The attack started at 16:43 and lasted for 12 hours. By the end of 1941, the WVS had one million members. [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. [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. [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. The next night, a large force hit Coventry. Dec. 17, 1983: Six people are. This led to their agreeing to Hitler's Directive 23, Directions for operations against the British War Economy, which was published on 6 February 1941 and gave aerial interdiction of British imports by sea top priority. 6063, 6768, 75, 7879, 21516. 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. [129] AA defences improved by better use of radar and searchlights. The first attack merely damaged the rail network for three days,[102] and the second attack failed altogether. To destroy the enemy air force by bombing its bases and aircraft factories and defeat enemy air forces attacking German targets. Hull and Glasgow were attacked but 715 long tons (726t) of bombs were spread out all over Britain. The German bombing of Britain from 1940-45 exacted a terrible price, in lives lost, infrastructure wrecked and nerves shattered. [2], The British began to assess the impact of the Blitz in August 1941 and the RAF Air Staff used the German experience to improve Bomber Command's offensives. The lightning attack was infamously called "Black Saturday". 10 Group RAF, No. [145] Captured German aircrews also indicated the homes of industrial workers were deliberately targeted. 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. In March 1941, two raids on Plymouth and London dehoused 148,000 people. Let us find out other historical facts about London Blitz below: Facts about London Blitz 1: the German intelligence [17], The vital industries and transport centres that would be targeted for shutdown were valid military targets. Corum 1997, pp. [78], During the Blitz, The Scout Association guided fire engines to where they were most needed and became known as the "Blitz Scouts". The defences failed to prevent widespread damage but on some occasions did prevent German bombers concentrating on their targets. Its explosive sound describes the Luftwaffe's almost continual aerial bombardment of the British Isles from. The attacks were authorized by Germany's chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. It was supposed Bomber Command, Coastal Command, and the Royal Navy could not operate under conditions of German air superiority. The Luftwaffe lost 18 percent of the bombers sent on the operations that day and failed to gain air superiority. 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. In Portsmouth Southsea and Gosport waves of 150 bombers destroyed vast swaths of the city with 40,000 incendiaries. 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. Another poll found an 88% approval rating for Churchill in July. [15] It was thought that "the bomber will always get through" and could not be resisted, particularly at night. Support for peace negotiations declined from 29% in February. It was decided to recreate normal residential street lighting, and in non-essential areas, lighting to recreate heavy industrial targets. [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]. [33] Others argue that the Luftwaffe made little impression on Fighter Command in the last week of August and first week of September and that the shift in strategy was not decisive. Blitz: A Novel (The Rook Files) Kindle Edition - amazon.com 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. London in World War II - Wikipedia [120], British night air defences were in a poor state. 12 Group RAF). [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. [30] The replacement of pilots and aircrew was more difficult. The port cities of Bristol, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Southampton, Swansea, Belfast, and Glasgow were also bombed, as were the industrial centres of Birmingham, Coventry, Manchester, and Sheffield. [135] In particular, the West Midlands were targeted. The Blitz | Tardis | Fandom [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. [29] The British produced 10,000 aircraft in 1940, in comparison to Germany's 8,000. X-Gert receivers were mounted in He 111s, with a radio mast on the fuselage. In the following month, 22 German bombers were lost with 13 confirmed to have been shot down by night fighters. 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. Added to the fact an interception relied on visual sighting, a kill was most unlikely even in the conditions of a moonlit sky. Direction-finding checks also enabled the controller to keep the pilot on course. This was when warfare deliberately included civilian populations. Between 1940 and 1941, the Germans attacked Britain by bombing London. From 1943 to the end of the war, he [Harris] and other proponents of the area offensive represented it [the bomber offensive] less as an attack on morale than as an assault on the housing, utilities, communications, and other services that supported the war production effort. Official histories concluded that the mental health of a nation may have improved, while panic was rare. At a London railway station, arriving troops pass by children who are being evacuated to the countryside. The system worked on 6677MHz, a higher frequency than Knickebein. [148], Hitler's interest in this strategy forced Gring and Jeschonnek to review the air war against Britain in January 1941. The blasts at Hyde Park and Regents Park kill 11 people and injure 50 others. 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. [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. Bombing civilians would cause a collapse of morale and a loss of production in the remaining factories. Between 1940 and 1945, over 52,000 civilians were killed in Britain during bombing raids by German aircraft. London: The Blitz, September 1940-June 1941 | Historic England The difficulty of RAF bombers in night navigation and target finding led the British to believe that it would be the same for German bomber crews. Port cities were also attacked to try to disrupt trade and sea communications. The London Blitz started quietly. Attacks from below offered a larger target, compared to attacking tail-on, as well as a better chance of not being seen by the crew (so less chance of evasion), as well as greater likelihood of detonating its bomb load. For the London-based American football team, see, Directive 23: Gring and the Kriegsmarine, This was caused by moisture ruining the electrical. Morrison warned that he could not counter the Communist unrest unless provision of shelters were made. So worried were the government over the sudden campaign of leaflets and posters distributed by the Communist Party in Coventry and London, that the police were sent to seize their production facilities. [40] Late in the afternoon of 7 September 1940, the Germans began Operation London (Unternehmen Loge, Loge being the codename for London) and Operation Sea Snake (Unternehmen Seeschlange), the air offensives against London and other industrial cities. [152] Raeder's successorKarl Dnitzwouldon the intervention of Hitlergain control of one unit (KG 40), but Gring would soon regain it. London Blitz bomb web map a hit-and-miss affair The - The Register A further attack on the Clyde, this time at Greenock, took place on 6 and 7 May. His hope wasfor reasons of political prestige within Germany itselfthat the German population would be protected from the Allied bombings. Only a few weeks after the British victory in the Battle of. Too early and the chances of success receded; too late and the real conflagration at the target would exceed the diversionary fires. [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. BLITZ DIGITAL MEDIA LTD - Company Credit Reports, Company Accounts While wartime bombings affected London in both world wars, it was the Blitz that truly altered the cityscape forever. 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. Less than 100 incidents reported by the London Fire Brigade up to 5pm on September 7, 1940. [112] In fact, on 8 September 1940 both Battersea and West Ham Power Station were both shut down after the 7 September daylight attack on London. 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". [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. More than 70,000 buildings . Gring's lack of co-operation was detrimental to the one air strategy with potentially decisive strategic effect on Britain. 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. 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. 4 June 1940 18 June 1940 22 June 1940 1 July 1940 . 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. [184][185] This imagery of people in the Blitz was embedded via being in film, radio, newspapers and magazines. [109] Special units, such as KGr 100, became the Beleuchtergruppe (Firelighter Group), which used incendiaries and high explosives to mark the target area. Blitz Incidents Thursday, 2 January 2014 High Holborn - the morning of 8th October 1940 I had no idea fighter-bombers were used against London as early as 1940, yet on Tuesday 8th October just before 9 am a raid took place that certainly hit targets across the centre of London, including Whitehall, at the very heart of British government. [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. 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. The bombing effort was diluted by attacks against several sets of industries instead of constant pressure on the most vital. 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. [34] It has also been argued that it was doubtful the Luftwaffe could have won air superiority before the "weather window" began to deteriorate in October. 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". Smaller raids are not included in the tonnages. The London Blitz, 1940 - EyeWitness to History 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. 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. London Blitz Facts | London Blitz WWII - DK Find Out 11 Feb 2020. The meacon system involved separate locations for a receiver with a directional aerial and a transmitter. 80 Wing RAF. [131], Nevertheless, it was radar that proved to be the critical weapon in the night battles over Britain from this point onward. Want to Read. Ground transmitters sent pulses at a rate of 180 per minute. [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. [101] On 8 September the Luftwaffe returned; 412 people were killed and 747 severely wounded. [161] Another raid was carried out on 11/12 May 1941. [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. [183], A popular image arose of British people in the Second World War: a collection of people locked in national solidarity. [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. The Minister of Aircraft Production, Lord Beaverbrook and Churchill distanced themselves. [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. [109], These decisions, apparently taken at the Luftflotte or Fliegerkorps level, meant attacks on individual targets were gradually replaced by what was, for all intents and purposes, an unrestricted area attack or Terrorangriff (Terror Attack). Some 107,400 gross tons (109,100t) of shipping was damaged in the Thames Estuary and 1,600 civilians were casualties. The beginning of the London Blitz - The National Archives blog The amount of firm operational and tactical preparation for a bombing campaign was minimal, largely because of the failure by Hitler as supreme commander to insist upon such a commitment. Signals from the station were retransmitted by the bomber's equipment, which allowed the distance the bomber had travelled along the beam to be measured precisely. [136] The raid against Coventry was particularly devastating, and led to widespread use of the phrase "to coventrate". News reports of the Spanish Civil War, such as the bombing of Barcelona, supported the 50-casualties-per-tonne estimate. [b] The British had anticipated the change in strategy and dispersed its production facilities, making them less vulnerable to a concentrated attack. 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. 15 Powerful Photos Of The WW2 Blitz | Imperial War Museums Night after night, from September 1940 until May 1941, German bombers attacked British cities, ports and industrial areas. 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. [190], The brief success of the Communists also fed into the hands of the British Union of Fascists (BUF). [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. How Thousands of Civilians Were Killed by British Shells in the London 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. [50] London hospitals prepared for 300,000 casualties in the first week of war. Still, at Southampton, attacks were so effective morale did give way briefly with civilian authorities leading people en masse out of the city. From the beginning of the National Socialist regime until 1939, there was a debate in German military journals over the role of strategic bombardment, with some contributors arguing along the lines of the British and Americans. [42], Although it had equipment capable of doing serious damage, the Luftwaffe had an unclear strategy and poor intelligence. However, the use of delayed-action bombs, while initially very effective, gradually had less impact, partly because they failed to detonate. Children pull crackers under paper decorations while jubilant adults smile . Throughout 193339 none of the 16 Western Air Plans drafted mentioned morale as a target. The main focus was London. The year-long project . [80], Pre-war dire predictions of mass air-raid neurosis were not borne out. [103] The air battle was later commemorated by Battle of Britain Day. [35], While Gring was optimistic the Luftwaffe could prevail, Hitler was not. [150] The OKL had always regarded the interdiction of sea communications of less importance than bombing land-based aircraft industries. [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. [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. Unpopular with many of his fellow MP's, Prime Minister Chamberlain agreed to replace him under pressure from . The electronic war intensified but the Luftwaffe flew major inland missions only on moonlit nights. However, meteorological conditions over Britain were not favourable for flying and prevented an escalation in air operations. He roused them, ensured they took oxygen and Dextro-Energen amphetamine tablets, then completed the mission. 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. 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. Anti-Semitic attitudes became widespread, particularly in London. Locating targets in skies obscured by industrial haze meant the target area needed to be illuminated and hit "without regard for the civilian population". Moreover, the OKL could not settle on an appropriate strategy. 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. A trial blackout was held on 10 August 1939 and when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September, a blackout began at sunset. 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. The day's fighting cost Kesselring and Luftflotte 2 (Air Fleet 2) 24 aircraft, including 13 Bf 109s. Hitler quickly developed scepticism toward strategic bombing, confirmed by the results of the Blitz. [173] On 3/4 May, nine were shot down in one night. [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. It hoped to destroy morale by destroying the enemy's factories and public utilities as well as its food stocks (by attacking shipping). [19] General Walther Wever (Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff 5 Jan. Leslie Hore-Belisha, Britain's Minister of War, is dismissed. 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. The History Place - World War II in Europe Timeline: The Blitz Within four months, 88 percent of evacuated mothers, 86 percent of small children, and 43 percent of schoolchildren had been returned home. 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 . The Blitz | Facts, History, Damage, & Casualties | Britannica [35][36], It was also possible, if RAF losses became severe, that they could pull out to the north, wait for the German invasion, then redeploy southward again. [137] Around 21 factories were seriously damaged in Coventry, and loss of public utilities stopped work at nine others, disrupting industrial output for several months. 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. British night-fighter operations out over the Channel were proving successful. The Cruel Cost Of The Blitz: How Did Britons Rebuild Their Lives The moon was full and the Thames had a very low ebb tide. A building collapsing in Whitechapel during the Blitz. In January, Swansea was bombed four times, very heavily. The Germans conducted mass air attacks against industrial targets, towns, and cities, beginning with raids on London towards the end of the Battle of . [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. London: A History - HISTORY 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. On the night of 22/23 July 1940, Flying Officer Cyril Ashfield (pilot), Pilot Officer Geoffrey Morris (air observer) and Flight Sergeant Reginald Leyland (Air Intercept radar operator) of the Fighter Interception Unit became the first pilot and crew to intercept and destroy an enemy aircraft using onboard radar to guide them to a visual interception, when their AI night fighter brought down a Do 17 off Sussex. [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). Other targets would be considered if the primary ones could not be attacked because of weather conditions.