attacks by the RAF, and the Blitz became a night bombing campaign after October 1940. By 16 February 1941, this had grown to 12; with 5 equipped, or partially equipped with Beaufighters spread over 5 Groups. [57] The programme favoured backyard Anderson shelters and small brick surface shelters. The Luftwaffe lost 18 percent of the bombers sent on the operations that day and failed to gain air superiority. In Sunderland on 25 April, Luftflotte 2 sent 60 bombers which dropped 80 tons (81.3t) of high explosive and 9,000 incendiaries. Ingersol wrote that Battersea Power Station, one of the largest landmarks in London, received only a minor hit. The failure to prepare adequate night air defences was undeniable but it was not the responsibility of the AOC Fighter Command to dictate the disposal of resources. [93] In general, German bombers were likely to get through to their targets without too much difficulty. It also took part in the bombing over Britain. American observer Ralph Ingersoll reported the bombing was inaccurate and did not hit targets of military value, but destroyed the surrounding areas. Harold Macmillan wrote in 1956 that he and others around him "thought of air warfare in 1938 rather as people think of nuclear war today". Ironically, the Blitz was the result of an . Hello, I Am Charlie from London - Stephane Husar 2014-07-15 The Demon in the Embers - Julia Edwards 2016-09-02 . [45] This method condemned the offensive over Britain to failure before it began. The Blitz was a huge bombing campaign of London and other English cities carried about by the German airforce from September 1940 to May 1941. By 19/20 April 1941, it had dropped 3,984 mines, .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}13 of the total dropped. This had important implications. [93], For industrial areas, fires and lighting were simulated. A significant number of the aircraft not shot down after the resort to night bombing were wrecked during landings or crashed in bad weather. [40] The Luftwaffe's decision in the interwar period to concentrate on medium bombers can be attributed to several reasons: Hitler did not intend or foresee a war with Britain in 1939, the OKL believed a medium bomber could carry out strategic missions just as well as a heavy bomber force, and Germany did not possess the resources or technical ability to produce four-engined bombers before the war. London experienced regular attacks and on 10-11 May 1941 was hit by its biggest raid. The heavy fighting in the Battle of Britain had eaten up most of Fighter Command's resources, so there was little investment in night fighting. Although many civilians had used them for shelter during the First World War, the government in 1939 refused to allow the stations to be used as shelters so as not to interfere with commuter and troop travel and the fears that occupants might refuse to leave. [149] The indifference displayed by the OKL to Directive 23 was perhaps best demonstrated in operational directives which diluted its effect. Wever's vision was not realised, staff studies in those subjects fell by the wayside and the Air Academies focused on tactics, technology and operational planning, rather than on independent strategic air offensives. As the mere threat of it had produced diplomatic results in the 1930s, he expected that the threat of German retaliation would persuade the Allies to adopt a policy of moderation and not to begin a policy of unrestricted bombing. [85] Although night air defence was causing greater concern before the war, it was not at the forefront of RAF planning after 1935, when funds were directed into the new ground-based radar day fighter interception system. Beginning in September 1940, the Blitz was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by the Luftwaffe against British cities. Between 1940 and 1941, the Germans attacked Britain by bombing London. Summerfield, Penny and Peniston-Bird, Corina. What he saw as the mythserene national unitybecame "historical truth". Operating over home territory, British aircrew could fly again if they survived being shot down. [92] The counter-operations were carried out by British Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) units under Wing Commander Edward Addison, No. To paralyse the enemy armed forces by stopping production in armaments factories. Curiously, while 43 percent of the contacts in May 1941 were by visual sightings, they accounted for 61 percent of the combats. The effectiveness of British countermeasures against Knickebein caused the Luftwaffe to prefer fire light instead for target marking and navigation. Children pull crackers under paper decorations while jubilant adults smile . The bombing also helped to support the U-boat blockade by sinking some 58,000 long tons (58,900t) of shipping and damaging 450,000 long tons (457,000t) more. [179], Some writers claim the Air Staff ignored a critical lesson, that British morale did not break and that attacking German morale was not sufficient to induce a collapse. Liverpool suffered 180 long tons (183t) of bombs dropped. A further attack on the Clyde, this time at Greenock, took place on 6 and 7 May. The Blitz began on 7 September, 'Black Saturday', when German bombers attacked London, leaving 430 dead and 1,600 injured. [171] In the bad weather of February 1941, Fighter Command flew 568 sorties to counter the Luftwaffe which flew 1,644 sorties. In late 1940, Churchill credited the shelters. [101] On 8 September the Luftwaffe returned; 412 people were killed and 747 severely wounded. Only one bomber was lost, to anti-aircraft fire, despite the RAF flying 125-night sorties. Just three and twelve were claimed by the RAF and AA defences respectively. Still, in February 1941, there remained only seven squadrons with 87 pilots, under half the required strength. Bomb-Damage Maps Reveal London's World War II Devastation. Seven major and eight heavy attacks were flown, but the weather made it difficult to keep up the pressure. Other targets would be considered if the primary ones could not be attacked because of weather conditions. The hope was that, if it could deceive German bombardiers, it would draw more bombers away from the real target. Air attacks continued sporadically, then in 1944 an entirely new threat arrived in the form . [155], The diversion of heavier bombers to the Balkans meant that the crews and units left behind were asked to fly two or three sorties per night. [50] The unexpected delay to civilian bombing during the Phoney War meant that the shelter programme finished in June 1940, before the Blitz. The government did not build them for large populations before the war because of cost, time to build and fears that their safety would cause occupants to refuse to leave to return to work or that anti-war sentiment would develop in large congregations of civilians. In comparison to the Allied bombing campaign against Germany, casualties due to the Blitz were relatively low; the bombing of Hamburg alone inflicted about 40,000 civilian casualties. [53] Winston Churchill told Parliament in 1934, "We must expect that, under the pressure of continuous attack upon London, at least three or four million people would be driven out into the open country around the metropolis". Authorities expected that the raids would be brief and in daylight, rather than attacks by night, which forced Londoners to sleep in shelters. The London boroughs of City of Westminster and St Marylebone - 8.3 square miles of central London stretching from the north bank of the Thames up to Paddington and St John's Wood - were to suffer considerable bombing during the ensuing London Blitz of 7 September 1940 - 11 May 1941 and in later attacks during 1944 -1945. [194], In one 6-month period, 750,000 tons (762,000t) of bombsite rubble from London were transported by railway on 1,700 freight trains to make runways on Bomber Command airfields in East Anglia. Both the RAF and Luftwaffe struggled to replace manpower losses, though the Germans had larger reserves of trained aircrew. To reduce losses further, strategy changed to prefer night raids, giving the bombers greater protection under cover of darkness. There were also many new civil defence roles that gave a sense of fighting back rather than despair. Although the weather was poor, heavy raids took place that afternoon on the London suburbs and the airfield at Farnborough. [167] The Bristol Blenheim F.1 carried four .303in (7.7mm) machine guns which lacked the firepower to easily shoot down a Do 17, Ju 88 or Heinkel He 111. [32], The decision to change strategy is sometimes claimed as a major mistake by OKL. The first attack merely damaged the rail network for three days,[102] and the second attack failed altogether. It could be claimed civilians were not to be targeted directly, but the breakdown of production would affect their morale and will to fight. [132] On 19 November 1940 the famous RAF night fighter ace John Cunningham shot down a Ju 88 bomber using airborne radar, just as Dowding had predicted. Democracies, where public opinion was allowed, were thought particularly vulnerable. The Germans conducted mass air attacks against industrial targets, towns, and cities, beginning with raids on London towards the end of the Battle of . [154], Even so, the decision by the OKL to support the strategy in Directive 23 was instigated by two considerations, both of which had little to do with wanting to destroy Britain's sea communications in conjunction with the Kriegsmarine. The number of suicides and drunkenness declined, and London recorded only about two cases of "bomb neurosis" per week in the first three months of bombing. The official history volume British War Production (Postan, 1952) noted that the greatest effect on output of warlike stores was on the supply of components and dispersal of production rather than complete equipment. [60] In March 1943, 173 men, women and children were crushed to death at Bethnal Green tube station in a crowd surge after a woman fell down the steps as she entered the station. Then bombers carrying SC1000 (1,000kg (2,205lb)), SC1400 (1,400kg (3,086lb)), and SC1800 (1,800kg (3,968lb)) "Satan" bombs were used to level streets and residential areas. However, resentment of rich self-evacuees or hostile treatment of poor ones were signs of persistence of class resentments although these factors did not appear to threaten social order. These were marked out by parachute flares. In the following month, 22 German bombers were lost with 13 confirmed to have been shot down by night fighters. Hayward 2007, www.ltmrecordings.com/blitz1notes.html, Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 12:33, German strategic bombing during World War I, Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany, Women's Voluntary Services for Civil Defence, Bombing of Wiener Neustadt in World War II, "The Blitz: The Bombing of Britain in WWII", "Families pay tribute to Stoke Newington war dead", Forgotten Voices of the Blitz and the Battle for Britain, The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy, Parliament & The Blitz UK Parliament Living Heritage, "London Blitz 1940: the first day's bomb attacks listed in full", Archive recordings from The Blitz, 194041 (audiobook), The Blitz: Sorting the Myth from the Reality, Exploring 20th century London The Blitz, Oral history interview with Barry Fulford, recalling his childhood during the Blitz, Interactive bombing map of Buckinghamshire, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Blitz&oldid=1141315217. Douglas set about introducing more squadrons and dispersing the few GL sets to create a carpet effect in the southern counties. 12 Group RAF). [189] The "Communist threat" was deemed important enough for Herbert Morrison to order, with the support of the Cabinet, the cessation of activities of the Daily Worker, the Communist newspaper. The year-long project . The Germans conducted mass air attacks against industrial targets, towns, and cities, beginning with raids on London towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940 (a battle for daylight air superiority between the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force over the United Kingdom). 6063, 6768, 75, 7879, 21516. On 17 September he postponed Operation Sea Lion (as it turned out, indefinitely) rather than gamble Germany's newly gained military prestige on a risky cross-Channel operation, particularly in the face of a sceptical Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. More than 70,000 buildings . [50], On the other hand, some historians have recently contended that this revisionism of the "Blitz spirit" narrative may have been an over-correction. The attacks against Birmingham took war industries some three months to recover fully. At the beginning of the war in 1939, London was the largest city in the world, with 8.2 million inhabitants. Many popular works of fiction during the 1920s and 1930s portrayed aerial bombing, such as H. G. Wells' novel The Shape of Things to Come and its 1936 film adaptation, and others such as The Air War of 1936 and The Poison War. [27], Although not specifically prepared to conduct independent strategic air operations against an opponent, the Luftwaffe was expected to do so over Britain. The Battle of Britain and the Blitz were two central moments in the British war effort during World War II. The London Blitz Timeline Nathaniel Zarate Sep 7 1940 September 7, 1940 On Saturday September 7th 1940, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe, the German Air Force to bomb London. Over several months, the 20,000 shells spent per raider shot down in September 1940, was reduced to 4,087 in January 1941 and to 2,963 shells in February 1941. The main focus was London. Home Secretary Sir John Anderson was replaced by Morrison soon afterwards, in the wake of a Cabinet reshuffle as the dying Neville Chamberlain resigned. London, and cities. The aerial bombing was now principally aimed at the destruction of industrial targets, but also continued with the objective of breaking the morale of the civilian population. The main damage was inflicted on the commercial and domestic areas. The name "Blitz" comes from the word "blitzkrieg" which meant "lightning war". If the German bomber flew closer to its own beam than the meacon then the former signal would come through the stronger on the direction finder. Around 250 tons (9,000 bombs) had been dropped, killing 1,413 people and injuring 3,500 more. When the third cross-beam was reached the bomb aimer activated a third trigger, which stopped the first hand of the clock, with the second hand continuing. [173] On 3/4 May, nine were shot down in one night. The Blitz refers to the strategic bombing campaign conducted by the Germans against London and other cities in England from September of 1940 through May of 1941, targeting populated areas, factories and dock yards. Beginning. At around 8.30pm on Sunday 13 October, a high-explosive bomb plunged through the Coronation Avenue flats on Stoke Newington High Street, and exploded directly above a shelter made up of three interconnected basements. 348 bombers led by 617 fighters barraged London around 4:00 in the afternoon that day. Airfields became water-logged and the 18 Kampfgruppen (bomber groups) of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwadern (bomber wings) were relocated to Germany for rest and re-equipment. The Royal Chapel, inner quadrangle and Palace gates were hit, and several workmen were injured. Reports suggested the attacks blocked the movement of coal to the Greater London regions and urgent repairs were required. For all the destruction of life and property, the observers sent out by the Ministry of Home Security failed to discover the slightest sign of a break in morale. He was always reluctant to co-operate with Raeder. Although there had been many bombing raids on London since mid 1940, the first raid where the survival of St. Paul's Cathedral was at risk and where the Watch were tested in the extreme was on Sunday 29th December 1940. [1], In early July 1940, the German High Command began planning Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Upsurges in population in south Wales and Gloucester intimated where these displaced people went. This meant that British coastal centres and shipping at sea west of Ireland were the prime targets. The London Blitz The Blitz is the term used to describe the German bombing campaign that took place from September 7, 1940, through May 11, 1941. [36] Other historians argue that the outcome of the air battle was irrelevant; the massive numerical superiority of British naval forces and the inherent weakness of the Kriegsmarine would have made the projected German invasion, Unternehmen Seelwe (Operation Sea Lion), a disaster with or without German air superiority. When a continuous sound was heard from the second beam the crew knew they were above the target and dropped their bombs. [40] The Port of London, in particular, was an important target, bringing in one-third of overseas trade. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency . The Luftwaffe flew 4,000 sorties that month, including 12 major and three heavy attacks. Two hours later, guided by the fires set by the first assault, a second group of raiders commenced another attack that lasted until 4:30 the following morning. The mines' ability to destroy entire streets earned them respect in Britain, but several fell unexploded into British hands allowing counter-measures to be developed which damaged the German anti-shipping campaign. Who . Entertainment included concerts, films, plays and books from local libraries. Bomb damage around St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Get 20% off purchases above 10.Apply discount code SAVE20 at checkout.. Company Search. Official histories concluded that the mental health of a nation may have improved, while panic was rare. Some 107,400 gross tons (109,100t) of shipping was damaged in the Thames Estuary and 1,600 civilians were casualties. Four days later 230 tons (234t) were dropped including 60,000 incendiaries. TikTok said in a blog post in June that it will route all data from U.S. users to servers controlled by Oracle, the Silicon Valley company it chose as its U.S. tech partner in 2020 in an effort to . [94], On 15 September the Luftwaffe made two large daylight attacks on London along the Thames Estuary, targeting the docks and rail communications in the city. Using historical paintings, a timeline, and a simple map, children can discover why the re started, how it spread, and the damage it caused. A tall white house known locally as the 'leaning tower of Rotherhithe' has sold for 1.5million. Still, at Southampton, attacks were so effective morale did give way briefly with civilian authorities leading people en masse out of the city. [26], The deliberate separation of the Luftwaffe from the rest of the military structure encouraged the emergence of a major "communications gap" between Hitler and the Luftwaffe, which other factors helped to exacerbate. Plymouth was attacked five times before the end of the month while Belfast, Hull, and Cardiff were hit. [139], Although official German air doctrine did target civilian morale, it did not espouse the attacking of civilians directly. London was bombed ever day and night, bar one, for 11 weeks. [28], The Luftwaffe's poor intelligence meant that their aircraft were not always able to locate their targets, and thus attacks on factories and airfields failed to achieve the desired results. [39] The attacks were focused against western ports in March. Five main rail lines were cut in London and rolling stock damaged. [70] Pub visits increased in number (beer was never rationed), and 13,000 attended cricket at Lord's. [99] Fighter Command lost 23 fighters, with six pilots killed and another seven wounded. In July 1939, Gring arranged a display of the Luftwaffe's most advanced equipment at Rechlin, to give the impression the air force was more prepared for a strategic air war than was actually the case. In Wartime One Girls Journey From The Blitz To Sadlers Wells is understandable in our digital library an online permission to it is set as public . Ports were easier to find and made better targets. It was faster, able to catch the bombers and its configuration of four machine guns in a turret could (much like German night fighters in 19431945 with Schrge Musik) engage the German bomber from beneath. There was also minor ethnic antagonism between the small Black, Indian and Jewish communities, but despite this these tensions quietly and quickly subsided. (Photo by J. The Romanov family was the imperial house of the Russian Empire from 1613 until being forced out of power in 1917 during the Russian Revolution. [22], Hitler paid less attention to the bombing of opponents than air defence, although he promoted the development of a bomber force in the 1930s and understood it was possible to use bombers for strategic purposes. 10 Group RAF, No. [152] Raeder's successorKarl Dnitzwouldon the intervention of Hitlergain control of one unit (KG 40), but Gring would soon regain it. "[25] Such principles made it much harder to integrate the air force into the overall strategy and produced in Gring a jealous and damaging defence of his "empire" while removing Hitler voluntarily from the systematic direction of the Luftwaffe at either the strategic or operational level. [183], A popular image arose of British people in the Second World War: a collection of people locked in national solidarity. The British government grew anxious about the delays and disruption of supplies during the month. [87], Because of the inaccuracy of celestial navigation for night navigation and target finding in a fast-moving aircraft, the Luftwaffe developed radio navigation devices and relied on three systems: Knickebein (Crooked leg), X-Gert (X-Device), and Y-Gert (Y-Device). These include Peter Hennessy, Andrew Thorpe, and Philip Ziegler, who while admitting serious exceptions, argue that the population largely behaved well during the Blitz.[193]. Rapid frequency changes were introduced for X-Gert, whose wider band of frequencies and greater tactical flexibility ensured it remained effective at a time when British selective jamming was degrading the effectiveness of Y-Gert. 80 Wing RAF. [31], The circumstances affected the Germans more than the British. The government saw the leading role taken by the Communist Party in advocating the building of deep shelters as an attempt to damage civilian morale, especially after the MolotovRibbentrop Pact of August 1939. Committees quickly formed within shelters as informal governments, and organisations such as the British Red Cross and the Salvation Army worked to improve conditions. These collections include period interviews with civilians, servicemen, aircrew, politicians and Civil Defence personnel, as well as Blitz actuality recordings, news bulletins and public information broadcasts. The German Luftwaffe dropped thousands of bombs on London from 1939 to 1945, killing almost 30,000 people. Attacking ports, shipping and imports as well as disrupting rail traffic in the surrounding areas, especially the distribution of coal, an important fuel in all industrial economies of the Second World War, would net a positive result. It was supposed Bomber Command, Coastal Command, and the Royal Navy could not operate under conditions of German air superiority. Smaller raids are not included in the tonnages. With the doors to our museums physically closed, we are offering some exclusive World War II content from our galleries and collections. On 15 September, on a date known as Battle of Britain Day, a large-scale raid was launched in daylight, but suffered significant loss for no lasting gain. [159] Operations against London up until May 1941 could also have a severe impact on morale.
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