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. [160], On 13 March, the upper Clyde port of Clydebank near Glasgow was bombed (Clydebank Blitz). [78], During the Blitz, The Scout Association guided fire engines to where they were most needed and became known as the "Blitz Scouts". All but seven of its 12,000 houses were damaged. By 16 February 1941, this had grown to 12; with 5 equipped, or partially equipped with Beaufighters spread over 5 Groups. [b] The British had anticipated the change in strategy and dispersed its production facilities, making them less vulnerable to a concentrated attack. Four days later 230 tons (234t) were dropped including 60,000 incendiaries. The OKL had not been informed that Britain was to be considered a potential opponent until early 1938. Bombers were noisy, cold, and vibrated badly. [138] The strategic effect of the raid was a brief 20 percent dip in aircraft production. [141][failed verification] Altogether, 130 German bombers destroyed the historical centre of London. [58], Deep shelters provided most protection against a direct hit. 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. Morrison warned that he could not counter the Communist unrest unless provision of shelters were made. 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. Much of the city centre was destroyed. Authorities expected that the raids would be brief and in daylight, rather than attacks by night, which forced Londoners to sleep in 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]. In late 1940, Churchill credited the shelters. [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. Corum 1997, pp. [88] Bomber crews already had some experience with the Lorenz beam, a commercial blind-landing aid for night or bad weather landings. At the beginning of the war in 1939, London was the largest city in the world, with 8.2 million inhabitants. [51], British air raid sirens sounded for the first time 22 minutes after Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany. 10 Group RAF, No. Bombers were flown with airborne search lights out of desperation but to little avail. Throughout 1940, dummy airfields were prepared, good enough to stand up to skilled observation. [142] Civilian casualties on London throughout the Blitz amounted to 28,556 killed, and 25,578 wounded. [13], The air offensive against the RAF and British industry failed to have the desired effect. 80 Wing RAF. Before the war, the Chamberlain government stated that night defence from air attack should not take up much of the national effort. Air attacks continued sporadically, then in 1944 an entirely new threat arrived in the form . 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. Instead, he wasted aircraft of Fliegerfhrer Atlantik (Flying Command Atlantic) on bombing mainland Britain instead of attacks against convoys. 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. Who . This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 12:33. Around 66,000 houses were destroyed and 77,000 people made homeless ("bombed out"[158]), with 1,900 people killed and 1,450 seriously hurt on one night. On September 7, 1940, 350 German bombers escorted by fighters bombarded London on consecutive successions. The shortage of bombers caused OKL to improvise. [53] Winston Churchill told Parliament in 1934, "We must expect that, under the pressure of continuous attack upon London, at least three or four million people would be driven out into the open country around the metropolis". [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). 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. [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. The first major raid took place on 7 September. Committees quickly formed within shelters as informal governments, and organisations such as the British Red Cross and the Salvation Army worked to improve conditions. [90][91], In June 1940, a German prisoner of war was overheard boasting that the British would never find the Knickebein, even though it was under their noses. Night after night, from September 1940 until May 1941, German bombers attacked British cities, ports and industrial areas. All but one railway station line was blocked for several weeks. 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 Blitz The heavy and frequent bombing attacks on London and other cities was known as the 'Blitz'. [184][185] This imagery of people in the Blitz was embedded via being in film, radio, newspapers and magazines. 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. While wartime bombings affected London in both world wars, it was the Blitz that truly altered the cityscape forever. This philosophy proved impractical, as Bomber Command lacked the technology and equipment for mass night operations, since resources were diverted to Fighter Command in the mid-1930s and it took until 1943 to catch up. But even in May, 67 percent of the sorties were visual cat's-eye missions. [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. A tall white house known locally as the 'leaning tower of Rotherhithe' has sold for 1.5million. [122][123] In July 1940, only 1,200 heavy and 549 light guns were deployed in the whole of Britain. The first attack merely damaged the rail network for three days,[102] and the second attack failed altogether. [135] In particular, the West Midlands were targeted. [156] Other sources point out that half of the 144 berths in the port were rendered unusable and cargo unloading capability was reduced by 75 percent. Warehouses, rail lines and houses were destroyed and damaged, but the docks were largely untouched. The Blitz refers to the strategic bombing campaign conducted by the Germans against London and other cities in England from September of 1940 through May of 1941, targeting populated areas, factories and dock yards. The attacks were authorized by Germany's chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. An average of 200 were able to strike per night. On 8 May 1941, 57 ships were destroyed, sunk or damaged, amounting to 80,000 long tons (81,300t). Nearly 350 German bombers (escorted by over 600 fighters) dropped explosives on East London, targeting the docks in particular. The lightning attack was infamously called "Black Saturday". Operating over home territory, British aircrew could fly again if they survived being shot down. 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. [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. Battle of Britain timeline. [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. [124] Although the use of the guns improved civilian morale, with the knowledge the German bomber crews were facing the barrage, it is now believed that the anti-aircraft guns achieved little and in fact the falling shell fragments caused more British casualties on the ground. German legal scholars of the 1930s carefully worked out guidelines for what type of bombing was permissible under international law. [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). [109] Special units, such as KGr 100, became the Beleuchtergruppe (Firelighter Group), which used incendiaries and high explosives to mark the target area. Much damage was done. This was when warfare deliberately included civilian populations. [173] Losses were minimal. [145] The shift from precision bombing to area attack is indicated in the tactical methods and weapons dropped. By December, the SC2500 (2,500kg (5,512lb)) "Max" bomb was used. Morale was not mentioned until the ninth wartime directive on 21 September 1940. Each setback caused more civilians to volunteer to become unpaid Local Defence Volunteers. [62], Communal shelters never housed more than one seventh of Greater London residents. [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. By September 1940, the large-scale German air raids which had been expected twelve months earlier finally arrived. Edgar Jones, et al. Ingersol wrote that Battersea Power Station, one of the largest landmarks in London, received only a minor hit. [50] London hospitals prepared for 300,000 casualties in the first week of war. [188] In the wake of the Coventry Blitz, there was widespread agitation from the Communist Party over the need for bomb-proof shelters. [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. Within four months, 88 percent of evacuated mothers, 86 percent of small children, and 43 percent of schoolchildren had been returned home. Its explosive sound describes the Luftwaffe's almost continual aerial bombardment of the British Isles from. [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. [131], Nevertheless, it was radar that proved to be the critical weapon in the night battles over Britain from this point onward. At this time, the Underground lines were mostly owned and run by separate companies, all of which were merged together with . [170] In November and December 1940, the Luftwaffe flew 9,000 sorties against British targets and RAF night fighters claimed only six shot down. 28384; Murray 1983, pp. [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 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. Hitler quickly developed scepticism toward strategic bombing, confirmed by the results of the Blitz. Other reasons, including industry dispersal may have been a factor. Bomb damage around St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. (PROSE: Ash, TV: The Empty Child) It lasted from 7 September 1940 to 21 May 1941. 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. [127] Other sources say 449 bombers and a total of 470 long tons (478t) of bombs were dropped. In March 1941, two raids on Plymouth and London dehoused 148,000 people. The first jamming operations were carried out using requisitioned hospital electrocautery machines. [94], On 9 September the OKL appeared to be backing two strategies. But the Blitz started in earnest on the afternoon of 7 September when the German Luftwaffe filled the skies in the first major daytime raid on London. Too early and the chances of success receded; too late and the real conflagration at the target would exceed the diversionary fires. Over 2,000 AAA shells were fired, destroying two Ju 88s. [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. [161] This raid was significant, as 63 German fighters were sent with the bombers, indicating the growing effectiveness of RAF night fighter defences. [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. [50] Panic during the Munich crisis, such as the migration by 150,000 people to Wales, contributed to fear of social chaos.[54]. One-third of London's streets were impassable. From 1916 to 1918, German raids had diminished against countermeasures which demonstrated defence against night air raids was possible. [93] In general, German bombers were likely to get through to their targets without too much difficulty. Aviation strategists dispute that morale was ever a major consideration for Bomber Command. The German Luftwaffe dropped thousands of bombs on London from 1939 to 1945, killing almost 30,000 people. 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. Workers worked longer shifts and over weekends. [149], From the German point of view, March 1941 saw an improvement. Poor intelligence about British industry and economic efficiency led to OKL concentrating on tactics rather than strategy. [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). It was to be some months before an effective night-fighter force would be ready, and anti-aircraft defences only became adequate after the Blitz was over, so ruses were created to lure German bombers away from their targets. People referred to raids as if they were weather, stating that a day was "very blitzy". [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. Some people even told government surveyors that they enjoyed air raids if they occurred occasionally, perhaps once a week. [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").
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