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[27], Although not specifically prepared to conduct independent strategic air operations against an opponent, the Luftwaffe was expected to do so over Britain. 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. 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. He was always reluctant to co-operate with Raeder. The government up until November 1940, was opposed to the centralised organisation of shelter. [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. This caused more than 2,000 fires; 1,436 people were killed and 1,792 seriously injured, which affected morale badly. Authorities expected that the raids would be brief and in daylight, rather than attacks by night, which forced Londoners to sleep in shelters. The maps help to contextualize the staggering statistics from the Blitz: in London alone, there were 57 consecutive nights of bombing. The first three directives in 1940 did not mention civilian populations or morale in any way. 12 Group RAF). Hello, I Am Charlie from London - Stephane Husar 2014-07-15 The Demon in the Embers - Julia Edwards 2016-09-02 . Warehouses, rail lines and houses were destroyed and damaged, but the docks were largely untouched. Mackay2002, pp. [168] The Boulton Paul Defiant, despite its poor performance during daylight engagements, was a much better night fighter. On 17 September he postponed Operation Sea Lion (as it turned out, indefinitely) rather than gamble Germany's newly gained military prestige on a risky cross-Channel operation, particularly in the face of a sceptical Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. Throughout 193339 none of the 16 Western Air Plans drafted mentioned morale as a target. [40] The Port of London, in particular, was an important target, bringing in one-third of overseas trade. 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. [113] In the case of Battersea power station, an unused extension was hit and destroyed during November but the station was not put out of action during the night attacks. Let us find out other historical facts about London Blitz below: Facts about London Blitz 1: the German intelligence 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. Children in the East End of London, made homeless by the Blitz From this point, there were air raids every day for two months. [24][182] The Luftwaffe was not pressed into ground support operations because of pressure from the army or because it was led by ex-soldiers, the Luftwaffe favoured a model of joint inter-service operations, rather than independent strategic air campaigns. The tactic was expanded into Feuerleitung (Blaze Control) with the creation of Brandbombenfelder (Incendiary Fields) to mark targets. Dowding had to rely on night fighters. Bombsite rubble from Birmingham was used to make runways on US Air Force bases in Kent and Essex in southeast England. Before the war, the Chamberlain government stated that night defence from air attack should not take up much of the national effort. Beginning in September 1940, the Blitz was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by the Luftwaffe against British cities. Workers worked longer shifts and over weekends. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term Blitzkrieg, the German word meaning 'lightning war'.[4]. Attacks from below offered a larger target, compared to attacking tail-on, as well as a better chance of not being seen by the crew (so less chance of evasion), as well as greater likelihood of detonating its bomb load. Little tonnage was dropped on Fighter Command airfields; Bomber Command airfields were hit instead. [33] Others argue that the Luftwaffe made little impression on Fighter Command in the last week of August and first week of September and that the shift in strategy was not decisive. 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. Smaller raids are not included in the tonnages. Timeline How Allies Broke The Deadlock | First World War EP6 | Timeline Biographer Reveals Audrey Hepburn's . The bombing also helped to support the U-boat blockade by sinking some 58,000 long tons (58,900t) of shipping and damaging 450,000 long tons (457,000t) more. Summerfield and Peniston-Bird 2007, p. 3. [120], British night air defences were in a poor state. [130], Airborne Interception radar (AI) was unreliable. [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]. [68], Although only a small number of Londoners used the mass shelters, when journalists, celebrities and foreigners visited they became part of the Beveridge Report, part of a national debate on social and class division. Two aerials at ground stations were rotated so that their beams converged over the target. "[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. 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. 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. [109], By mid-November 1940, when the Germans adopted a changed plan, more than 11,600 long tons (11,800t) of high explosive and nearly 1,000,000 incendiaries had fallen on London. Daylight bombing was abandoned after October 1940 as the Luftwaffe experienced unsustainable losses. [183], A popular image arose of British people in the Second World War: a collection of people locked in national solidarity. The Blitz (shortened from German 'Blitzkrieg', "lightning war") was the period of sustained strategic bombing of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. In Portsmouth Southsea and Gosport waves of 150 bombers destroyed vast swaths of the city with 40,000 incendiaries. [179] Though militarily ineffective, the Blitz cost around 41,000 lives, may have injured another 139,000 people and did enormous damage to British infrastructure and housing stock. 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. [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. At the beginning of the war in 1939, London was the largest city in the world, with 8.2 million inhabitants. An estimated 43,000 people lost their lives. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency . 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. Some people even told government surveyors that they enjoyed air raids if they occurred occasionally, perhaps once a week. [128] London's defences were rapidly reorganised by General Pile, the Commander-in-Chief of Anti-Aircraft Command. [175], Between 20 June 1940, when the first German air operations began over Britain, and 31 March 1941, OKL recorded the loss of 2,265 aircraft over the British Isles, a quarter of them fighters and one-third bombers. People were forced to sleep in air raid shelters, and many people took shelter in underground stations. [92] The counter-operations were carried out by British Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) units under Wing Commander Edward Addison, No. [97] Of this total around 400 were killed. [7][8] Notable attacks included a large daylight attack against London on 15 September, a large raid on December 29 1940 against London resulting in a firestorm known as the Second Great Fire of London. [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. It could be claimed civilians were not to be targeted directly, but the breakdown of production would affect their morale and will to fight. During World War I, German zeppelins and Gotha airplanes had bombed the city and forced people to take shelter in the tunnels. London, and cities. One-third of London's streets were impassable. [187] Historians' critical response to this construction focused on what were seen as over-emphasised claims of patriotic nationalism and national unity. 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. It expected about 90% of evacuees to stay in private homes, conducted an extensive survey to determine the amount of space available and made detailed preparations for transporting evacuees. [163] By the end of the air campaign over Britain, only eight percent of the German effort against British ports was made using mines. [131] Whitehall's disquiet at the failures of the RAF led to the replacement of Dowding (who was already due for retirement) with Sholto Douglas on 25 November. [56] Not only was there evacuation over land, but also by ship. The next night, a large force hit Coventry. [80] The WVS organised the evacuation of children, established centres for those displaced by bombing and operated canteens, salvage and recycling schemes. An American witness wrote "By every test and measure I am able to apply, these people are staunch to the bone and won't quit the British are stronger and in a better position than they were at its beginning". Other reasons, including industry dispersal may have been a factor. By September 1940, London had already experienced German bombing. 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. It had no time to gather reliable intelligence on Britain's industries. In one incident on 28/29 April, Peter Stahl of KG 30 was flying on his 50th mission. The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. Much of the city centre was destroyed. The pilot flew along an approach beam, monitored by a ground controller. [145] Part of the reason for this was inaccuracy of navigation. 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". [44] Disputes among OKL staff revolved more around tactics than strategy. [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. [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. People left shelters when told instead of refusing to leave, although many housewives reportedly enjoyed the break from housework. The moon was full and the Thames had a very low ebb tide. [126] RAF day fighters were converting to night operations and the interim Bristol Blenheim night fighter conversion of the light bomber was being replaced by the powerful Beaufighter, but this was only available in very small numbers. 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. 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. July 20, 1982: Two IRA bombs explode in central London less than two hours apart. [144] In January and February 1941, Luftwaffe serviceability rates declined until just 551 of 1,214 bombers were combat-worthy. de Zeng, Henry L., Doug G. Stankey and Eddie J. Creek. Another poll found an 88% approval rating for Churchill in July.