Eventually, it would become a success. [187] Historians' critical response to this construction focused on what were seen as over-emphasised claims of patriotic nationalism and national unity. Although the stress of the war resulted in many anxiety attacks, eating disorders, fatigue, weeping, miscarriages, and other physical and mental ailments, society did not collapse. [145] Part of the reason for this was inaccuracy of navigation. The defences failed to prevent widespread damage but on some occasions did prevent German bombers concentrating on their targets. The blasts at Hyde Park and Regents Park kill 11 people and injure 50 others. (PROSE: Ash, TV: The Empty Child) It lasted from 7 September 1940 to 21 May 1941. On 9 April 1941, Luftflotte 2 dropped 150 tons (152t) of high explosives and 50,000 incendiaries from 120 bombers in a five-hour attack. His hope wasfor reasons of political prestige within Germany itselfthat the German population would be protected from the Allied bombings. 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. Explore the London Blitz during 7th October 1940 to 6th June 1941 Aggregate Bomb Census Information Powered by Leaflet CartoDB - Map data OpenStreetMap.org contributors The National Archives give no warranty to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of the information provided. 'Blitz' is an abbreviation of the German word 'blitzkrieg', meaning 'lightning war'. 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. Dec. 17, 1983: Six people are. THIS DAY IN HISTORY September 07 1940 September 07 The Blitz begins as Germany bombs London On September 7, 1940, 300 German bombers raid London, in the first of 57 consecutive nights of. British anti-aircraft defences (General Frederick Alfred Pile) fired 8,326 rounds and shot down only 2 bombers. At a London railway station, arriving troops pass by children who are being evacuated to the countryside. [169] The Beaufighter had a maximum speed of 320mph (510km/h), an operational ceiling of 26,000ft (7,900m), a climb rate of 2,500ft (760m) per minute, and its battery of four 20mm (0.79in) Hispano cannon and six .303in Browning machine guns was much more lethal. Erik Larson (Goodreads Author) (shelved 1 time as london-blitz) avg rating 4.29 99,548 ratings published 2020. The first attack merely damaged the rail network for three days,[102] and the second attack failed altogether. [13] British wartime studies concluded that most cities took 10 to 15 days to recover when hit severely, but some, such as Birmingham, took three months. Much of the city centre was destroyed. [24][182] There were also many new civil defence roles that gave a sense of fighting back rather than despair. [138] The strategic effect of the raid was a brief 20 percent dip in aircraft production. [72] The psychoanalysts were correct, and the special network of psychiatric clinics opened to receive mental casualties of the attacks closed due to lack of need. Warehouses, rail lines and houses were destroyed and damaged, but the docks were largely untouched. 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. The primary target of NAZI Germany was to destroy the civilian center and industries on London. 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. London was bombed ever day and night, bar one, for 11 weeks. Liverpool and its port became an important destination for convoys heading through the Western Approaches from North America, bringing supplies and materials. Far from displaying the nation's unity in times of war, the scheme backfired, often aggravating class antagonism and bolstering prejudice about the urban poor. [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. This is a Timeline of the United Kingdom home front during World War II covering Britain 1939-45.Timeline of the United Kingdom home front during World War II covering Britain 1939-45. [67] By the end of 1940 improvements had been made in the Underground and in many other large shelters. Contributions rose to the 5,000 "Spitfire Funds" to build fighters and the number of work days lost to strikes in 1940 was the lowest in history. Predictions had underestimated civilian adaptability and resourcefulness. [191] In other cities, class divisions became more evident. But even in May, 67 percent of the sorties were visual cat's-eye missions. 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. People referred to raids as if they were weather, stating that a day was "very blitzy". [109], By mid-November 1940, when the Germans adopted a changed plan, more than 11,600 long tons (11,800t) of high explosive and nearly 1,000,000 incendiaries had fallen on London. The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain. Included are activities that The programme evacuated 2,664 boys and girls (ages 5 - 15) until its ending in October after the sinking of the SS City of Benares with the loss of 81 children out of 100 on board. Another innovation was the boiler fire. On 15 October, the bombers returned and about 900 fires were started by the mix of 376 tons (382t) of high explosive and 10 tons of incendiaries dropped. It is argued that persisting with attacks on RAF airfields might have won air superiority for the Luftwaffe. [170] In November and December 1940, the Luftwaffe flew 9,000 sorties against British targets and RAF night fighters claimed only six shot down. The bombings left parts of London in ruins, and when the war ended in 1945 much of the city had to be rebuilt. 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. Bombing civilians would cause a collapse of morale and a loss of production in the remaining factories. [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. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. It could be claimed civilians were not to be targeted directly, but the breakdown of production would affect their morale and will to fight. Five main rail lines were cut in London and rolling stock damaged. The Blitz came to London on September Saturday 7 th 1940 and lasted for many days. Dozens of men, women and children celebrate a Christmas party at a London Underground station during the Blitz in 1940. [27], Although not specifically prepared to conduct independent strategic air operations against an opponent, the Luftwaffe was expected to do so over Britain. 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. 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. [47] Up to nine special transmitters directed their signals at the beams in a manner that subtly widened their paths, making it harder for bomber crews to locate targets; confidence in the device was diminished by the time the Luftwaffe was ready to conduct big raids. [79] The Women's Voluntary Services for Civil Defence (WVS) was established in 1938 by the Home Secretary, Samuel Hoare, who considered it the female branch of the ARP. An unknown number of bombs fell on these diversionary ("Starfish") targets. [127] In November 1940, 6,000 sorties and 23 major attacks (more than 100 tons [102t] of bombs dropped) were flown. [149] Some 50 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers and Jabos (fighter-bombers) were used, officially classed as Leichte Kampfflugzeuge ("light bombers") and sometimes called Leichte Kesselringe ("Light Kesselrings"). Around 250 tons (9,000 bombs) had been dropped, killing 1,413 people and injuring 3,500 more. In the Myth of the Blitz, Calder exposed some of the counter-evidences of anti-social and divisive behaviours. They also noted regional production was severely disrupted when city centres were devastated through the loss of administrative offices, utilities and transport. Beginning. Hello, I Am Charlie from London - Stephane Husar 2014-07-15 The Demon in the Embers - Julia Edwards 2016-09-02 . 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). [149] The indifference displayed by the OKL to Directive 23 was perhaps best demonstrated in operational directives which diluted its effect. [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. London experienced regular attacks and on 10-11 May 1941 was hit by its biggest raid. [109] Special units, such as KGr 100, became the Beleuchtergruppe (Firelighter Group), which used incendiaries and high explosives to mark the target area. In some cases, the concentration of the bombing and resulting conflagration created firestorms of 1,000C. [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. [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. Less than 100 incidents reported by the London Fire Brigade up to 5pm on September 7, 1940. [5] Large air battles broke out, lasting for most of the day. Before getting into detail, an overview of the area around St. Paul's Cathedral will help set the scene. de Zeng, Henry L., Doug G. Stankey and Eddie J. Creek. [183], A popular image arose of British people in the Second World War: a collection of people locked in national solidarity. Nevertheless, its official opposition to attacks on civilians became an increasingly moot point when large-scale raids were conducted in November and December 1940. [115] In the initial operations against London, it did appear as if rail targets and the bridges over the Thames had been singled out: Victoria Station was hit by four bombs and suffered extensive damage. Many unemployed people were drafted into the Royal Army Pay Corps and with the Pioneer Corps, were tasked with salvaging and clean-up. The docks drew produce and people from all over the world; they survived the bombings of World War II and the economic downturn of the 1970s and 80s to become a hive of industry and activity once again. It was supposed Bomber Command, Coastal Command, and the Royal Navy could not operate under conditions of German air superiority. Around 66,000 houses were destroyed and 77,000 people made homeless ("bombed out"[158]), with 1,900 people killed and 1,450 seriously hurt on one night. Of the "heavies", some 200 were of the obsolescent 3in (76mm) type; the remainder were the effective 4.5in (110mm) and 3.7in (94mm) guns, with a theoretical "ceiling"' of over 30,000ft (9,100m) but a practical limit of 25,000ft (7,600m) because the predictor in use could not accept greater heights. [151], Directive 23 was the only concession made by Gring to the Kriegsmarine over the strategic bombing strategy of the Luftwaffe against Britain. The policy of RAF Bomber Command became an attempt to achieve victory through the destruction of civilian will, communications and industry. [192] The total number of evacuees numbered 1.4million, including a high proportion from the poorest inner-city families. [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 Minister of Aircraft Production, Lord Beaverbrook and Churchill distanced themselves. (AUDIO: The Wanderer) Despite being forbidden under the terms of the Treaty of . Industry, seats of government and communications could be destroyed, depriving an opponent of the means to make war. 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. 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. 1 March 1935 3 June 1936) championed strategic bombing and the building of suitable aircraft, although he emphasised the importance of aviation in operational and tactical terms. [159] Operations against London up until May 1941 could also have a severe impact on morale. Although the weather was poor, heavy raids took place that afternoon on the London suburbs and the airfield at Farnborough. [92], German beacons operated on the medium-frequency band and the signals involved a two-letter Morse identifier followed by a lengthy time-lapse which enabled the Luftwaffe crews to determine the signal's bearing. [5][6] Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall Hermann Gring, commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, ordered the new policy on 6 September 1940. It believed it could greatly affect the balance of power on the battlefield by disrupting production and damaging civilian morale. 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. [23], While the war was being planned, Hitler never insisted upon the Luftwaffe planning a strategic bombing campaign and did not even give ample warning to the air staff that war with Britain or even Russia was a possibility. [142] Civilian casualties on London throughout the Blitz amounted to 28,556 killed, and 25,578 wounded. [149], A further line in the directive stressed the need to inflict the heaviest losses possible, but also to intensify the air war in order to create the impression an amphibious assault on Britain was planned for 1941. On the night of 13/14 November, 77 He 111s of Kampfgeschwader 26 (26th Bomber Wing, or KG 26) bombed London while 63 from KG 55 hit Birmingham.