Before the war, the Chamberlain government stated that night defence from air attack should not take up much of the national effort. The bombing effort was diluted by attacks against several sets of industries instead of constant pressure on the most vital. Throughout 193339 none of the 16 Western Air Plans drafted mentioned morale as a target. [156], The Luftwaffe could still inflict much damage and after the German conquest of Western Europe, the air and submarine offensive against British sea communications became much more dangerous than the German offensive during the First World War. 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). There was also a mentality in all air forces that flying by day would obviate the need for night operations and their inherent disadvantages. 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. [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. In those sites, carbon arc lamps were used to simulate flashes at tram overhead wires. Summerfield and Peniston-Bird 2007, p. 84. [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]. [122][123] In July 1940, only 1,200 heavy and 549 light guns were deployed in the whole of Britain. [19] General Walther Wever (Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff Throughout 1940, dummy airfields were prepared, good enough to stand up to skilled observation. The GL carpet was supported by six GCI sets controlling radar-equipped night-fighters. 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. Get 20% off purchases above 10.Apply discount code SAVE20 at checkout.. Company Search. It also took part in the bombing over Britain. Reception committees were completely unprepared for the condition of some of the children. The system worked on 6677MHz, a higher frequency than Knickebein. [191] In other cities, class divisions became more evident. [94] A total of 348 bombers and 617 fighters took part in the attack. [109] Special units, such as KGr 100, became the Beleuchtergruppe (Firelighter Group), which used incendiaries and high explosives to mark the target area. The aerial bombing was now principally aimed at the destruction of industrial targets, but also continued with the objective of breaking the morale of the civilian population. 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. 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. 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. Hayward 2007, www.ltmrecordings.com/blitz1notes.html, Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 12:33, German strategic bombing during World War I, Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany, Women's Voluntary Services for Civil Defence, Bombing of Wiener Neustadt in World War II, "The Blitz: The Bombing of Britain in WWII", "Families pay tribute to Stoke Newington war dead", Forgotten Voices of the Blitz and the Battle for Britain, The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy, Parliament & The Blitz UK Parliament Living Heritage, "London Blitz 1940: the first day's bomb attacks listed in full", Archive recordings from The Blitz, 194041 (audiobook), The Blitz: Sorting the Myth from the Reality, Exploring 20th century London The Blitz, Oral history interview with Barry Fulford, recalling his childhood during the Blitz, Interactive bombing map of Buckinghamshire, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Blitz&oldid=1141315217. 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. Air raids caused about 2,300 casualties in London in World War I, and during the Battle of Britain in World War II, the city was bombed relentlessly by the German Luftwaffethe London Blitz . Curiously, while 43 percent of the contacts in May 1941 were by visual sightings, they accounted for 61 percent of the combats. 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. The RAF and the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) adopted much of this apocalyptic thinking. [142] Civilian casualties on London throughout the Blitz amounted to 28,556 killed, and 25,578 wounded. Included are activities that [31] On 7 September, the Germans shifted away from the destruction of the RAF's supporting structures. [169] The Beaufighter had a maximum speed of 320mph (510km/h), an operational ceiling of 26,000ft (7,900m), a climb rate of 2,500ft (760m) per minute, and its battery of four 20mm (0.79in) Hispano cannon and six .303in Browning machine guns was much more lethal. 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. [127] Over 10,000 incendiaries were dropped. Using historical paintings, a timeline, and a simple map, children can discover why the re started, how it spread, and the damage it caused. By September 1940, the Luftwaffe had lost the Battle of Britain and the German air fleets (Luftflotten) were ordered to attack London, to draw RAF Fighter Command into a battle of annihilation. Anti-Semitic attitudes became widespread, particularly in London. 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. Later in . The Metropolitan-Vickers works in Manchester was hit by 12 long tons (12.2t) of bombs. 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. The populace of the port of Hull became "trekkers", people who made a mass exodus from cities before, during and after attacks. [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). The shortage of bombers caused OKL to improvise. [195] Many sites of bombed buildings, when cleared of rubble, were cultivated to grow vegetables to ease wartime food shortages and were known as victory gardens.[196]. 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. Entertainment included concerts, films, plays and books from local libraries. Added to the tension of the mission which exhausted and drained crews, tiredness caught up with and killed many. KGr 100 increased its use of incendiaries from 13 to 28 percent. [116] On 7 November, St Pancras, Kensal and Bricklayers Arms stations were hit and several lines of Southern Rail were cut on 10 November. Night fighters could claim only four bombers for four losses. 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. 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. 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. [127] In November 1940, 6,000 sorties and 23 major attacks (more than 100 tons [102t] of bombs dropped) were flown. 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 damage was considerable, and the Germans also used aerial mines. Many popular works of fiction during the 1920s and 1930s portrayed aerial bombing, such as H. G. Wells' novel The Shape of Things to Come and its 1936 film adaptation, and others such as The Air War of 1936 and The Poison War. Although not encouraged by official policy, the use of mines and incendiaries, for tactical expediency, came close to indiscriminate bombing. [98] The fighting in the air was more intense in daylight. More might have been achieved had OKL exploited the vulnerability of British sea communications. In late 1940, Churchill credited the shelters. Over 2,000 AAA shells were fired, destroying two Ju 88s. [101] On 8 September the Luftwaffe returned; 412 people were killed and 747 severely wounded. 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. One-third of London's streets were impassable. Birmingham and Coventry were subject to 450 long tons (457t) of bombs between them in the last 10 days of October. Hull and Glasgow were attacked but 715 long tons (726t) of bombs were spread out all over Britain. Damage was inflicted on the port installations, but many bombs fell on the city itself. Night after night, from September 1940 until May 1941, German bombers attacked British cities, ports and industrial areas. The tactic was expanded into Feuerleitung (Blaze Control) with the creation of Brandbombenfelder (Incendiary Fields) to mark targets. [145] Captured German aircrews also indicated the homes of industrial workers were deliberately targeted. 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. His hope wasfor reasons of political prestige within Germany itselfthat the German population would be protected from the Allied bombings. Each setback caused more civilians to volunteer to become unpaid Local Defence Volunteers. [168] The Boulton Paul Defiant, despite its poor performance during daylight engagements, was a much better night fighter. Fighter Command lost 17 fighters and six pilots. Explore Docklands at War. London: Aurum Press. A summary of Harris' strategic intentions was clear. "Bombing of London" and "London Blitz" redirect here. [42], Although it had equipment capable of doing serious damage, the Luftwaffe had an unclear strategy and poor intelligence. [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. [107], Luftwaffe policy at this point was primarily to continue progressive attacks on London, chiefly by night attack; second, to interfere with production in the vast industrial arms factories of the West Midlands, again chiefly by night attack; and third to disrupt plants and factories during the day by means of fighter-bombers. Over a quarter of London's population had left the city by November 1940. In December, only 11 major and five heavy attacks were made. 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). The primary target of NAZI Germany was to destroy the civilian center and industries on London. 604 Squadron RAF shot down a bomber flying an AI-equipped Beaufighter, the first air victory for the airborne radar. At the beginning of the war in 1939, London was the largest city in the world, with 8.2 million inhabitants. The rate of civilian housing loss was averaging 40,000 people per week dehoused in September 1940. To paralyse the enemy armed forces by stopping production in armaments factories. The British government grew anxious about the delays and disruption of supplies during the month. The programme evacuated 2,664 boys and girls (ages 5 - 15) until its ending in October after the sinking of the SS City of Benares with the loss of 81 children out of 100 on board. [90][91], Y-Gert was an automatic beam-tracking system and the most complex of the three devices, which was operated through autopilot. X-Gert receivers were mounted in He 111s, with a radio mast on the fuselage. [32], The decision to change strategy is sometimes claimed as a major mistake by OKL. On September 7, 1940, 350 German bombers escorted by fighters bombarded London on consecutive successions. [61] A single direct hit on a shelter in Stoke Newington on October 1940 killed 160 civilians. [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. The lack of bombing in the Phoney War contributed significantly to the return of people to the cities, but class conflict was not eased a year later when evacuation operations had to be put into effect again. This was when warfare deliberately included civilian populations. [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. The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain. This day marks the beginning of the Blitz when an attack on London is launched by the Germans, starting a nine-month long campaign against the city. 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. The maximum range of Y-Gert was similar to the other systems and it was accurate enough on occasion for specific buildings to be hit. [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. Two aerials at ground stations were rotated so that their beams converged over the target. The Luftwaffe lost 18 percent of the bombers sent on the operations that day and failed to gain air superiority. The next night, a large force hit Coventry. [25], When Hitler tried to intervene more in the running of the air force later in the war, he was faced with a political conflict of his own making between himself and Gring, which was not fully resolved until the war was almost over. Poor intelligence about British industry and economic efficiency led to OKL concentrating on tactics rather than strategy. In Wartime One Girls Journey From The Blitz To Sadlers Wells is understandable in our digital library an online permission to it is set as public . This caused more than 2,000 fires; 1,436 people were killed and 1,792 seriously injured, which affected morale badly. Regional commissioners were given plenipotentiary powers to restore communications and organise the distribution of supplies to keep the war economy moving. The Battle of Britain and the Blitz were two central moments in the British war effort during World War II. The hope was that, if it could deceive German bombardiers, it would draw more bombers away from the real target. [46], In an operational capacity, limitations in weapons technology and quick British reactions were making it more difficult to achieve strategic effect. The debris of St Thomas's Hospital, London, the morning after receiving a direct hit during the Blitz, in front of the Houses of . 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. A present day image of the Freedom Press, Whitechapel, London. 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. [125], Few fighter aircraft were able to operate at night. Many Londoners, in particular, took to using the Underground railway system, without authority, for shelter and sleeping through the night. The government planned the evacuation of four million peoplemostly women and childrenfrom urban areas, including 1.4million from London. 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. Summerfield and Peniston-Bird 2007, p. 3. Much civil-defence preparation in the form of shelters was left in the hands of local authorities and many areas such as Birmingham, Coventry, Belfast and the East End of London did not have enough shelters. [171] In the bad weather of February 1941, Fighter Command flew 568 sorties to counter the Luftwaffe which flew 1,644 sorties. Port cities were also attacked to try to disrupt trade and sea communications. [115] The bombing disrupted rail traffic through London without destroying any of the crossings. Another poll found an 88% approval rating for Churchill in July. [88] Bomber crews already had some experience with the Lorenz beam, a commercial blind-landing aid for night or bad weather landings. [50] The unexpected delay to civilian bombing during the Phoney War meant that the shelter programme finished in June 1940, before the Blitz. [40], However, the Luftwaffe faced limitations. Morrison warned that he could not counter the Communist unrest unless provision of shelters were made. [11][12] The greatest effect was to force the British to disperse the production of aircraft and spare parts. On 9 April 1941, Luftflotte 2 dropped 150 tons (152t) of high explosives and 50,000 incendiaries from 120 bombers in a five-hour attack. 'Blitz' is an abbreviation of the German word 'blitzkrieg', meaning 'lightning war'. Ultimately, the Russian royal family reached a . On occasion, only one-third of German bombs hit their targets. Sewer, rail, docklands, and electric installations were damaged. 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. Less than 100 incidents reported by the London Fire Brigade up to 5pm on September 7, 1940. The Blitz referred to the bombing of most major British cities by the Germans in World War II. Air attacks continued sporadically, then in 1944 an entirely new threat arrived in the form . Tickets were issued for bunks in large shelters, to reduce the amount of time spent queuing.