Five main rail lines were cut in London and rolling stock damaged. When the second hand re-aligned with the first, the bombs were released. Moreover, bombers had four to five crewmen on board, representing a greater loss of manpower. [186] At the time it was seen as a useful propaganda tool for domestic and foreign consumption. Timeline London portal v t e The United Kingdom took part in World War II from 3 September 1939 until 15 August 1945. Bombers were flown with airborne search lights out of desperation but to little avail. Entertainment included concerts, films, plays and books from local libraries. These were marked out by parachute flares. [1] It was the capital not just for the United Kingdom, but for the entire British Empire. [195] Many sites of bombed buildings, when cleared of rubble, were cultivated to grow vegetables to ease wartime food shortages and were known as victory gardens.[196]. Too early and the chances of success receded; too late and the real conflagration at the target would exceed the diversionary fires. [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. Warehouses, rail lines and houses were destroyed and damaged, but the docks were largely untouched. Four days later 230 tons (234t) were dropped including 60,000 incendiaries. [149] This strategy had been recognised before the war, but Operation Eagle Attack and the following Battle of Britain had got in the way of striking at Britain's sea communications and diverted German air strength to the campaign against the RAF and its supporting structures. More than 40,000civilians were killed by Luftwaffe bombing during the war, almost half of them in the capital, where more than a million houses were destroyed or damaged. 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. He roused them, ensured they took oxygen and Dextro-Energen amphetamine tablets, then completed the mission. 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. To destroy the enemy air force by bombing its bases and aircraft factories and defeat enemy air forces attacking German targets. Ex-Army personnel and his successors as Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff, Albert Kesselring (3 June 1936 31 May 1937) and Hans-Jrgen Stumpff (1 June 1937 31 January 1939) are usually blamed for abandoning strategic planning for close air support. 4546. [147] At Raeder's prompting, Hitler correctly noted that the greatest damage to the British war economy had been done through the destruction of merchant shipping by submarines and air attacks by small numbers of Focke-Wulf Fw 200 naval aircraft and ordered the German air arm to focus its efforts against British convoys. [69] Contrary to pre-war fears of anti-Semitic violence in the East End, one observer found that the "Cockney and the Jew [worked] together, against the Indian". The exhausted population took three weeks to overcome the effects of an attack. [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. Authorities expected that the raids would be brief and in daylight, rather than attacks by night, which forced Londoners to sleep in shelters. Sewer, rail, docklands, and electric installations were damaged. Much damage was done. 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. [49] In 1939 military theorist Basil Liddell-Hart predicted that 250,000 deaths and injuries in Britain could occur in the first week of war. 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. Many civilians found that the best way to retain mental stability was to be with family, and after the first few weeks of bombing, avoidance of the evacuation programmes grew. The maps help to contextualize the staggering statistics from the Blitz: in London alone, there were 57 consecutive nights of bombing. The Blitz (the London Blitz) was the sustained bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7th September 1940 and 10th May 1941 during the World War Two Every night bar one for ten solid weeks,from 7 September to 14 November 1940, London was attacked by an average of 160 bombers. [95][96], Initially, the change in strategy caught the RAF off-guard and caused extensive damage and civilian casualties. Home Secretary Sir John Anderson was replaced by Morrison soon afterwards, in the wake of a Cabinet reshuffle as the dying Neville Chamberlain resigned. 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]. The attack started at 16:43 and lasted for 12 hours. In December, only 11 major and five heavy attacks were made. The clock mechanism was co-ordinated with the distances of the intersecting beams from the target so the target was directly below when the bombs were released. [48] Based on experience with German strategic bombing during World War I against the United Kingdom, the British government estimated that 50 casualtieswith about one-third killedwould result for every tonne of bombs dropped on London. [166] This was not immediately apparent. [43] The Luftwaffe's strategy became increasingly aimless over the winter of 19401941. "Pathfinders" from 12 Kampfgruppe 100 (Bomb Group 100 or KGr100) led 437 bombers from KG 1, KG 3, KG26, KG 27, KG55 and Lehrgeschwader 1 (1st Training Wing, or LG1) which dropped 350 long tons (356t) of high explosive, 50 long tons (50.8t) of incendiaries, and 127 parachute mines. The first jamming operations were carried out using requisitioned hospital electrocautery machines. A tall white house known locally as the 'leaning tower of Rotherhithe' has sold for 1.5million. Summerfield, Penny and Peniston-Bird, Corina. [1], In early July 1940, the German High Command began planning Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The number of contacts and combats rose in 1941, from 44 and two in 48 sorties in January 1941, to 204 and 74 in May (643 sorties). 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. [13], The air offensive against the RAF and British industry failed to have the desired effect. A Gallup poll found only 3% of Britons expected to lose the war in May 1940. [100] Another 247 bombers from Luftflotte 3 (Air Fleet 3) attacked that night. Regional commissioners were given plenipotentiary powers to restore communications and organise the distribution of supplies to keep the war economy moving. The fake fires could only begin when the bombing started over an adjacent target and its effects were brought under control. The Blitz holds a special place in British history for the light which it supposedly sheds on . This heavy bombing by German forces began in September 1940 and lasted for 57 days. 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. Many houses and commercial centres were heavily damaged, the electrical supply was knocked out, and five oil tanks and two magazines exploded. [180] The 10th directive in October 1940 mentioned morale by name but industrial cities were only to be targeted if weather prevented raids on oil targets.[181]. The London Blitz started quietly. An American witness wrote "By every test and measure I am able to apply, these people are staunch to the bone and won't quit the British are stronger and in a better position than they were at its beginning". The government up until November 1940, was opposed to the centralised organisation of shelter. Instead, he wasted aircraft of Fliegerfhrer Atlantik (Flying Command Atlantic) on bombing mainland Britain instead of attacks against convoys. [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. 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. [64][65] The government distributed Anderson shelters until 1941 and that year began distributing the Morrison shelter, which could be used inside homes. 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. 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. 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 Luftwaffe dropped around 40,000 long tons (40,600t) of bombs during the Blitz, which disrupted production and transport, reduced food supplies, and shook British morale. [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. The Blitz referred to the bombing of most major British cities by the Germans in World War II. But the great bulk of the traffic went on, and Londonersthough they glanced apprehensively each morning at the list of closed stretches of line displayed at their local station, or made strange detours round back streets in the busesstill got to work. Throughout 193339 none of the 16 Western Air Plans drafted mentioned morale as a target. (PROSE: A History of Humankind) In 1903, after receiving a wealth of information from the future, Grigori Rasputin foresaw the Blitz. 'Blitz' is an abbreviation of the German word 'blitzkrieg', meaning 'lightning war'. The word "blitz" comes from the German term. 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. 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. During World War I, German zeppelins and Gotha airplanes had bombed the city and forced people to take shelter in the tunnels. [164], In the north, substantial efforts were made against Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Sunderland, which were large ports on the English east coast.
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