[9] and a large raid on the night of 10-11 May 1941. [99] Fighter Command lost 23 fighters, with six pilots killed and another seven wounded. [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). From 7 September 1940, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 56 of the following 57 days and nights. [152] Raeder's successorKarl Dnitzwouldon the intervention of Hitlergain control of one unit (KG 40), but Gring would soon regain it. London experienced regular attacks and on 10-11 May 1941 was hit by its biggest raid. IWM C 5424 1. (Photo by J. [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. Hitler believed the Luftwaffe was "the most effective strategic weapon", and in reply to repeated requests from the Kriegsmarine for control over naval aircraft insisted, "We should never have been able to hold our own in this war if we had not had an undivided Luftwaffe. [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. (PROSE: A History of Humankind) In 1903, after receiving a wealth of information from the future, Grigori Rasputin foresaw the Blitz. 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. [35][36], It was also possible, if RAF losses became severe, that they could pull out to the north, wait for the German invasion, then redeploy southward again. [97] Of this total around 400 were killed. The Luftwaffe dropped around 40,000 long tons (40,600t) of bombs during the Blitz, which disrupted production and transport, reduced food supplies, and shook British morale. : The Blitz 1940 971941 510 : Blitz The production of false radio navigation signals by re-transmitting the originals became known as meaconing using masking beacons (meacons). Red lamps were used to simulate blast furnaces and locomotive fireboxes. 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. [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. The London Underground rail system was also affected; high explosive bombs damaged the tunnels rendering some unsafe. One third of London was destroyed. but even after the Blitz ended, danger remained. From July until September 1940 the Luftwaffe attacked Fighter Command to gain air superiority as a prelude to invasion. Hull and Glasgow were attacked but 715 long tons (726t) of bombs were spread out all over Britain. This caused more than 2,000 fires; 1,436 people were killed and 1,792 seriously injured, which affected morale badly. [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. 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. More than 70,000 buildings . Summerfield, Penny and Peniston-Bird, Corina. The Communist Party made political capital out of these difficulties. 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. Many of the latter were abandoned in 1940 as unsafe. In some cases, the concentration of the bombing and resulting conflagration created firestorms of 1,000C. [184][185] This imagery of people in the Blitz was embedded via being in film, radio, newspapers and magazines. People were forced to sleep in air raid shelters, and many people took shelter in underground stations. 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. [93] The use of diversionary techniques such as fires had to be made carefully. [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. Little tonnage was dropped on Fighter Command airfields; Bomber Command airfields were hit instead. Many unemployed people were drafted into the Royal Army Pay Corps and with the Pioneer Corps, were tasked with salvaging and clean-up. This led the British to develop countermeasures, which became known as the Battle of the Beams. [116] On 7 November, St Pancras, Kensal and Bricklayers Arms stations were hit and several lines of Southern Rail were cut on 10 November. [95][96], Initially, the change in strategy caught the RAF off-guard and caused extensive damage and civilian casualties. [16], The Luftwaffe took a cautious view of strategic bombing but the OKL did not oppose the strategic bombardment of industries or cities. Important events of 1940, including the beginning of the London Blitz (pictured above) and the Battle of Britain. Still, many British citizens, who had been members of the Labour Party, itself inert over the issue, turned to the Communist Party. Though they failed to make a large gain in influence, the membership of the Party had doubled by June 1941. There was also a mentality in all air forces that flying by day would obviate the need for night operations and their inherent disadvantages. [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. 80 Wing RAF. Civilians left for more remote areas of the country. While wartime bombings affected London in both world wars, it was the Blitz that truly altered the cityscape forever. Ingersol wrote that Battersea Power Station, one of the largest landmarks in London, received only a minor hit. Daylight bombing was abandoned after October 1940 as the Luftwaffe experienced unsustainable losses. His hope wasfor reasons of political prestige within Germany itselfthat the German population would be protected from the Allied bombings. Liverpool suffered 180 long tons (183t) of bombs dropped. The difference this made to the effectiveness of air defences is questionable. [50], On the other hand, some historians have recently contended that this revisionism of the "Blitz spirit" narrative may have been an over-correction. In one incident on 28/29 April, Peter Stahl of KG 30 was flying on his 50th mission. [139], Although official German air doctrine did target civilian morale, it did not espouse the attacking of civilians directly. 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. Anti-Semitic attitudes became widespread, particularly in London. The first jamming operations were carried out using requisitioned hospital electrocautery machines. This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 12:33. The difficulty of RAF bombers in night navigation and target finding led the British to believe that it would be the same for German bomber crews. 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. On 17 January around 100 bombers dropped a high concentration of incendiaries, some 32,000 in all. The meacon system involved separate locations for a receiver with a directional aerial and a transmitter. 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. 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. 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. [15] It was thought that "the bomber will always get through" and could not be resisted, particularly at night. However, the use of delayed-action bombs, while initially very effective, gradually had less impact, partly because they failed to detonate. THIS DAY IN HISTORY September 07 1940 September 07 The Blitz begins as Germany bombs London On September 7, 1940, 300 German bombers raid London, in the first of 57 consecutive nights of. By September 1940, London had already experienced German bombing. Both the RAF and Luftwaffe struggled to replace manpower losses, though the Germans had larger reserves of trained aircrew. [94], On 15 September the Luftwaffe made two large daylight attacks on London along the Thames Estuary, targeting the docks and rail communications in the city. 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. [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 word "blitz" comes from the German term. In December, only 11 major and five heavy attacks were made. [127] By the second month of the Blitz the defences were not performing well. [50] The unexpected delay to civilian bombing during the Phoney War meant that the shelter programme finished in June 1940, before the Blitz. [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"). The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War.The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term Blitzkrieg, the German word meaning 'lightning war'.. The Metropolitan-Vickers works in Manchester was hit by 12 long tons (12.2t) of bombs. If a vigilant bomber crew could spot the fighter first, they had a decent chance of evading it. Two heavy (50 long tons (51t) of bombs) attacks were also flown. [49], In 1937 the Committee on Imperial Defence estimated that an attack of 60 days would result in 600,000 dead and 1.2million wounded. Explore the London Blitz during 7th October 1940 to 6th June 1941 Aggregate Bomb Census Information Powered by Leaflet CartoDB - Map data OpenStreetMap.org contributors The National Archives give no warranty to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of the information provided. The government planned the evacuation of four million peoplemostly women and childrenfrom urban areas, including 1.4million from London. The German bombing of Britain from 1940-45 exacted a terrible price, in lives lost, infrastructure wrecked and nerves shattered. 219 Squadron RAF at RAF Kenley). [180] The 10th directive in October 1940 mentioned morale by name but industrial cities were only to be targeted if weather prevented raids on oil targets.[181]. Over a quarter of London's population had left the city by November 1940. Included are activities that [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. An interactive map showing the location of bombs dropped on London during World War II has been created. 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. [70] Pub visits increased in number (beer was never rationed), and 13,000 attended cricket at Lord's. (PROSE: Ash, TV: The Empty Child) It lasted from 7 September 1940 to 21 May 1941. [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.

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