[136] The Germans were surprised by the success of the attack. [38][a], It was decided to focus on bombing Britain's industrial cities, in daylight to begin with. [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. Predictions had underestimated civilian adaptability and resourcefulness. They concluded bombers should strike a single target each night and use more incendiaries because they had a greater impact on production than high explosives. 12 Group RAF). [187] Historians' critical response to this construction focused on what were seen as over-emphasised claims of patriotic nationalism and national unity. Bombers were noisy, cold, and vibrated badly. The Children's Overseas Reception Board was organised by the government to help parents send their children overseas to four British Dominions Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. [31], The circumstances affected the Germans more than the British. [24][182] X-Gert received and analysed the pulses, giving the pilot visual and aural directions. [103] The air battle was later commemorated by Battle of Britain Day. [b] The British had anticipated the change in strategy and dispersed its production facilities, making them less vulnerable to a concentrated attack. [13], The air offensive against the RAF and British industry failed to have the desired effect. [62], Communal shelters never housed more than one seventh of Greater London residents. [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. In some cases, the concentration of the bombing and resulting conflagration created firestorms of 1,000C. Locating targets in skies obscured by industrial haze meant the target area needed to be illuminated and hit "without regard for the civilian population". Over the next few days weather was poor and the next main effort would not be made until 15 September 1940. With the doors to our museums physically closed, we are offering some exclusive World War II content from our galleries and collections. Many of the latter were abandoned in 1940 as unsafe. 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. [156], German air supremacy at night was also now under threat. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. [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. Airfields became water-logged and the 18 Kampfgruppen (bomber groups) of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwadern (bomber wings) were relocated to Germany for rest and re-equipment. Between September 1940 and May 1941 the German Luftwaffe attacked the city on over 70 separate occasions, with around 1 million homes being destroyed and killing over 20,000 civilians. On occasion, only one-third of German bombs hit their targets. By September 1940, London had already experienced German bombing. Authorities expected that the raids would be brief and in daylight, rather than attacks by night, which forced Londoners to sleep in shelters. [46], In an operational capacity, limitations in weapons technology and quick British reactions were making it more difficult to achieve strategic effect. The oil-fed fires were then injected with water from time to time; the flashes produced were similar to those of the German C-250 and C-500 Flammbomben. Anti-Jewish sentiment was reported, particularly around the East End of London, with anti-Semitic graffiti and anti-Semitic rumours, such as that Jewish people were "hogging" air raid shelters. Jones began a search for German beams; Avro Ansons of the Beam Approach Training Development Unit (BATDU) were flown up and down Britain fitted with a 30MHz receiver. [141][failed verification] Altogether, 130 German bombers destroyed the historical centre of London. [60], Each day orderly lines of people queued until 4:00pm, when they were allowed to enter the stations. At 18:17, it released the first of 10,000 firebombs, eventually amounting to 300 dropped per minute. [116] On 7 November, St Pancras, Kensal and Bricklayers Arms stations were hit and several lines of Southern Rail were cut on 10 November. These attacks produced some breaks in morale, with civil leaders fleeing the cities before the offensive reached its height. Nearly 350 German bombers (escorted by over 600 fighters) dropped explosives on East London, targeting the docks in particular. The blitz 1940-1941: an interactive timeline This interactive timeline tracks the German air force's bombing campaign as it devastated towns and cities across Britain during the second world. [81], British air doctrine, since Hugh Trenchard had commanded the Royal Flying Corps (19151917), stressed offence as the best means of defence,[82] which became known as the cult of the offensive. [76], Despite the attacks, defeat in Norway and France, and the threat of invasion, overall morale remained high. [89][90], Knickebein was in general use but the X-Gert (X apparatus) was reserved for specially trained pathfinder crews. Over 2,000 AAA shells were fired, destroying two Ju 88s. This led the British to develop countermeasures, which became known as the Battle of the Beams. 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]. When Gring decided against continuing Wever's original heavy bomber programme in 1937, the Reichsmarschall's own explanation was that Hitler wanted to know only how many bombers there were, not how many engines each had. To start off, the idea of the London Underground as a bomb shelter wasn't a new one by 1940. [168] The Blenheim had only a small speed advantage to overtake a German bomber in a stern-chase. Between 1940 and 1945, over 52,000 civilians were killed in Britain during bombing raids by German aircraft. When the second hand re-aligned with the first, the bombs were released. 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. [106], Loge continued during October. 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]. [5] Large air battles broke out, lasting for most of the day. [186] At the time it was seen as a useful propaganda tool for domestic and foreign consumption. [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. "Bombing of London" and "London Blitz" redirect here. 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. Much damage was done. German crews, even if they survived, faced capture. When this proved impossible, he began to fear that popular feeling would turn against his regime, and he redoubled efforts to mount a similar "terror offensive" against Britain in order to produce a stalemate in which both sides would hesitate to use bombing at all. [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. Two hours later, guided by the fires set by the first assault, a second group of raiders commenced another attack that lasted until 4:30 the following morning. This involved the bombing of English Channel convoys, ports, and RAF airfields and supporting industries. 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. [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. Just three and twelve were claimed by the RAF and AA defences respectively. Morrison warned that he could not counter the Communist unrest unless provision of shelters were made. Roads and railways were blocked and ships could not leave harbour. At this time, the Underground lines were mostly owned and run by separate companies, all of which were merged together with . The considerable rail network distributed to the rest of the country. [43] The Luftwaffe's strategy became increasingly aimless over the winter of 19401941. [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. Get 20% off purchases above 10.Apply discount code SAVE20 at checkout.. Company Search. By 19/20 April 1941, it had dropped 3,984 mines, .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}13 of the total dropped. Ultimately, the Russian royal family reached a . [149] This strategy had been recognised before the war, but Operation Eagle Attack and the following Battle of Britain had got in the way of striking at Britain's sea communications and diverted German air strength to the campaign against the RAF and its supporting structures. In January, Swansea was bombed four times, very heavily. He was always reluctant to co-operate with Raeder. Famed SF author Connie Willis' first novel in five years, Blackout, returns to a scenario she's explored before: Time-traveling scholars find themselves changing historical events they're only . Underground officials were ordered to lock station entrances during raids but by the second week of heavy bombing, the government relented and ordered the stations to be opened. Civilians left for more remote areas of the country. 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. The lightning attack was infamously called "Black Saturday". 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). People were forced to sleep in air raid shelters, and many people took shelter in underground stations. [170] On 19 November, John Cunningham of No. The primary goal of Bomber Command was to destroy the German industrial base (economic warfare) and in doing so reduce morale. The debris of St Thomas's Hospital, London, the morning after receiving a direct hit during the Blitz, in front of the Houses of . The first three directives in 1940 did not mention civilian populations or morale in any way. Port cities were also attacked to try to disrupt trade and sea communications. 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. The name "Blitz" comes from the word "blitzkrieg" which meant "lightning war". It had no time to gather reliable intelligence on Britain's industries. To confuse the British, radio silence was observed until the bombs fell. 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. [84], The attitude of the Air Ministry was in contrast to the experiences of the First World War when German bombers caused physical and psychological damage out of all proportion to their numbers. A Raid From Above In the last days of the battle, the bombers became lures in an attempt to draw the RAF into combat with German fighters. Many people over 35 remembered the bombing and were afraid of more. 604 Squadron RAF shot down a bomber flying an AI-equipped Beaufighter, the first air victory for the airborne radar. Destroying RAF Fighter Command would allow the Germans to gain control of the skies over the invasion area. [45] This method condemned the offensive over Britain to failure before it began. [56] Not only was there evacuation over land, but also by ship. He told OKL in 1939 that ruthless employment of the Luftwaffe against the heart of the British will to resist would follow when the moment was right. [27], Although not specifically prepared to conduct independent strategic air operations against an opponent, the Luftwaffe was expected to do so over Britain. By 1938, experts generally expected that Germany would try to drop as much as 3,500 tonnes in the first 24 hours of war and average 700 tonnes a day for several weeks. 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. 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 Luftwaffe lost 18 percent of the bombers sent on the operations that day and failed to gain air superiority. [127] Over 10,000 incendiaries were dropped. The bombings left parts of London in ruins, and when the war ended in 1945 much of the city had to be rebuilt. The official history volume British War Production (Postan, 1952) noted that the greatest effect on output of warlike stores was on the supply of components and dispersal of production rather than complete equipment. The London boroughs of City of Westminster and St Marylebone - 8.3 square miles of central London stretching from the north bank of the Thames up to Paddington and St John's Wood - were to suffer considerable bombing during the ensuing London Blitz of 7 September 1940 - 11 May 1941 and in later attacks during 1944 -1945. 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. [40] The Port of London, in particular, was an important target, bringing in one-third of overseas trade. [35], While Gring was optimistic the Luftwaffe could prevail, Hitler was not. Yet when compared with Luftwaffe daylight operations, there was a sharp decline in German losses to one percent. The word "blitz" comes from the German term. [1] It was the capital not just for the United Kingdom, but for the entire British Empire.