In mid-September 1940, about 150,000 people a night slept in the Underground, although by winter and spring the numbers declined to 100,000 or less. With the doors to our museums physically closed, we are offering some exclusive World War II content from our galleries and collections. Throughout 1940, dummy airfields were prepared, good enough to stand up to skilled observation. Direction-finding checks also enabled the controller to keep the pilot on course. Another poll found an 88% approval rating for Churchill in July. 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. [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. Children pull crackers under paper decorations while jubilant adults smile . 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. The Communists attempted to blame the damage and casualties of the Coventry raid on the rich factory owners, big business and landowning interests and called for a negotiated peace. [151], Directive 23 was the only concession made by Gring to the Kriegsmarine over the strategic bombing strategy of the Luftwaffe against Britain. News reports of the Spanish Civil War, such as the bombing of Barcelona, supported the 50-casualties-per-tonne estimate. One third of London was destroyed. Around 200 people were killed and another 2,000 injured. 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. [173] On 10/11 May, London suffered severe damage, but 10 German bombers were downed. 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. To reduce losses further, strategy changed to prefer night raids, giving the bombers greater protection under cover of darkness. 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. [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. 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). With no sign of the RAF weakening and the Luftflotten suffering many losses, OKL was keen for a change in strategy. [50] The unexpected delay to civilian bombing during the Phoney War meant that the shelter programme finished in June 1940, before the Blitz. [50], On the other hand, some historians have recently contended that this revisionism of the "Blitz spirit" narrative may have been an over-correction. The History Press | The evacuation of children during the Second World War 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. Committees quickly formed within shelters as informal governments, and organisations such as the British Red Cross and the Salvation Army worked to improve conditions. The word "blitz" comes from the German term. 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. Hitler quickly developed scepticism toward strategic bombing, confirmed by the results of the Blitz. In 1938, a committee of psychiatrists predicted three times as many mental as physical casualties from aerial bombing, implying three to four million psychiatric patients. 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. 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". [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. Although there were a few large air battles fought in daylight later in the month and into October, the Luftwaffe switched its main effort to night attacks. [70] Pub visits increased in number (beer was never rationed), and 13,000 attended cricket at Lord's. Less than 100 incidents reported by the London Fire Brigade up to 5pm on September 7, 1940. July 20, 1982: Two IRA bombs explode in central London less than two hours apart. [149], By now, the imminent threat of invasion had all but passed as the Luftwaffe had failed to gain the prerequisite air superiority. The Romanov family was the imperial house of the Russian Empire from 1613 until being forced out of power in 1917 during the Russian Revolution. 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. But the Luftwaffe's effort eased in the last 10 attacks as seven Kampfgruppen moved to Austria in preparation for the Balkans Campaign in Yugoslavia and Greece. 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. [95][96], Initially, the change in strategy caught the RAF off-guard and caused extensive damage and civilian casualties. Hello, I Am Charlie from London - Stephane Husar 2014-07-15 The Demon in the Embers - Julia Edwards 2016-09-02 . A Raid From Above 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. From July until September 1940 the Luftwaffe attacked Fighter Command to gain air superiority as a prelude to invasion. In January, Swansea was bombed four times, very heavily. [39] The attacks were focused against western ports in March. The German bombers would fly along either beam until they picked up the signal from the other beam. There was also a mentality in all air forces that flying by day would obviate the need for night operations and their inherent disadvantages. [88] Bomber crews already had some experience with the Lorenz beam, a commercial blind-landing aid for night or bad weather landings. BBC - WW2 People's War - Timeline [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. Seeschlange would be carried out by Fliegerkorps X (10th Air Corps) which concentrated on mining operations against shipping. [13], The German air offensive failed because the Luftwaffe High Command (Oberkommando der Luftwaffe, OKL) did not develop a methodical strategy for destroying British war industry. These were marked out by parachute flares. 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. The OKL had not been informed that Britain was to be considered a potential opponent until early 1938. [120], British night air defences were in a poor state. British fighter aircraft production continued at a rate surpassing Germany's by 2 to 1. [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. [170] In November and December 1940, the Luftwaffe flew 9,000 sorties against British targets and RAF night fighters claimed only six shot down. Most residents found that such divisions continued within the shelters and many arguments and fights occurred over noise, space and other matters. 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. The German bombing of Britain from 1940-45 exacted a terrible price, in lives lost, infrastructure wrecked and nerves shattered. [161] Another raid was carried out on 11/12 May 1941. [87], Because of the inaccuracy of celestial navigation for night navigation and target finding in a fast-moving aircraft, the Luftwaffe developed radio navigation devices and relied on three systems: Knickebein (Crooked leg), X-Gert (X-Device), and Y-Gert (Y-Device). The Blitz referred to the bombing of most major British cities by the Germans in World War II. 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. [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 policy of RAF Bomber Command became an attempt to achieve victory through the destruction of civilian will, communications and industry. Bomb-Damage Maps Reveal London's World War II Devastation. London Blitz History, Facts & Importance | What was the Blitz of WW2 The primary goal of Bomber Command was to destroy the German industrial base (economic warfare) and in doing so reduce morale. [3] OKL instead sought clusters of targets that suited the latest policy (which changed frequently), and disputes within the leadership were about tactics rather than strategy. The blasts at Hyde Park and Regents Park kill 11 people and injure 50 others. 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. Morale was not mentioned until the ninth wartime directive on 21 September 1940. In December, only 11 major and five heavy attacks were made. Moreover, bombers had four to five crewmen on board, representing a greater loss of manpower. London Blitz 1940: the first day's bomb attacks listed in full A tall white house known locally as the 'leaning tower of Rotherhithe' has sold for 1.5million. Ironically, the Blitz was the result of an . [145] Part of the reason for this was inaccuracy of navigation. Children in the East End of London, made homeless by the Blitz From this point, there were air raids every day for two months. The Metropolitan-Vickers works in Manchester was hit by 12 long tons (12.2t) of bombs. [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. The Blitz Around Britain - World War 2 | Imperial War Museums X-Gert receivers were mounted in He 111s, with a radio mast on the fuselage. 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. On 17 January around 100 bombers dropped a high concentration of incendiaries, some 32,000 in all. 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 maps help to contextualize the staggering statistics from the Blitz: in London alone, there were 57 consecutive nights of bombing. [117] Attacks against East End docks were effective and many Thames barges were destroyed. 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. The Blitz began on 7 September, 'Black Saturday', when German bombers attacked London, leaving 430 dead and 1,600 injured. American observer Ralph Ingersoll reported the bombing was inaccurate and did not hit targets of military value, but destroyed the surrounding areas. Access Free A Dancer In Wartime One Girls Journey From The Blitz To 15 Powerful Photos Of The WW2 Blitz | Imperial War Museums 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 . [16], The Luftwaffe took a cautious view of strategic bombing but the OKL did not oppose the strategic bombardment of industries or cities. World War 2 Timeline - 1940. by Ben Johnson. When a continuous sound was heard from the second beam the crew knew they were above the target and dropped their bombs. [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. Curiously, while 43 percent of the contacts in May 1941 were by visual sightings, they accounted for 61 percent of the combats. Ingersol wrote that Battersea Power Station, one of the largest landmarks in London, received only a minor hit. When the second hand re-aligned with the first, the bombs were released. Summerfield, Penny and Peniston-Bird, Corina. In the following month, 22 German bombers were lost with 13 confirmed to have been shot down by night fighters. Support for peace negotiations declined from 29% in February. Summerfield and Peniston-Bird 2007, p. 3. Home Secretary Sir John Anderson was replaced by Morrison soon afterwards, in the wake of a Cabinet reshuffle as the dying Neville Chamberlain resigned. Added to the fact an interception relied on visual sighting, a kill was most unlikely even in the conditions of a moonlit sky. [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. [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. Both the RAF and Luftwaffe struggled to replace manpower losses, though the Germans had larger reserves of trained aircrew. 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. Timeline of events in 1940 during World War 2 - Historic UK 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. 10 Facts about London Blitz | Less Known Facts [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. [99] Fighter Command lost 23 fighters, with six pilots killed and another seven wounded. [55] The relocation of the government and the civil service was also planned but would only have occurred if necessary so as not to damage civilian morale. London was bombed ever day and night, bar one, for 11 weeks. 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. [163] By the end of the air campaign over Britain, only eight percent of the German effort against British ports was made using mines. In Portsmouth Southsea and Gosport waves of 150 bombers destroyed vast swaths of the city with 40,000 incendiaries. Many civilians who were unwilling or unable to join the military joined the Home Guard, the Air Raid Precautions service (ARP), the Auxiliary Fire Service and many other civilian organisations. [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"). 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). London Blitz took place during the World War 2. [31], The circumstances affected the Germans more than the British. The Impact of the Blitz on London - historylearning.com KGr 100 increased its use of incendiaries from 13 to 28 percent. The bombing also helped to support the U-boat blockade by sinking some 58,000 long tons (58,900t) of shipping and damaging 450,000 long tons (457,000t) more. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term Blitzkrieg, the German word meaning 'lightning war'.[4]. There is much that Londoners can look back on with pride, remarkably little about which they need to feel ashamed. Poor intelligence about British industry and economic efficiency led to OKL concentrating on tactics rather than strategy. The first major raid took place on 7 September. [1], In early July 1940, the German High Command began planning Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. 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. Instead, he wasted aircraft of Fliegerfhrer Atlantik (Flying Command Atlantic) on bombing mainland Britain instead of attacks against convoys. [168] The Blenheim had only a small speed advantage to overtake a German bomber in a stern-chase. Many people over 35 remembered the bombing and were afraid of more. [161] This raid was significant, as 63 German fighters were sent with the bombers, indicating the growing effectiveness of RAF night fighter defences. [156], German air supremacy at night was also now under threat. [106], Loge continued during October. [186] At the time it was seen as a useful propaganda tool for domestic and foreign consumption. [188] In the wake of the Coventry Blitz, there was widespread agitation from the Communist Party over the need for bomb-proof shelters. London: The Blitz, September 1940-June 1941 Records are incomplete, but between 7 October 1940 and 6 June 1941 almost 28,000 high explosive bombs and over 400 parachute mines were recorded landing on Greater London. A trial blackout was held on 10 August 1939 and when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September, a blackout began at sunset. In this section. Douglas set about introducing more squadrons and dispersing the few GL sets to create a carpet effect in the southern counties. By December, this had increased to 92 percent. 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. 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. [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. 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. Dozens of men, women and children celebrate a Christmas party at a London Underground station during the Blitz in 1940. 10 Group RAF, No. The property stands alone on a section of riverbank on the Thames, in South East London 's . [187] Historians' critical response to this construction focused on what were seen as over-emphasised claims of patriotic nationalism and national unity. On occasion, only one-third of German bombs hit their targets. Little tonnage was dropped on Fighter Command airfields; Bomber Command airfields were hit instead. The tactic was expanded into Feuerleitung (Blaze Control) with the creation of Brandbombenfelder (Incendiary Fields) to mark targets. The Impact of the Blitz on London - History Learning Site Still, in February 1941, there remained only seven squadrons with 87 pilots, under half the required strength. 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 system worked on 6677MHz, a higher frequency than Knickebein. [118] The London Docklands, in particular, the Royal Victoria Dock, received many hits and Port of London trade was disrupted. The Blitz - Wikipedia But even in May, 67 percent of the sorties were visual cat's-eye missions. Summerfield and Peniston-Bird 2007, p. 84. 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. [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. Contact Us 0207 608 5516 Call today: 9am - 5.30pm The London docks and railways communications had taken a heavy pounding, and much damage had been done to the railway system outside. [148], Hitler's interest in this strategy forced Gring and Jeschonnek to review the air war against Britain in January 1941. - Wikipedia [58][59], The most important existing communal shelters were the London Underground stations. The Luftwaffe flew 4,000 sorties that month, including 12 major and three heavy attacks. 80 Wing RAF. [152] Raeder's successorKarl Dnitzwouldon the intervention of Hitlergain control of one unit (KG 40), but Gring would soon regain it. Within four months, 88 percent of evacuated mothers, 86 percent of small children, and 43 percent of schoolchildren had been returned home. 7 September 1940 In the run up to 7 September, the night the Blitz began, the Luftwaffe had targeted RAF airfields and radar stations for destruction in preparation for the German invasion of the. [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. Battle of Britain and the Blitz - Military History - Oxford - obo 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.