[13] In April 1941, when the targets were British ports, rifle production fell by 25 percent, filled-shell production by 4.6 percent and in small-arms production 4.5 percent. 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. 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. [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. [31] On 7 September, the Germans shifted away from the destruction of the RAF's supporting structures. 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. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) and his wife inspect bomb-damage in the City of London during the Blitz, 31st December 1940. [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. This caused more than 2,000 fires; 1,436 people were killed and 1,792 seriously injured, which affected morale badly. Home Secretary Sir John Anderson was replaced by Morrison soon afterwards, in the wake of a Cabinet reshuffle as the dying Neville Chamberlain resigned. 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. Daylight bombing was abandoned after October 1940 as the Luftwaffe experienced unsustainable losses. [32], The decision to change strategy is sometimes claimed as a major mistake by OKL. At around 8.30pm on Sunday 13 October, a high-explosive bomb plunged through the Coronation Avenue flats on Stoke Newington High Street, and exploded directly above a shelter made up of three interconnected basements. Port cities were also attacked to try to disrupt trade and sea communications. This heavy bombing by German forces began in September 1940 and lasted for 57 days. [90][91], Y-Gert was an automatic beam-tracking system and the most complex of the three devices, which was operated through autopilot. From 1916 to 1918, German raids had diminished against countermeasures which demonstrated defence against night air raids was possible. 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. 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. Industry, seats of government and communications could be destroyed, depriving an opponent of the means to make war. [128] London's defences were rapidly reorganised by General Pile, the Commander-in-Chief of Anti-Aircraft Command. Only a few weeks after the British victory in the Battle of. The Blitz (shortened from German 'Blitzkrieg', "lightning war") was the period of sustained strategic bombing of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. [43] The Luftwaffe's strategy became increasingly aimless over the winter of 19401941. In this section. 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. [50] The unexpected delay to civilian bombing during the Phoney War meant that the shelter programme finished in June 1940, before the Blitz. [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. Other units ceased using parachute flares and opted for explosive target markers. X- and Y-Gert beams were placed over false targets and switched only at the last minute. The blasts at Hyde Park and Regents Park kill 11 people and injure 50 others. [40] The Port of London, in particular, was an important target, bringing in one-third of overseas trade. Many of the latter were abandoned in 1940 as unsafe. There was also a mentality in all air forces that flying by day would obviate the need for night operations and their inherent disadvantages. Many unemployed people were drafted into the Royal Army Pay Corps and with the Pioneer Corps, were tasked with salvaging and clean-up. From July until September 1940 the Luftwaffe attacked Fighter Command to gain air superiority as a prelude to invasion. 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 action did not guarantee automatic success. Plymouth was attacked five times before the end of the month while Belfast, Hull, and Cardiff were hit. [157] Air attacks sank 39,126 long tons (39,754t) of shipping, with another 111,601 long tons (113,392t) damaged. Smaller raids are not included in the tonnages. [31], The circumstances affected the Germans more than the British. It was supposed Bomber Command, Coastal Command, and the Royal Navy could not operate under conditions of German air superiority. 1940 30 June: The order is given by Reichsmarschall Hermann Gering, head of the Luftwaffe, to draw the RAF into battle. These were marked out by parachute flares. 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. Instead, he wasted aircraft of Fliegerfhrer Atlantik (Flying Command Atlantic) on bombing mainland Britain instead of attacks against convoys. The Luftwaffe had dropped 16,331 long tons (16,593t) of bombs. Within four months, 88 percent of evacuated mothers, 86 percent of small children, and 43 percent of schoolchildren had been returned home. The considerable rail network distributed to the rest of the country. The first attack merely damaged the rail network for three days,[102] and the second attack failed altogether. One-third of London's streets were impassable. 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. The Blitz as it became known in the British press was a sustained aerial attack, sending waves of bombs raining down onto British towns and cities. A Gallup poll found only 3% of Britons expected to lose the war in May 1940. Other reasons, including industry dispersal may have been a factor. It was during the Second World War. dodged bombs to make her way across London from her aunts house to dance class. However, the use of delayed-action bombs, while initially very effective, gradually had less impact, partly because they failed to detonate. Over the next few days weather was poor and the next main effort would not be made until 15 September 1940. 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. [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. The first three directives in 1940 did not mention civilian populations or morale in any way. By December, the SC2500 (2,500kg (5,512lb)) "Max" bomb was used. 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. [77] Before the war, civilians were issued with 50million respirators (gas masks) in case bombardment with gas began before evacuation. Eventually, it would become a success. [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"). It expected about 90% of evacuees to stay in private homes, conducted an extensive survey to determine the amount of space available and made detailed preparations for transporting evacuees. The AOC Bomber Command, Arthur Harris, who did see German morale as an objective, did not believe that the morale-collapse could occur without the destruction of the German economy. [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. 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". The OKL had not been informed that Britain was to be considered a potential opponent until early 1938. The details of the conversation were passed to an RAF Air Staff technical advisor, Dr. R. V. Jones, who started a search which discovered that Luftwaffe Lorenz receivers were more than blind-landing devices. It reveals the devastation caused by the Blitz over eight months. Much damage was done. [76], Despite the attacks, defeat in Norway and France, and the threat of invasion, overall morale remained high. [13] The strategic impact on industrial cities was varied; most took from 10 to 15 days to recover from heavy raids, although Belfast and Liverpool took longer. [99] Fighter Command lost 23 fighters, with six pilots killed and another seven wounded. Notable interviews include Thomas Alderson, the first recipient of the George Cross, John Cormack, who survived eight days trapped beneath rubble on Clydeside, and Herbert Morrison's famous "Britain shall not burn" appeal for more fireguards in December 1940. The exhausted population took three weeks to overcome the effects of an attack. 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. [70] Pub visits increased in number (beer was never rationed), and 13,000 attended cricket at Lord's. In subsequent months a steady number of German bombers would fall to night fighters. [24][182] Committees quickly formed within shelters as informal governments, and organisations such as the British Red Cross and the Salvation Army worked to improve conditions. Bomb damage around St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Roads and railways were blocked and ships could not leave harbour. [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. 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]. [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. [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. [56] Not only was there evacuation over land, but also by ship. An average of 200 were able to strike per night. American observer Ralph Ingersoll reported the bombing was inaccurate and did not hit targets of military value, but destroyed the surrounding areas. The air campaign soon got underway against London and other British cities. Morrison warned that he could not counter the Communist unrest unless provision of shelters were made. In July 1939, Gring arranged a display of the Luftwaffe's most advanced equipment at Rechlin, to give the impression the air force was more prepared for a strategic air war than was actually the case. Important events of 1940, including the beginning of the London Blitz (pictured above) and the Battle of Britain. The Blitz holds a special place in British history for the light which it supposedly sheds on . [19] General Walther Wever (Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff 8200 tons (8,330t) of bombs were dropped that month, about 10 percent in daylight, over 5400 tons (5,490t) on London during the night. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term Blitzkrieg, the German word meaning 'lightning war'.[4]. Mackay2002, pp. 12 Group RAF). Children in the East End of London, made homeless by the Blitz From this point, there were air raids every day for two months. [154], Even so, the decision by the OKL to support the strategy in Directive 23 was instigated by two considerations, both of which had little to do with wanting to destroy Britain's sea communications in conjunction with the Kriegsmarine. [57] The programme favoured backyard Anderson shelters and small brick surface shelters. While direct attacks against civilians were ruled out as "terror bombing", the concept of attacking vital war industriesand probable heavy civilian casualties and breakdown of civilian moralewas ruled as acceptable.[18]. On September 13, 1940, shortly after the start of Germany's bombing campaign on the towns and cities of Britain, five high explosive bombs were dropped on Buckingham Palace. [134], From November 1940 to February 1941, the Luftwaffe shifted its strategy and attacked other industrial cities. [135] In particular, the West Midlands were targeted. 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. In some cases, the concentration of the bombing and resulting conflagration created firestorms of 1,000C. Whitechapel suffered greatly during this period. Five main rail lines were cut in London and rolling stock damaged. By September 1940, London had already experienced German bombing. [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. [7][8] Notable attacks included a large daylight attack against London on 15 September, a large raid on December 29 1940 against London resulting in a firestorm known as the Second Great Fire of London. [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. An unknown number of bombs fell on these diversionary ("Starfish") targets. Who . The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. It would prove formidable but its development was slow. Dozens of men, women and children celebrate a Christmas party at a London Underground station during the Blitz in 1940. Ground-based radar was limited, and airborne radar and RAF night fighters were generally ineffective. [138] The strategic effect of the raid was a brief 20 percent dip in aircraft production. This was when warfare deliberately included civilian populations. [35][104][105], On 14 October, the heaviest night attack to date saw 380 German bombers from Luftflotte 3 hit London. In those sites, carbon arc lamps were used to simulate flashes at tram overhead wires. On 17 January around 100 bombers dropped a high concentration of incendiaries, some 32,000 in all. 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. [144] In January and February 1941, Luftwaffe serviceability rates declined until just 551 of 1,214 bombers were combat-worthy. [95][96], Initially, the change in strategy caught the RAF off-guard and caused extensive damage and civilian casualties. 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). 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. Timeline London portal v t e The United Kingdom took part in World War II from 3 September 1939 until 15 August 1945. Many houses and commercial centres were heavily damaged, the electrical supply was knocked out, and five oil tanks and two magazines exploded. Nine days later, two waves of 125 and 170 bombers dropped heavy bombs, including 160 tons (163t) of high explosive and 32,000 incendiaries. [174] By the end of May, Kesselring's Luftflotte 2 had been withdrawn, leaving Hugo Sperrle's Luftflotte 3 as a token force to maintain the illusion of strategic bombing. [170] On 19 November, John Cunningham of No. 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. The maps help to contextualize the staggering statistics from the Blitz: in London alone, there were 57 consecutive nights of bombing. [5] Large air battles broke out, lasting for most of the day. Dowding had to rely on night fighters. 11 Feb 2020. [24], A major problem in the managing of the Luftwaffe was Gring. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). 219 Squadron RAF at RAF Kenley). Their incendiary bombs [30] The replacement of pilots and aircrew was more difficult. 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. [73][74][75], The cheerful crowds visiting bomb sites were so large they interfered with rescue work. 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. Between 1940 and 1945, over 52,000 civilians were killed in Britain during bombing raids by German aircraft. [88] Bomber crews already had some experience with the Lorenz beam, a commercial blind-landing aid for night or bad weather landings. [13], The air offensive against the RAF and British industry failed to have the desired effect. Two aerials at ground stations were rotated so that their beams converged over the target. Damage was inflicted on the port installations, but many bombs fell on the city itself. [140] The first group to use these incendiaries was Kampfgruppe 100 which despatched 10 "pathfinder" He 111s. [163] By the end of the air campaign over Britain, only eight percent of the German effort against British ports was made using mines. However, meteorological conditions over Britain were not favourable for flying and prevented an escalation in air operations. On 17 September he postponed Operation Sea Lion (as it turned out, indefinitely) rather than gamble Germany's newly gained military prestige on a risky cross-Channel operation, particularly in the face of a sceptical Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. 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. The general neglect of the RAF until the late spurt in 1938, left few resources for night air defence and the Government, through the Air Ministry and other civil and military institutions was responsible for policy. The word "blitz" comes from the German term. [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. Summerfield and Peniston-Bird 2007, p. 3. Get 20% off purchases above 10.Apply discount code SAVE20 at checkout.. Company Search. [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 attacks were authorized by Germany's chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. Reception committees were completely unprepared for the condition of some of the children. 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. [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. This meant that British coastal centres and shipping at sea west of Ireland were the prime targets. Beginning in September 1940, the Blitz was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by the Luftwaffe against British cities. 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. Liverpool and its port became an important destination for convoys heading through the Western Approaches from North America, bringing supplies and materials. [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. [94] A total of 348 bombers and 617 fighters took part in the attack. The 'all clear' was sounded at 05.00 on 8 September - 420 people were killed and over 1600 seriously wounded. The crew would be ordered to drop their bombs either by a code word from the ground controller or at the conclusion of the signal transmissions which would stop. Bungay, Stephen (2000). Reports suggested the attacks blocked the movement of coal to the Greater London regions and urgent repairs were required. The main focus was London. [11][12] The greatest effect was to force the British to disperse the production of aircraft and spare parts. In January 1941, Fighter Command flew 486 sorties against 1,965 made by the Germans. Hello, I Am Charlie from London - Stephane Husar 2014-07-15 The Demon in the Embers - Julia Edwards 2016-09-02 . In the following month, 22 German bombers were lost with 13 confirmed to have been shot down by night fighters. Moreover, bombers had four to five crewmen on board, representing a greater loss of manpower. German planners had to decide whether the Luftwaffe should deliver the weight of its attacks against a specific segment of British industry such as aircraft factories, or against a system of interrelated industries such as Britain's import and distribution network, or even in a blow aimed at breaking the morale of the British population. [1] It was the capital not just for the United Kingdom, but for the entire British Empire. [149], From the German point of view, March 1941 saw an improvement. [156] Westminster Abbey and the Law Courts were damaged, while the Chamber of the House of Commons was destroyed. The British were still one-third below the establishment of heavy anti-aircraft artillery AAA (or ack-ack) in May 1941, with only 2,631 weapons available. Gring's lack of co-operation was detrimental to the one air strategy with potentially decisive strategic effect on Britain. 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. [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. Erich Raedercommander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarinehad long argued the Luftwaffe should support the German submarine force (U-Bootwaffe) in the Battle of the Atlantic by attacking shipping in the Atlantic Ocean and attacking British ports. Warehouses, rail lines and houses were destroyed and damaged, but the docks were largely untouched. Its hope was to destroy its targets and draw the RAF into defending them, allowing the Luftwaffe to destroy their fighters in large numbers, thereby achieving air superiority. The most intense series of these raids took place from September 1940 to May 1941 in a period that has become known as the Blitz. It also took part in the bombing over Britain. 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. The Battle of Britain More might have been achieved had OKL exploited the vulnerability of British sea communications. While wartime bombings affected London in both world wars, it was the Blitz that truly altered the cityscape forever. Beginning. 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. [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 name "Blitz" comes from the word "blitzkrieg" which meant "lightning war". Edgar Jones, et al. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency . 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. Throughout 193339 none of the 16 Western Air Plans drafted mentioned morale as a target. [145] Part of the reason for this was inaccuracy of navigation. The loss of sleep was a particular factor, with many not bothering to attend inconvenient shelters. 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. Some 107,400 gross tons (109,100t) of shipping was damaged in the Thames Estuary and 1,600 civilians were casualties. More than 70,000 buildings . [103] The air battle was later commemorated by Battle of Britain Day. People referred to raids as if they were weather, stating that a day was "very blitzy". "[25] Such principles made it much harder to integrate the air force into the overall strategy and produced in Gring a jealous and damaging defence of his "empire" while removing Hitler voluntarily from the systematic direction of the Luftwaffe at either the strategic or operational level. Entertainment included concerts, films, plays and books from local libraries. [186] At the time it was seen as a useful propaganda tool for domestic and foreign consumption. [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. A tall white house known locally as the 'leaning tower of Rotherhithe' has sold for 1.5million. Night fighters could claim only four bombers for four losses.
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