The name "Blitz" comes from the word "blitzkrieg" which meant "lightning war". [40] The Port of London, in particular, was an important target, bringing in one-third of overseas trade. [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. While wartime bombings affected London in both world wars, it was the Blitz that truly altered the cityscape forever. The hope was that, if it could deceive German bombardiers, it would draw more bombers away from the real target. The London Underground rail system was also affected; high explosive bombs damaged the tunnels rendering some unsafe. Three cross-beams intersected the beam along which the He 111 was flying. The primary target of NAZI Germany was to destroy the civilian center and industries on London. He told OKL in 1939 that ruthless employment of the Luftwaffe against the heart of the British will to resist would follow when the moment was right. The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War.The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term Blitzkrieg, the German word meaning 'lightning war'.. Summerfield, Penny and Peniston-Bird, Corina. [126] RAF day fighters were converting to night operations and the interim Bristol Blenheim night fighter conversion of the light bomber was being replaced by the powerful Beaufighter, but this was only available in very small numbers. 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. 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. Wever outlined five points of air strategy: Wever argued that OKL should not be solely educated in tactical and operational matters but also in grand strategy, war economics, armament production and the mentality of potential opponents (also known as mirror imaging). Minister of Home Security Herbert Morrison was also worried morale was breaking, noting the defeatism expressed by civilians. It had no time to gather reliable intelligence on Britain's industries. From 1940 to 1941, the most successful night-fighter was the Boulton Paul Defiant; its four squadrons shot down more enemy aircraft than any other type. [108], Kesselring, commanding Luftflotte 2, was ordered to send 50 sorties per night against London and attack eastern harbours in daylight. An average of 200 were able to strike per night. The British were still one-third below the establishment of heavy anti-aircraft artillery AAA (or ack-ack) in May 1941, with only 2,631 weapons available. [106], Loge continued during October. Sperrle, commanding Luftflotte 3, was ordered to dispatch 250 sorties per night including 100 against the West Midlands. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency . [173] In May 1941, RAF night fighters shot down 38 German bombers. [83] Until September 1939, the RAF lacked specialist night-fighting aircraft and relied on anti-aircraft units, which were poorly equipped and lacking in numbers. 348 bombers led by 617 fighters barraged London around 4:00 in the afternoon that day. Erik Larson (Goodreads Author) (shelved 1 time as london-blitz) avg rating 4.29 99,548 ratings published 2020. He fell asleep at the controls of his Ju 88 and woke up to discover the entire crew asleep. He recognised the right of the public to seize tube stations and authorised plans to improve their condition and expand them by tunnelling. 11 Feb 2020. A present day image of the Freedom Press, Whitechapel, London. [183], A popular image arose of British people in the Second World War: a collection of people locked in national solidarity. Rumours that Jewish support was underpinning the Communist surge were frequent. Just three and twelve were claimed by the RAF and AA defences respectively. [24][182] Birmingham and Coventry were subject to 450 long tons (457t) of bombs between them in the last 10 days of October. In those sites, carbon arc lamps were used to simulate flashes at tram overhead wires. [93], For industrial areas, fires and lighting were simulated. [186] At the time it was seen as a useful propaganda tool for domestic and foreign consumption. [49], In addition to high-explosive and incendiary bombs, the Germans could use poison gas and even bacteriological warfare, all with a high degree of accuracy. The 'all clear' was sounded at 05.00 on 8 September - 420 people were killed and over 1600 seriously wounded. [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. The difference this made to the effectiveness of air defences is questionable. Outside the capital, there had been widespread harassing activity by single aircraft, as well as fairly strong diversionary attacks on Birmingham, Coventry and Liverpool, but no major raids. Much of the city centre was destroyed. [128] London's defences were rapidly reorganised by General Pile, the Commander-in-Chief of Anti-Aircraft Command. Liverpool suffered 180 long tons (183t) of bombs dropped. 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. [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. In one incident on 28/29 April, Peter Stahl of KG 30 was flying on his 50th mission. [187] Historians' critical response to this construction focused on what were seen as over-emphasised claims of patriotic nationalism and national unity. (AUDIO: The Wanderer) Despite being forbidden under the terms of the Treaty of . Between September 1940 and May 1941 the German Luftwaffe attacked the city on over 70 separate occasions, with around 1 million homes being destroyed and killing over 20,000 civilians. [117] Attacks against East End docks were effective and many Thames barges were destroyed. Throughout 1940, dummy airfields were prepared, good enough to stand up to skilled observation. The system worked on 6677MHz, a higher frequency than Knickebein. Reception committees were completely unprepared for the condition of some of the children. Curiously, while 43 percent of the contacts in May 1941 were by visual sightings, they accounted for 61 percent of the combats. [148], Hitler's interest in this strategy forced Gring and Jeschonnek to review the air war against Britain in January 1941. Added to the tension of the mission which exhausted and drained crews, tiredness caught up with and killed many. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term Blitzkrieg, the German word meaning 'lightning war'.[4]. Regional commissioners were given plenipotentiary powers to restore communications and organise the distribution of supplies to keep the war economy moving. This became official policy on 7 October. Unpopular with many of his fellow MP's, Prime Minister Chamberlain agreed to replace him under pressure from . [107], Luftwaffe policy at this point was primarily to continue progressive attacks on London, chiefly by night attack; second, to interfere with production in the vast industrial arms factories of the West Midlands, again chiefly by night attack; and third to disrupt plants and factories during the day by means of fighter-bombers. The Luftwaffe flew 4,000 sorties that month, including 12 major and three heavy attacks. London Blitz took place during the World War 2. [179] Though militarily ineffective, the Blitz cost around 41,000 lives, may have injured another 139,000 people and did enormous damage to British infrastructure and housing stock. 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. [70], Although the intensity of the bombing was not as great as pre-war expectations so an equal comparison is impossible, no psychiatric crisis occurred because of the Blitz even during the period of greatest bombing of September 1940. 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. London: Aurum Press. Both the RAF and Luftwaffe struggled to replace manpower losses, though the Germans had larger reserves of trained aircrew. Nearly 350 German bombers (escorted by over 600 fighters) dropped explosives on East London, targeting the docks in particular. [13], The air offensive against the RAF and British industry failed to have the desired effect. Bungay, Stephen (2000). The blasts at Hyde Park and Regents Park kill 11 people and injure 50 others. 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. [19] General Walther Wever (Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff From 7 September 1940, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 56 of the following 57 days and nights. [35][104][105], On 14 October, the heaviest night attack to date saw 380 German bombers from Luftflotte 3 hit London. [136] The Germans were surprised by the success of the attack. 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. 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. [11][162] Plymouth in particular, because of its vulnerable position on the south coast and close proximity to German air bases, was subjected to the heaviest attacks. [35], While Gring was optimistic the Luftwaffe could prevail, Hitler was not. Launched in May 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, discover our collection of resources about the resilience of London during World War II. [87] Dowding accepted that as AOC, he was responsible for the day and night defence of Britain but seemed reluctant to act quickly and his critics in the Air Staff felt that this was due to his stubborn nature. Hitler believed the Luftwaffe was "the most effective strategic weapon", and in reply to repeated requests from the Kriegsmarine for control over naval aircraft insisted, "We should never have been able to hold our own in this war if we had not had an undivided Luftwaffe. [146] Eventually, he convinced Hitler of the need to attack British port facilities. BBC - WW2 People's War - Timeline Fact File : The Blitz 25 August 1940 to 16 May 1941 Theatre: United Kingdom Area: London and other major cities Players: Britain: RAF Fighter Command under. [113] In the case of Battersea power station, an unused extension was hit and destroyed during November but the station was not put out of action during the night attacks. They have usually been treated as distinct campaigns, but they are linked by the fact that the German Air Force conducted a continuous eleven-month offensive against Britain from July 1940 to June 1941. The Germans adapted the short-range Lorenz system into Knickebein, a 3033MHz system, which used two Lorenz beams with much stronger signals. These units were fed from two adjacent tanks containing oil and water. At a London railway station, arriving troops pass by children who are being evacuated to the countryside. The first German attack on London actually occurred by accident. In September, there had been no less than 667 hits on railways in Great Britain, and at one period, between 5,000 and 6,000 wagons were standing idle from the effect of delayed action bombs. They believed the Luftwaffe had failed in precision attack and concluded the German example of area attack using incendiaries was the way forward for operations over Germany. Still, in February 1941, there remained only seven squadrons with 87 pilots, under half the required strength. The year-long project . 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. A trial blackout was held on 10 August 1939 and when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September, a blackout began at sunset. [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. [153] For Gring, his prestige had been damaged by the defeat in the Battle of Britain, and he wanted to regain it by subduing Britain by air power alone. The Metropolitan-Vickers works in Manchester was hit by 12 long tons (12.2t) of bombs. By the end of November, 1,100 bombers were available for night raids. [156], The Luftwaffe could still inflict much damage and after the German conquest of Western Europe, the air and submarine offensive against British sea communications became much more dangerous than the German offensive during the First World War. But their operations were to no avail; the worsening weather and unsustainable attrition in daylight gave the OKL an excuse to switch to night attacks on 7 October. Its round-the-clock bombing of London was an immediate attempt to force the British government to capitulate, but it was also striking at Britain's vital sea communications to achieve a victory through siege. Moreover, the OKL could not settle on an appropriate strategy. 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. By the end of 1941, the WVS had one million members. People were forced to sleep in air raid shelters, and many people took shelter in underground stations. [citation needed] This image entered the historiography of the Second World War in the 1980s and 1990s,[dubious discuss] especially after the publication of Angus Calder's book The Myth of the Blitz (1991). Dowding was summoned on 17 October, to explain the poor state of the night defences and the supposed (but ultimately successful) "failure" of his daytime strategy. Jones began a search for German beams; Avro Ansons of the Beam Approach Training Development Unit (BATDU) were flown up and down Britain fitted with a 30MHz receiver. This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 12:33. Bomb damage around St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Four days later 230 tons (234t) were dropped including 60,000 incendiaries. A further attack on the Clyde, this time at Greenock, took place on 6 and 7 May. [151], Directive 23 was the only concession made by Gring to the Kriegsmarine over the strategic bombing strategy of the Luftwaffe against Britain. [80] The WVS organised the evacuation of children, established centres for those displaced by bombing and operated canteens, salvage and recycling schemes. Loge continued for 57 nights. [93] In general, German bombers were likely to get through to their targets without too much difficulty. Hitler quickly developed scepticism toward strategic bombing, confirmed by the results of the Blitz. [63] Peak use of the Underground as shelter was 177,000 on 27 September 1940 and a November 1940 census of London, found that about 4% of residents used the Tube and other large shelters, 9% in public surface shelters and 27% in private home shelters, implying that the remaining 60% of the city stayed at home. [118] The London Docklands, in particular, the Royal Victoria Dock, received many hits and Port of London trade was disrupted. This day marks the beginning of the Blitz when an attack on London is launched by the Germans, starting a nine-month long campaign against the city. Upsurges in population in south Wales and Gloucester intimated where these displaced people went. [150] The OKL had always regarded the interdiction of sea communications of less importance than bombing land-based aircraft industries. But even in May, 67 percent of the sorties were visual cat's-eye missions. [136] The raid against Coventry was particularly devastating, and led to widespread use of the phrase "to coventrate". 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. [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. Here are the flats today, courtesy of Street View . Let us find out other historical facts about London Blitz below: Facts about London Blitz 1: the German intelligence [13] In April 1941, when the targets were British ports, rifle production fell by 25 percent, filled-shell production by 4.6 percent and in small-arms production 4.5 percent. Praise for Blitz: "With a relaxed style and array of fun characters, including an agent who makes people who look at him see their mother and a baby goat that turns into a little boy, O'Malley's latest will appeal to his many followers." Kirkus Reviews Praise for Daniel O'Malley and the Rook Files series: "Laugh-out-loud funny, occasionally bawdy, and paced like a spy thriller . Want to Read. This had important implications. American observer Ralph Ingersoll reported the bombing was inaccurate and did not hit targets of military value, but destroyed the surrounding areas. Below is a table by city of the number of major raids (where at least 100 tons of bombs were dropped) and tonnage of bombs dropped during these major raids. Home Secretary Sir John Anderson was replaced by Morrison soon afterwards, in the wake of a Cabinet reshuffle as the dying Neville Chamberlain resigned. Nine days later, two waves of 125 and 170 bombers dropped heavy bombs, including 160 tons (163t) of high explosive and 32,000 incendiaries. 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. Support for peace negotiations declined from 29% in February. [24], Hitler was much more attracted to the political aspects of bombing. 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. Predictions had underestimated civilian adaptability and resourcefulness. The production of false radio navigation signals by re-transmitting the originals became known as meaconing using masking beacons (meacons). The Blitz and what was known as 'Black Saturday' was the start in Britain of what Poland and Western Europe had already experienced - total war. 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. Hull and Glasgow were attacked but 715 long tons (726t) of bombs were spread out all over Britain. Ironically, the Blitz was the result of an . History of the Battle of Britain The Blitz - The Hardest Night The Blitz - The Hardest Night 10/11 May 1941, 11:02pm - 05:57am The most devastating raid on London took place on the night of 10/11 May 1941. For one thing, Gring's fear of Hitler led him to falsify or misrepresent what information was available in the direction of an uncritical and over-optimistic interpretation of air strength. In some cases, the concentration of the bombing and resulting conflagration created firestorms of 1,000C. . Using historical paintings, a timeline, and a simple map, children can discover why the re started, how it spread, and the damage it caused. The details of the conversation were passed to an RAF Air Staff technical advisor, Dr. R. V. Jones, who started a search which discovered that Luftwaffe Lorenz receivers were more than blind-landing devices. Too early and the chances of success receded; too late and the real conflagration at the target would exceed the diversionary fires. [78], During the Blitz, The Scout Association guided fire engines to where they were most needed and became known as the "Blitz Scouts". No follow-up raids were made, as OKL underestimated the British power of recovery (as Bomber Command would do over Germany from 1943 to 1945). More than 13,000 civilians had been killed, and almost 20,000 injured, in September and October alone,[110] but the death toll was much less than expected. London alone had 1,589 assembly points and although most children boarded evacuation trains at their local stations, trains ran out of the capital's main stations every nine minutes for nine hours. [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. Moreover, bombers had four to five crewmen on board, representing a greater loss of manpower. Their incendiary bombs [23], Ultimately, Hitler was trapped within his own vision of bombing as a terror weapon, formed in the 1930s when he threatened smaller nations into accepting German rule rather than submit to air bombardment. [101] On 8 September the Luftwaffe returned; 412 people were killed and 747 severely wounded. 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. [127] Over 10,000 incendiaries were dropped. [95][96], Initially, the change in strategy caught the RAF off-guard and caused extensive damage and civilian casualties. The Battle of Britain: Timeline July 26, 2010 2 mins read The dates of the four phases of the Battle of Britain are contested by some, and have been inserted in brackets only as a guideline. [127] In November 1940, 6,000 sorties and 23 major attacks (more than 100 tons [102t] of bombs dropped) were flown. Battle of Britain timeline. Browse 1,952 london blitz stock photos and images available, or search for the blitz or world war ii to find more great stock photos and pictures. First, the difficulty in estimating the impact of bombing upon war production was becoming apparent, and second, the conclusion British morale was unlikely to break led the OKL to adopt the naval option. Other targets would be considered if the primary ones could not be attacked because of weather conditions. [88] Bomber crews already had some experience with the Lorenz beam, a commercial blind-landing aid for night or bad weather landings. Throughout 193339 none of the 16 Western Air Plans drafted mentioned morale as a target. The attacks against Birmingham took war industries some three months to recover fully. 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 damage was considerable, and the Germans also used aerial mines. More than 70,000 buildings . 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. [121] Few anti-aircraft guns had fire-control systems, and the underpowered searchlights were usually ineffective against aircraft at altitudes above 12,000ft (3,700m). [174] By the end of May, Kesselring's Luftflotte 2 had been withdrawn, leaving Hugo Sperrle's Luftflotte 3 as a token force to maintain the illusion of strategic bombing. [76], Despite the attacks, defeat in Norway and France, and the threat of invasion, overall morale remained high. 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. Erich Raedercommander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarinehad long argued the Luftwaffe should support the German submarine force (U-Bootwaffe) in the Battle of the Atlantic by attacking shipping in the Atlantic Ocean and attacking British ports. The first major raid took place on 7 September. Its aircraftDornier Do 17, Junkers Ju 88, and Heinkel He 111swere capable of carrying out strategic missions[41] but were incapable of doing greater damage because of their small bomb-loads. [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. The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. [156] Hitler now had his sights set on attacking the USSR with Operation Barbarossa, and the Blitz came to an end. Bombers were flown with airborne search lights out of desperation but to little avail. Night after night, from September 1940 until May 1941, German bombers attacked British cities, ports and industrial areas. The Allies did so later when Bomber Command attacked rail communications and the United States Army Air Forces targeted oil, but that would have required an economic-industrial analysis of which the Luftwaffe was incapable. [178][3], In aircraft production, the British were denied the opportunity to reach the planned target of 2,500 aircraft in a month, arguably the greatest achievement of the bombing, as it forced the dispersal of the industry, at first because of damage to aircraft factories and then by a policy of precautionary dispersal. Dowding had to rely on night fighters. Timeline London portal v t e The United Kingdom took part in World War II from 3 September 1939 until 15 August 1945. It hoped to destroy morale by destroying the enemy's factories and public utilities as well as its food stocks (by attacking shipping). At the beginning of the war in 1939, London was the largest city in the world, with 8.2 million inhabitants. Yet when compared with Luftwaffe daylight operations, there was a sharp decline in German losses to one percent. [149], By now, the imminent threat of invasion had all but passed as the Luftwaffe had failed to gain the prerequisite air superiority. The Blitz holds a special place in British history for the light which it supposedly sheds on . In late 1940, Churchill credited the shelters. 12 Group RAF). The Blitz The heavy and frequent bombing attacks on London and other cities was known as the 'Blitz'. [156] The Luftwaffe attacks failed to knock out railways or port facilities for long, even in the Port of London, a target of many attacks. The day's fighting cost Kesselring and Luftflotte 2 (Air Fleet 2) 24 aircraft, including 13 Bf 109s. The German Luftwaffe dropped thousands of bombs on London from 1939 to 1945, killing almost 30,000 people. [40], However, the Luftwaffe faced limitations. [139], Although official German air doctrine did target civilian morale, it did not espouse the attacking of civilians directly. Children pull crackers under paper decorations while jubilant adults smile . [73][74][75], The cheerful crowds visiting bomb sites were so large they interfered with rescue work. Children in the East End of London, made homeless by the Blitz From this point, there were air raids every day for two months. Later in . 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. However, meteorological conditions over Britain were not favourable for flying and prevented an escalation in air operations. [129] AA defences improved by better use of radar and searchlights. In this section. [124] Although the use of the guns improved civilian morale, with the knowledge the German bomber crews were facing the barrage, it is now believed that the anti-aircraft guns achieved little and in fact the falling shell fragments caused more British casualties on the ground. The tactic was expanded into Feuerleitung (Blaze Control) with the creation of Brandbombenfelder (Incendiary Fields) to mark targets. The British government grew anxious about the delays and disruption of supplies during the month. Douglas set about introducing more squadrons and dispersing the few GL sets to create a carpet effect in the southern counties. 5 Jan. Leslie Hore-Belisha, Britain's Minister of War, is dismissed. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. [145], In 1941, the Luftwaffe shifted strategy again. The lack of bombing in the Phoney War contributed significantly to the return of people to the cities, but class conflict was not eased a year later when evacuation operations had to be put into effect again.
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