[109] Special units, such as KGr 100, became the Beleuchtergruppe (Firelighter Group), which used incendiaries and high explosives to mark the target area. Although not encouraged by official policy, the use of mines and incendiaries, for tactical expediency, came close to indiscriminate bombing. 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. [134], From November 1940 to February 1941, the Luftwaffe shifted its strategy and attacked other industrial cities. If the German bomber flew closer to its own beam than the meacon then the former signal would come through the stronger on the direction finder. The system worked on 6677MHz, a higher frequency than Knickebein. However, the use of delayed-action bombs, while initially very effective, gradually had less impact, partly because they failed to detonate. On 8 May 1941, 57 ships were destroyed, sunk or damaged, amounting to 80,000 long tons (81,300t). 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. [149], From the German point of view, March 1941 saw an improvement. : The Blitz 1940 971941 510 : Blitz Want to Read. [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. A Gallup poll found only 3% of Britons expected to lose the war in May 1940. The AFS had 138,000 personnel by July 1939. There were also many new civil defence roles that gave a sense of fighting back rather than despair. 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. [36] Other historians argue that the outcome of the air battle was irrelevant; the massive numerical superiority of British naval forces and the inherent weakness of the Kriegsmarine would have made the projected German invasion, Unternehmen Seelwe (Operation Sea Lion), a disaster with or without German air superiority. 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. Workers worked longer shifts and over weekends. To prevent the movement of large enemy ground forces to the decisive areas, by destroying railways and roads, particularly bridges and tunnels, which are indispensable for the movement and supply of forces. 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". Battle noises were muffled and sleep was easier in the deepest stations, but many people were killed from direct hits on stations. Throughout 193339 none of the 16 Western Air Plans drafted mentioned morale as a target. 5 Jan. Leslie Hore-Belisha, Britain's Minister of War, is dismissed. 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. All but one railway station line was blocked for several weeks. Eventually, it would become a success. Loge had cost the Luftwaffe 41 aircraft; 14 bombers, 16 Messerschmitt Bf 109s, seven Messerschmitt Bf 110s and four reconnaissance aircraft. Added to the fact an interception relied on visual sighting, a kill was most unlikely even in the conditions of a moonlit sky. In late 1940, Churchill credited the shelters. The British government grew anxious about the delays and disruption of supplies during the month. It hoped to destroy morale by destroying the enemy's factories and public utilities as well as its food stocks (by attacking shipping). At the beginning of the war in 1939, London was the largest city in the world, with 8.2 million inhabitants. Ultimately, the Russian royal family reached a . In Portsmouth Southsea and Gosport waves of 150 bombers destroyed vast swaths of the city with 40,000 incendiaries. 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. The meacon system involved separate locations for a receiver with a directional aerial and a transmitter. The debris of St Thomas's Hospital, London, the morning after receiving a direct hit during the Blitz, in front of the Houses of . From 7 September 1940, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 56 of the following 57 days and nights. [145] Use of incendiaries, which were inherently inaccurate, indicated much less care was taken to avoid civilian property close to industrial sites. The Luftwaffe had dropped 16,331 long tons (16,593t) of bombs. The crew would be ordered to drop their bombs either by a code word from the ground controller or at the conclusion of the signal transmissions which would stop. Before the war, the Chamberlain government stated that night defence from air attack should not take up much of the national effort. 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. The property stands alone on a section of riverbank on the Thames, in South East London 's . Destroying RAF Fighter Command would allow the Germans to gain control of the skies over the invasion area. [129] AA defences improved by better use of radar and searchlights. Three cross-beams intersected the beam along which the He 111 was flying. Many civilians who were unwilling or unable to join the military joined the Home Guard, the Air Raid Precautions service (ARP), the Auxiliary Fire Service and many other civilian organisations. Areas of Learning Mathematics Literacy Communication and Language Understanding The World Physical Development Personal, Social & Emotional Development Expressive Arts and Design Theme and Topics Everyday Life Fantasy and Adventure Festivals and Cultural Celebrations Places Weather and Seasons Science & Investigation Within four months, 88 percent of evacuated mothers, 86 percent of small children, and 43 percent of schoolchildren had been returned home. The first major raid took place on 7 September. Still, in February 1941, there remained only seven squadrons with 87 pilots, under half the required strength. [77] Before the war, civilians were issued with 50million respirators (gas masks) in case bombardment with gas began before evacuation. However, resentment of rich self-evacuees or hostile treatment of poor ones were signs of persistence of class resentments although these factors did not appear to threaten social order. Timeline London portal v t e The United Kingdom took part in World War II from 3 September 1939 until 15 August 1945. [156] Hitler now had his sights set on attacking the USSR with Operation Barbarossa, and the Blitz came to an end. [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 also took part in the bombing over Britain. 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. Red lamps were used to simulate blast furnaces and locomotive fireboxes. Douglas set about introducing more squadrons and dispersing the few GL sets to create a carpet effect in the southern counties. 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. More than 13,000 civilians had been killed, and almost 20,000 injured, in September and October alone,[110] but the death toll was much less than expected. [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. 1 March 1935 3 June 1936) championed strategic bombing and the building of suitable aircraft, although he emphasised the importance of aviation in operational and tactical terms. Fighter Command lost 17 fighters and six pilots. [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. In July 1939, Gring arranged a display of the Luftwaffe's most advanced equipment at Rechlin, to give the impression the air force was more prepared for a strategic air war than was actually the case. Committees quickly formed within shelters as informal governments, and organisations such as the British Red Cross and the Salvation Army worked to improve conditions. During World War I, German zeppelins and Gotha airplanes had bombed the city and forced people to take shelter in the tunnels. London: The Blitz, September 1940-June 1941 Records are incomplete, but between 7 October 1940 and 6 June 1941 almost 28,000 high explosive bombs and over 400 parachute mines were recorded landing on Greater London. But even in May, 67 percent of the sorties were visual cat's-eye missions. [78], During the Blitz, The Scout Association guided fire engines to where they were most needed and became known as the "Blitz Scouts". Much of the city centre was destroyed. [55] The relocation of the government and the civil service was also planned but would only have occurred if necessary so as not to damage civilian morale. 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. X-Gert received and analysed the pulses, giving the pilot visual and aural directions. [187] Historians' critical response to this construction focused on what were seen as over-emphasised claims of patriotic nationalism and national unity. [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. 11 Feb 2020. [111], Wartime observers perceived the bombing as indiscriminate. [160], On 13 March, the upper Clyde port of Clydebank near Glasgow was bombed (Clydebank Blitz). Blitz Incidents Thursday, 2 January 2014 High Holborn - the morning of 8th October 1940 I had no idea fighter-bombers were used against London as early as 1940, yet on Tuesday 8th October just before 9 am a raid took place that certainly hit targets across the centre of London, including Whitehall, at the very heart of British government. The estimate of tonnes of bombs an enemy could drop per day grew as aircraft technology advanced, from 75 in 1922, to 150 in 1934, to 644 in 1937. The defences failed to prevent widespread damage but on some occasions did prevent German bombers concentrating on their targets. Morrison warned that he could not counter the Communist unrest unless provision of shelters were made. The blasts at Hyde Park and Regents Park kill 11 people and injure 50 others. [106], Loge continued during October. On 17 April 346 tons (352t) of explosives and 46,000 incendiaries were dropped from 250 bombers led by KG 26. [45] This method condemned the offensive over Britain to failure before it began. [49] In 1939 military theorist Basil Liddell-Hart predicted that 250,000 deaths and injuries in Britain could occur in the first week of war. Nine days later, two waves of 125 and 170 bombers dropped heavy bombs, including 160 tons (163t) of high explosive and 32,000 incendiaries. It was faster, able to catch the bombers and its configuration of four machine guns in a turret could (much like German night fighters in 19431945 with Schrge Musik) engage the German bomber from beneath. Plymouth was attacked five times before the end of the month while Belfast, Hull, and Cardiff were hit. This led the British to develop countermeasures, which became known as the Battle of the Beams. 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. 604 Squadron RAF shot down a bomber flying an AI-equipped Beaufighter, the first air victory for the airborne radar. The clock mechanism was co-ordinated with the distances of the intersecting beams from the target so the target was directly below when the bombs were released. The receipt of the German signal by the receiver was duly passed to the transmitter, the signal to be repeated. Reports suggested the attacks blocked the movement of coal to the Greater London regions and urgent repairs were required. The reverse would apply only if the meacon were closer. [69] Contrary to pre-war fears of anti-Semitic violence in the East End, one observer found that the "Cockney and the Jew [worked] together, against the Indian". The German bombers would fly along either beam until they picked up the signal from the other beam. 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.
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