[95][96], Initially, the change in strategy caught the RAF off-guard and caused extensive damage and civilian casualties. By the end of November, 1,100 bombers were available for night raids. Sperrle, commanding Luftflotte 3, was ordered to dispatch 250 sorties per night including 100 against the West Midlands. By September 1940, London had already experienced German bombing. Using historical paintings, a timeline, and a simple map, children can discover why the re started, how it spread, and the damage it caused. The receipt of the German signal by the receiver was duly passed to the transmitter, the signal to be repeated. The cities and the capital were bombed until the following morning, leaving more than 430 dead and over 1600 people badly injured. A building collapsing in Whitechapel during the Blitz. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. Reception committees were completely unprepared for the condition of some of the children. The meacon system involved separate locations for a receiver with a directional aerial and a transmitter. The London Blitz, 1940 - EyeWitness to History [93], For industrial areas, fires and lighting were simulated. The Blitz came to London on September Saturday 7 th 1940 and lasted for many days. Of greater potential was the GL (Gunlaying) radar and searchlights with fighter direction from RAF fighter control rooms to begin a GCI system (Ground Control-led Interception) under Group-level control (No. The Blitz began on 7 September, 'Black Saturday', when German bombers attacked London, leaving 430 dead and 1,600 injured. The London Blitz Timeline Nathaniel Zarate Sep 7 1940 September 7, 1940 On Saturday September 7th 1940, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe, the German Air Force to bomb London. Famed SF author Connie Willis' first novel in five years, Blackout, returns to a scenario she's explored before: Time-traveling scholars find themselves changing historical events they're only . Summerfield and Peniston-Bird 2007, p. 3. The Timeline: The Blitz | The Independent | The Independent [127] Other sources say 449 bombers and a total of 470 long tons (478t) of bombs were dropped. The GL carpet was supported by six GCI sets controlling radar-equipped night-fighters. [93] The use of diversionary techniques such as fires had to be made carefully. Battle of Britain and the Blitz - Military History - Oxford - obo Loge continued for 57 nights. The effectiveness of British countermeasures against Knickebein caused the Luftwaffe to prefer fire light instead for target marking and navigation. [149] This strategy had been recognised before the war, but Operation Eagle Attack and the following Battle of Britain had got in the way of striking at Britain's sea communications and diverted German air strength to the campaign against the RAF and its supporting structures. [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. [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. Eventually, it would become a success. Only one bomber was lost, to anti-aircraft fire, despite the RAF flying 125-night sorties. Fighter Command lost 17 fighters and six pilots. [58][59], The most important existing communal shelters were the London Underground stations. [92] The counter-operations were carried out by British Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) units under Wing Commander Edward Addison, No. The beginning of the London Blitz - The National Archives blog 604 Squadron RAF shot down a bomber flying an AI-equipped Beaufighter, the first air victory for the airborne radar. [163] By the end of the air campaign over Britain, only eight percent of the German effort against British ports was made using mines. Red lamps were used to simulate blast furnaces and locomotive fireboxes. 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. [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. [93], The first deliberate air raids on London were mainly aimed at the Port of London, causing severe damage. Who . When a continuous sound was heard from the second beam the crew knew they were above the target and dropped their bombs. Morrison warned that he could not counter the Communist unrest unless provision of shelters were made. [146] Eventually, he convinced Hitler of the need to attack British port facilities. [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. [142] Civilian casualties on London throughout the Blitz amounted to 28,556 killed, and 25,578 wounded. Night after night, from September 1940 until May 1941, German bombers attacked British cities, ports and industrial areas. In subsequent months a steady number of German bombers would fall to night fighters. [21], In 1936, Wever was killed in an air crash and the failure to implement his vision for the new Luftwaffe was largely attributable to his successors. The property stands alone on a section of riverbank on the Thames, in South East London 's . X- and Y-Gert beams were placed over false targets and switched only at the last minute. 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. [114] It is not clear whether the power station or any specific structure was targeted during the German offensive as the Luftwaffe could not accurately bomb select targets during night operations. 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. (Photo by J. Civilians left for more remote areas of the country. Many unemployed people were drafted into the Royal Army Pay Corps and with the Pioneer Corps, were tasked with salvaging and clean-up. Rumours that Jews were inflating prices, were responsible for the Black Market, were the first to panic under attack (even the cause of the panic) and secured the best shelters via underhanded methods, were also widespread. [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. But the Luftwaffe's effort eased in the last 10 attacks as seven Kampfgruppen moved to Austria in preparation for the Balkans Campaign in Yugoslavia and Greece. The lightning attack was infamously called "Black Saturday". Poor intelligence about British industry and economic efficiency led to OKL concentrating on tactics rather than strategy. In January 1941, Fighter Command flew 486 sorties against 1,965 made by the Germans. 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. Two heavy (50 long tons (51t) of bombs) attacks were also flown. [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. Only a few weeks after the British victory in the Battle of. 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. KGr 100 increased its use of incendiaries from 13 to 28 percent. 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. In the Myth of the Blitz, Calder exposed some of the counter-evidences of anti-social and divisive behaviours. [46], In an operational capacity, limitations in weapons technology and quick British reactions were making it more difficult to achieve strategic effect. Entertainment included concerts, films, plays and books from local libraries. Industry, seats of government and communications could be destroyed, depriving an opponent of the means to make war. [44] Disputes among OKL staff revolved more around tactics than strategy. 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. Ground transmitters sent pulses at a rate of 180 per minute. Douglas set about introducing more squadrons and dispersing the few GL sets to create a carpet effect in the southern counties. 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). [138] The strategic effect of the raid was a brief 20 percent dip in aircraft production. dodged bombs to make her way across London from her aunts house to dance class. Bombsite rubble from Birmingham was used to make runways on US Air Force bases in Kent and Essex in southeast England. 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. [76], Civilians of London played an enormous role in protecting their city. 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. The leaning tower of Rotherhithe sells for 1.5million [11][12] The greatest effect was to force the British to disperse the production of aircraft and spare parts. The Metropolitan-Vickers works in Manchester was hit by 12 long tons (12.2t) of bombs. [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. [186] At the time it was seen as a useful propaganda tool for domestic and foreign consumption. The attacks against Birmingham took war industries some three months to recover fully. The AFS had 138,000 personnel by July 1939. The Blitz referred to the bombing of most major British cities by the Germans in World War II. History of the Battle of Britain The Blitz - The Hardest Night The Blitz - The Hardest Night 10/11 May 1941, 11:02pm - 05:57am The most devastating raid on London took place on the night of 10/11 May 1941. The system worked on 6677MHz, a higher frequency than Knickebein. The Communist Party made political capital out of these difficulties. Night fighters could claim only four bombers for four losses. Bungay, Stephen (2000). The electronic war intensified but the Luftwaffe flew major inland missions only on moonlit nights. Attacking ports, shipping and imports as well as disrupting rail traffic in the surrounding areas, especially the distribution of coal, an important fuel in all industrial economies of the Second World War, would net a positive result. Dozens of men, women and children celebrate a Christmas party at a London Underground station during the Blitz in 1940. The bombings left parts of London in ruins, and when the war ended in 1945 much of the city had to be rebuilt. It reveals the devastation caused by the Blitz over eight months. The Blitz - Historic UK [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. 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. This is a Timeline of the United Kingdom home front during World War II covering Britain 1939-45.Timeline of the United Kingdom home front during World War II covering Britain 1939-45. In March 1941, two raids on Plymouth and London dehoused 148,000 people. [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". Around 200 people were killed and another 2,000 injured. This incident was called the 'Blitz'. [51], British air raid sirens sounded for the first time 22 minutes after Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany. There is much that Londoners can look back on with pride, remarkably little about which they need to feel ashamed. [89][90], Knickebein was in general use but the X-Gert (X apparatus) was reserved for specially trained pathfinder crews. 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. Airfields became water-logged and the 18 Kampfgruppen (bomber groups) of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwadern (bomber wings) were relocated to Germany for rest and re-equipment. On 10/11 March, 240 bombers dropped 193 tons (196t) of high explosives and 46,000 incendiaries. German crews, even if they survived, faced capture. Children in the East End of London, made homeless by the Blitz From this point, there were air raids every day for two months. [42], Although it had equipment capable of doing serious damage, the Luftwaffe had an unclear strategy and poor intelligence. From July until September 1940 the Luftwaffe attacked Fighter Command to gain air superiority as a prelude to invasion. By September 1940, the large-scale German air raids which had been expected twelve months earlier finally arrived. Corum 1997, pp. By 16 February 1941, this had grown to 12; with 5 equipped, or partially equipped with Beaufighters spread over 5 Groups. The rate of civilian housing loss was averaging 40,000 people per week dehoused in September 1940. London: A History - HISTORY