london blitz timeline london blitz timeline

This involved the bombing of English Channel convoys, ports, and RAF airfields and supporting industries. [125], Few fighter aircraft were able to operate at night. [50] Panic during the Munich crisis, such as the migration by 150,000 people to Wales, contributed to fear of social chaos.[54]. 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. [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. The debris of St Thomas's Hospital, London, the morning after receiving a direct hit during the Blitz, in front of the Houses of . [156] Westminster Abbey and the Law Courts were damaged, while the Chamber of the House of Commons was destroyed. IWM C 5424 1. dodged bombs to make her way across London from her aunts house to dance class. Support for peace negotiations declined from 29% in February. From 1916 to 1918, German raids had diminished against countermeasures which demonstrated defence against night air raids was possible. Workers worked longer shifts and over weekends. Tickets were issued for bunks in large shelters, to reduce the amount of time spent queuing. Ground transmitters sent pulses at a rate of 180 per minute. [15] It was thought that "the bomber will always get through" and could not be resisted, particularly at night. [150] The OKL had always regarded the interdiction of sea communications of less importance than bombing land-based aircraft industries. [70] Pub visits increased in number (beer was never rationed), and 13,000 attended cricket at Lord's. When the second hand re-aligned with the first, the bombs were released. 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. London: Aurum Press. The name "Blitz" comes from the word "blitzkrieg" which meant "lightning war". The populace of the port of Hull became "trekkers", people who made a mass exodus from cities before, during and after attacks. To support the operations of the army formations, independent of railways, i.e., armoured forces and motorised forces, by impeding the enemy's advance and participating directly in ground operations. 28384; Murray 1983, pp. Lights were not allowed after dark for almost six years and the blackout became by far the most unpopular aspect of the war for civilians, even more than rationing. Bomb damage around St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. These units were fed from two adjacent tanks containing oil and water. At least 3,363 Luftwaffe aircrew were killed, 2,641 missing and 2,117 wounded. [95][96], Initially, the change in strategy caught the RAF off-guard and caused extensive damage and civilian casualties. Despite the bombing, British production rose steadily throughout this period, although there were significant falls during April 1941, probably influenced by the departure of workers for Easter Holidays, according to the British official history. [145] Use of incendiaries, which were inherently inaccurate, indicated much less care was taken to avoid civilian property close to industrial sites. 4546. Only one bomber was lost, to anti-aircraft fire, despite the RAF flying 125-night sorties. In one incident on 28/29 April, Peter Stahl of KG 30 was flying on his 50th mission. 11 Group RAF and No. [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. [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. [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. People referred to raids as if they were weather, stating that a day was "very blitzy". To start off, the idea of the London Underground as a bomb shelter wasn't a new one by 1940. [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. Port cities were also attacked to try to disrupt trade and sea communications. 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. 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. A summary of Harris' strategic intentions was clear. Some people even told government surveyors that they enjoyed air raids if they occurred occasionally, perhaps once a week. 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. Summerfield, Penny and Peniston-Bird, Corina. Most residents found that such divisions continued within the shelters and many arguments and fights occurred over noise, space and other matters. A significant number of the aircraft not shot down after the resort to night bombing were wrecked during landings or crashed in bad weather. Rumours that Jewish support was underpinning the Communist surge were frequent. Just three and twelve were claimed by the RAF and AA defences respectively. Morale was not mentioned until the ninth wartime directive on 21 September 1940. Authorities provided stoves and bathrooms and canteen trains provided food. The GL carpet was supported by six GCI sets controlling radar-equipped night-fighters. 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. (Photo by J. 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". 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. [47], London had nine million peoplea fifth of the British populationliving in an area of 750 square miles (1,940 square kilometres), which was difficult to defend because of its size. The Blitz came to London on September Saturday 7 th 1940 and lasted for many days. The damage was considerable, and the Germans also used aerial mines. 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. [183], A popular image arose of British people in the Second World War: a collection of people locked in national solidarity. This led to their agreeing to Hitler's Directive 23, Directions for operations against the British War Economy, which was published on 6 February 1941 and gave aerial interdiction of British imports by sea top priority. Ground-based radar was limited, and airborne radar and RAF night fighters were generally ineffective. [11][162] Plymouth in particular, because of its vulnerable position on the south coast and close proximity to German air bases, was subjected to the heaviest attacks. It was evoked by both the right and left political factions in Britain in 1982, during the Falklands War when it was portrayed in a nostalgic narrative in which the Second World War represented patriotism actively and successfully acting as a defender of democracy. [83] Until September 1939, the RAF lacked specialist night-fighting aircraft and relied on anti-aircraft units, which were poorly equipped and lacking in numbers. Night after night, from September 1940 until May 1941, German bombers attacked British cities, ports and industrial areas. "[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. It hoped to destroy morale by destroying the enemy's factories and public utilities as well as its food stocks (by attacking shipping). Battle of Britain timeline. "Civilian morale during the Second World War: Responses to air raids re-examined.". Three cross-beams intersected the beam along which the He 111 was flying. [111], Wartime observers perceived the bombing as indiscriminate. [178][3], In aircraft production, the British were denied the opportunity to reach the planned target of 2,500 aircraft in a month, arguably the greatest achievement of the bombing, as it forced the dispersal of the industry, at first because of damage to aircraft factories and then by a policy of precautionary dispersal. [171] In the bad weather of February 1941, Fighter Command flew 568 sorties to counter the Luftwaffe which flew 1,644 sorties. [13][14], In the 1920s and 1930s, airpower theorists such as Giulio Douhet and Billy Mitchell claimed that air forces could win wars, obviating the need for land and sea combat. [135] In particular, the West Midlands were targeted. In January 1941, Fighter Command flew 486 sorties against 1,965 made by the Germans. [27], Although not specifically prepared to conduct independent strategic air operations against an opponent, the Luftwaffe was expected to do so over Britain. [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. 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. 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). The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term Blitzkrieg, the German word meaning 'lightning war'.[4]. In late 1943, just before the Battle of Berlin, Harris declared the power of Bomber Command would enable it to achieve "a state of devastation in which surrender is inevitable". de Zeng, Henry L., Doug G. Stankey and Eddie J. Creek. Over a quarter of London's population had left the city by November 1940. The first major raid took place on 7 September. 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. Hello, I Am Charlie from London - Stephane Husar 2014-07-15 The Demon in the Embers - Julia Edwards 2016-09-02 . This was when warfare deliberately included civilian populations. [56] Not only was there evacuation over land, but also by ship. 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. OKL did not believe air power alone could be decisive and the Luftwaffe did not adopt an official policy of the deliberate bombing of civilians until 1942. [86], Hugh Dowding, Air Officer Commanding Fighter Command, defeated the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, but preparing day fighter defences left little for night air defence. [133] By mid-November, nine squadrons were available, but only one was equipped with Beaufighters (No. [99] Fighter Command lost 23 fighters, with six pilots killed and another seven wounded. Corum 1997, pp. [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. Children pull crackers under paper decorations while jubilant adults smile . [173] On 10/11 May, London suffered severe damage, but 10 German bombers were downed. 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. In this section. The first jamming operations were carried out using requisitioned hospital electrocautery machines. [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. [51], British air raid sirens sounded for the first time 22 minutes after Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany. For one thing, Gring's fear of Hitler led him to falsify or misrepresent what information was available in the direction of an uncritical and over-optimistic interpretation of air strength. Still, in February 1941, there remained only seven squadrons with 87 pilots, under half the required strength. Sperrle, commanding Luftflotte 3, was ordered to dispatch 250 sorties per night including 100 against the West Midlands. German crews, even if they survived, faced capture. These attacks produced some breaks in morale, with civil leaders fleeing the cities before the offensive reached its height. The hope was that, if it could deceive German bombardiers, it would draw more bombers away from the real target. The London Underground rail system was also affected; high explosive bombs damaged the tunnels rendering some unsafe. Bombing civilians would cause a collapse of morale and a loss of production in the remaining factories. The German bombing of Britain from 1940-45 exacted a terrible price, in lives lost, infrastructure wrecked and nerves shattered. The primary target of NAZI Germany was to destroy the civilian center and industries on London. [192] The total number of evacuees numbered 1.4million, including a high proportion from the poorest inner-city families. Gring's lack of co-operation was detrimental to the one air strategy with potentially decisive strategic effect on Britain. 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. [127] By the second month of the Blitz the defences were not performing well. 604 Squadron RAF shot down a bomber flying an AI-equipped Beaufighter, the first air victory for the airborne radar. Some 107,400 gross tons (109,100t) of shipping was damaged in the Thames Estuary and 1,600 civilians were casualties. 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. Within four months, 88 percent of evacuated mothers, 86 percent of small children, and 43 percent of schoolchildren had been returned home. 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 . 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. Anti-Semitic attitudes became widespread, particularly in London. The first three directives in 1940 did not mention civilian populations or morale in any way. [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. The Germans adapted the short-range Lorenz system into Knickebein, a 3033MHz system, which used two Lorenz beams with much stronger signals. [31] On 7 September, the Germans shifted away from the destruction of the RAF's supporting structures. (PROSE: Ash, TV: The Empty Child) It lasted from 7 September 1940 to 21 May 1941. Another poll found an 88% approval rating for Churchill in July. London experienced regular attacks and on 10-11 May 1941 was hit by its biggest raid. Morrison warned that he could not counter the Communist unrest unless provision of shelters were made. Battle noises were muffled and sleep was easier in the deepest stations, but many people were killed from direct hits on stations. Yet when compared with Luftwaffe daylight operations, there was a sharp decline in German losses to one percent. Other reasons, including industry dispersal may have been a factor. [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). He was always reluctant to co-operate with Raeder. 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. The difference this made to the effectiveness of air defences is questionable. The German bombers would fly along either beam until they picked up the signal from the other beam. In September, there had been no less than 667 hits on railways in Great Britain, and at one period, between 5,000 and 6,000 wagons were standing idle from the effect of delayed action bombs. [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. Bungay, Stephen (2000). The pilot flew along an approach beam, monitored by a ground controller. Far from displaying the nation's unity in times of war, the scheme backfired, often aggravating class antagonism and bolstering prejudice about the urban poor. Fighter Command lost 17 fighters and six pilots. 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. Praise for Blitz: "With a relaxed style and array of fun characters, including an agent who makes people who look at him see their mother and a baby goat that turns into a little boy, O'Malley's latest will appeal to his many followers." Kirkus Reviews Praise for Daniel O'Malley and the Rook Files series: "Laugh-out-loud funny, occasionally bawdy, and paced like a spy thriller . An estimated 43,000 people lost their lives. [93], For industrial areas, fires and lighting were simulated. 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. [173] On 3/4 May, nine were shot down in one night. 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. [12], Five nights later, Birmingham was hit by 369 bombers from KG 54, KG26, and KG55. The attacks were authorized by Germany's chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. The Luftwaffe lost 18 percent of the bombers sent on the operations that day and failed to gain air superiority. [156] The Luftwaffe attacks failed to knock out railways or port facilities for long, even in the Port of London, a target of many attacks. Many more ports were attacked. 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. Using historical paintings, a timeline, and a simple map, children can discover why the re started, how it spread, and the damage it caused. (AUDIO: The Wanderer) Despite being forbidden under the terms of the Treaty of . [2], The British began to assess the impact of the Blitz in August 1941 and the RAF Air Staff used the German experience to improve Bomber Command's offensives. Both the RAF and Luftwaffe struggled to replace manpower losses, though the Germans had larger reserves of trained aircrew. While wartime bombings affected London in both world wars, it was the Blitz that truly altered the cityscape forever. The moon was full and the Thames had a very low ebb tide. [156], German air supremacy at night was also now under threat. The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. [85] Although night air defence was causing greater concern before the war, it was not at the forefront of RAF planning after 1935, when funds were directed into the new ground-based radar day fighter interception system. In comparison to the Allied bombing campaign against Germany, casualties due to the Blitz were relatively low; the bombing of Hamburg alone inflicted about 40,000 civilian casualties. The government planned the evacuation of four million peoplemostly women and childrenfrom urban areas, including 1.4million from London. 6063, 6768, 75, 7879, 21516. By 16 February 1941, this had grown to 12; with 5 equipped, or partially equipped with Beaufighters spread over 5 Groups. All but seven of its 12,000 houses were damaged. At 18:17, it released the first of 10,000 firebombs, eventually amounting to 300 dropped per minute. The considerable rail network distributed to the rest of the country. 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. London was bombed ever day and night, bar one, for 11 weeks. [166] This was not immediately apparent. This had important implications. Civilians left for more remote areas of the country. Five main rail lines were cut in London and rolling stock damaged. 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. British night-fighter operations out over the Channel were proving successful. [127] In November 1940, 6,000 sorties and 23 major attacks (more than 100 tons [102t] of bombs dropped) were flown. From July until September 1940 the Luftwaffe attacked Fighter Command to gain air superiority as a prelude to invasion. American observer Ralph Ingersoll reported the bombing was inaccurate and did not hit targets of military value, but destroyed the surrounding areas. Hitler quickly developed scepticism toward strategic bombing, confirmed by the results of the Blitz. 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.