From 7 September 1940, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 56 of the following 57 days and nights. 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. 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 Blitz began on 7 September, 'Black Saturday', when German bombers attacked London, leaving 430 dead and 1,600 injured. [166] This was not immediately apparent. [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. Too early and the chances of success receded; too late and the real conflagration at the target would exceed the diversionary fires. 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 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. The London docks and railways communications had taken a heavy pounding, and much damage had been done to the railway system outside. These attacks produced some breaks in morale, with civil leaders fleeing the cities before the offensive reached its height. 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. [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. [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). [78], During the Blitz, The Scout Association guided fire engines to where they were most needed and became known as the "Blitz Scouts". 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. These units were fed from two adjacent tanks containing oil and water. [108], Kesselring, commanding Luftflotte 2, was ordered to send 50 sorties per night against London and attack eastern harbours in daylight. At around 4:00 PM on that September day, 348 German bombers escorted by 617 fighters Sept. 7, 1940 - the beginning of the London Blitz blasted London until 6:00 PM. [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. Liverpool suffered 180 long tons (183t) of bombs dropped. [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 pilot flew along an approach beam, monitored by a ground controller. Rumours that Jews were inflating prices, were responsible for the Black Market, were the first to panic under attack (even the cause of the panic) and secured the best shelters via underhanded methods, were also widespread. [12], Five nights later, Birmingham was hit by 369 bombers from KG 54, KG26, and KG55. 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. [50] Panic during the Munich crisis, such as the migration by 150,000 people to Wales, contributed to fear of social chaos.[54]. [173] On 3/4 May, nine were shot down in one night. A further attack on the Clyde, this time at Greenock, took place on 6 and 7 May. To start off, the idea of the London Underground as a bomb shelter wasn't a new one by 1940. His hope wasfor reasons of political prestige within Germany itselfthat the German population would be protected from the Allied bombings. To reduce losses further, strategy changed to prefer night raids, giving the bombers greater protection under cover of darkness. Ed Murrow reporting on war torn London during the blitz. Between 7 September 1940 and 21 May 1941 there were major aerial raids (attacks in which m Subjects: British History, Social Studies - History, World History Grades: It could be claimed civilians were not to be targeted directly, but the breakdown of production would affect their morale and will to fight. The attack started at 16:43 and lasted for 12 hours. There was also a mentality in all air forces that flying by day would obviate the need for night operations and their inherent disadvantages. In late 1940, Churchill credited the shelters. Hitler quickly developed scepticism toward strategic bombing, confirmed by the results of the Blitz. [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. [136] The raid against Coventry was particularly devastating, and led to widespread use of the phrase "to coventrate". [66], Public demand caused the government in October 1940 to build new deep shelters within the Underground to hold 80,000 people but the period of heaviest bombing had passed before they were finished. Dowding had to rely on night fighters. Still, in February 1941, there remained only seven squadrons with 87 pilots, under half the required strength. There was also minor ethnic antagonism between the small Black, Indian and Jewish communities, but despite this these tensions quietly and quickly subsided. 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. World War 2 Timeline - 1940. by Ben Johnson. July 20, 1982: Two IRA bombs explode in central London less than two hours apart. Seeschlange would be carried out by Fliegerkorps X (10th Air Corps) which concentrated on mining operations against shipping. The Luftwaffe lost 18 percent of the bombers sent on the operations that day and failed to gain air superiority. [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. [40], However, the Luftwaffe faced limitations. [184][185] This imagery of people in the Blitz was embedded via being in film, radio, newspapers and magazines. On 8 May 1941, 57 ships were destroyed, sunk or damaged, amounting to 80,000 long tons (81,300t). 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. Although bombing attacks unexpectedly did not begin immediately during the Phoney War,[51] civilians were aware of the deadly power of aerial attacks through newsreels of Barcelona, the Bombing of Guernica and the Bombing of Shanghai. [11][12] The greatest effect was to force the British to disperse the production of aircraft and spare parts. The name "Blitz" comes from the word "blitzkrieg" which meant "lightning war". 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. [133] By mid-November, nine squadrons were available, but only one was equipped with Beaufighters (No. Added to the tension of the mission which exhausted and drained crews, tiredness caught up with and killed many. The attacks were authorized by Germany's chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. [90][91], Y-Gert was an automatic beam-tracking system and the most complex of the three devices, which was operated through autopilot. An estimated 43,000 people lost their lives. Morale was not mentioned until the ninth wartime directive on 21 September 1940. 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. But even in May, 67 percent of the sorties were visual cat's-eye missions. [173] On 10/11 May, London suffered severe damage, but 10 German bombers were downed. [169], Improved aircraft designs were in the offing with the Bristol Beaufighter, then under development. [173] On 19/20 April 1941, in honour of Hitler's 52nd birthday, 712 bombers hit Plymouth with a record 1,000tons (1,016t) of bombs. 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. 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. Tawny Pipit (1944) While the likes of Welcome Mr. Washington (1944), Great Day (1945) and I Live in Grosvenor Square (1945) extended British hospitality to visiting Americans, Anthony Asquith's The Demi-Paradise (1943) was alone in offering the hand of friendship to our Soviet allies. 11 Feb 2020. To destroy the enemy air force by bombing its bases and aircraft factories and defeat enemy air forces attacking German targets. The next night, a large force hit Coventry. Beginning. 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. It reveals the devastation caused by the Blitz over eight months. Rumours that Jewish support was underpinning the Communist surge were frequent. 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. On 17 April 346 tons (352t) of explosives and 46,000 incendiaries were dropped from 250 bombers led by KG 26. [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. Democracies, where public opinion was allowed, were thought particularly vulnerable. 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. [88] Bomber crews already had some experience with the Lorenz beam, a commercial blind-landing aid for night or bad weather landings. 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. 604 Squadron RAF shot down a bomber flying an AI-equipped Beaufighter, the first air victory for the airborne radar. Corum 1997, pp. [22], Two prominent enthusiasts for ground-support operations (direct or indirect) were Hugo Sperrle the commander of Luftflotte 3 (1 February 1939 23 August 1944) and Hans Jeschonnek (Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff from 1 February 1939 19 August 1943). Some people even told government surveyors that they enjoyed air raids if they occurred occasionally, perhaps once a week. 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. [184], Raids during the Blitz produced the greatest divisions and morale effects in the working-class areas, with lack of sleep, insufficient shelters and inefficiency of warning systems being major causes. Of greater potential was the GL (Gunlaying) radar and searchlights with fighter direction from RAF fighter control rooms to begin a GCI system (Ground Control-led Interception) under Group-level control (No. [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. [171] In the bad weather of February 1941, Fighter Command flew 568 sorties to counter the Luftwaffe which flew 1,644 sorties. [64][65] The government distributed Anderson shelters until 1941 and that year began distributing the Morrison shelter, which could be used inside homes. [35], While Gring was optimistic the Luftwaffe could prevail, Hitler was not. 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. [192] The total number of evacuees numbered 1.4million, including a high proportion from the poorest inner-city families. [24], Hitler was much more attracted to the political aspects of bombing. [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. [1] It was the capital not just for the United Kingdom, but for the entire British Empire. 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 . Many of the latter were abandoned in 1940 as unsafe. [172], By April and May 1941, the Luftwaffe was still getting through to their targets, taking no more than one- to two-percent losses per mission. 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. 28384; Murray 1983, pp. The primary target of NAZI Germany was to destroy the civilian center and industries on London. Sperrle, commanding Luftflotte 3, was ordered to dispatch 250 sorties per night including 100 against the West Midlands. The North Sea port of Hull, a convenient and easily found target or secondary target for bombers unable to locate their primary targets, suffered the Hull Blitz. The London Underground rail system was also affected; high explosive bombs damaged the tunnels rendering some unsafe. On 17 January around 100 bombers dropped a high concentration of incendiaries, some 32,000 in all. The Luftwaffe flew 4,000 sorties that month, including 12 major and three heavy attacks. Bomb damage around St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. 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. A third poll found 89% support for his leadership in October. 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 . The estimate of tonnes of bombs an enemy could drop per day grew as aircraft technology advanced, from 75 in 1922, to 150 in 1934, to 644 in 1937. [13], The air offensive against the RAF and British industry failed to have the desired effect. [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. [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. London: Aurum Press. 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. Two heavy (50 long tons (51t) of bombs) attacks were also flown. Fighter Command lost 17 fighters and six pilots. The British government grew anxious about the delays and disruption of supplies during the month. London experienced regular attacks and on 10-11 May 1941 was hit by its biggest raid. 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. By September 1940, the large-scale German air raids which had been expected twelve months earlier finally arrived. It was during the Second World War. The exhausted population took three weeks to overcome the effects of an attack. 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. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). 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. The Battle of Britain and the Blitz were two central moments in the British war effort during World War II. To support the operations of the army formations, independent of railways, i.e., armoured forces and motorised forces, by impeding the enemy's advance and participating directly in ground operations. Home Secretary Sir John Anderson was replaced by Morrison soon afterwards, in the wake of a Cabinet reshuffle as the dying Neville Chamberlain resigned. [5][6] Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall Hermann Gring, commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, ordered the new policy on 6 September 1940. Less than 100 incidents reported by the London Fire Brigade up to 5pm on September 7, 1940. [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. He frequently complained of the Luftwaffe's inability to damage industries sufficiently, saying, "The munitions industry cannot be impeded effectively by air raids usually, the prescribed targets are not hit". 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. The Germans adapted the short-range Lorenz system into Knickebein, a 3033MHz system, which used two Lorenz beams with much stronger signals. Blitzkrieg - the lightning war - was the name given to the devastating German bombing attacks to which the United Kingdom was subjected from September 1940 until May 1941. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. The policy of RAF Bomber Command became an attempt to achieve victory through the destruction of civilian will, communications and industry. In the Myth of the Blitz, Calder exposed some of the counter-evidences of anti-social and divisive behaviours. Its explosive sound describes the Luftwaffe's almost continual aerial bombardment of the British Isles from. [103] The air battle was later commemorated by Battle of Britain Day.
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