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 . 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. Nearly 350 German bombers (escorted by over 600 fighters) dropped explosives on East London, targeting the docks in particular. The maps help to contextualize the staggering statistics from the Blitz: in London alone, there were 57 consecutive nights of bombing. [100] Another 247 bombers from Luftflotte 3 (Air Fleet 3) attacked that night. Dec. 17, 1983: Six people are. [150] The OKL had always regarded the interdiction of sea communications of less importance than bombing land-based aircraft industries. The name "Blitz" comes from the word "blitzkrieg" which meant "lightning war". The amount of firm operational and tactical preparation for a bombing campaign was minimal, largely because of the failure by Hitler as supreme commander to insist upon such a commitment. 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. [173] On 10/11 May, London suffered severe damage, but 10 German bombers were downed. Bombsite rubble from Birmingham was used to make runways on US Air Force bases in Kent and Essex in southeast England. [31], The circumstances affected the Germans more than the British. Ironically, the Blitz was the result of an . Authorities provided stoves and bathrooms and canteen trains provided food. [56] Not only was there evacuation over land, but also by ship. In March 1941, two raids on Plymouth and London dehoused 148,000 people. 80 Wing RAF. Five main rail lines were cut in London and rolling stock damaged. The moon was full and the Thames had a very low ebb tide. In recent years a large number of wartime recordings relating to the Blitz have been made available on audiobooks such as The Blitz, The Home Front and British War Broadcasting. Dowding was summoned on 17 October, to explain the poor state of the night defences and the supposed (but ultimately successful) "failure" of his daytime strategy. Over 2,000 AAA shells were fired, destroying two Ju 88s. [92] The counter-operations were carried out by British Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) units under Wing Commander Edward Addison, No. [118] The London Docklands, in particular, the Royal Victoria Dock, received many hits and Port of London trade was disrupted. [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. [1] It was the capital not just for the United Kingdom, but for the entire British Empire. [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 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. This had important implications. The first German attack on London actually occurred by accident. German crews, even if they survived, faced capture. Moreover, the OKL could not settle on an appropriate strategy. The Germans adapted the short-range Lorenz system into Knickebein, a 3033MHz system, which used two Lorenz beams with much stronger signals. Its round-the-clock bombing of London was an immediate attempt to force the British government to capitulate, but it was also striking at Britain's vital sea communications to achieve a victory through siege. [119] The Ministry of Home Security reported that although the damage caused was "serious" it was not "crippling" and the quays, basins, railways and equipment remained operational. 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. By December, this had increased to 92 percent. 11 Group RAF and No. [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. Official histories concluded that the mental health of a nation may have improved, while panic was rare. [170] On 19 November, John Cunningham of No. Around 250 tons (9,000 bombs) had been dropped, killing 1,413 people and injuring 3,500 more. The reverse would apply only if the meacon were closer. Many Londoners, in particular, took to using the Underground railway system, without authority, for shelter and sleeping through the night. The Germans conducted mass air attacks against industrial targets, towns, and cities, beginning with raids on London towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940 (a battle for daylight air superiority between the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force over the United Kingdom). [156], German air supremacy at night was also now under threat. July 20, 1982: Two IRA bombs explode in central London less than two hours apart. The fake fires could only begin when the bombing started over an adjacent target and its effects were brought under control. Beginning. In Sunderland on 25 April, Luftflotte 2 sent 60 bombers which dropped 80 tons (81.3t) of high explosive and 9,000 incendiaries. 348 bombers led by 617 fighters barraged London around 4:00 in the afternoon that day. [131], Nevertheless, it was radar that proved to be the critical weapon in the night battles over Britain from this point onward. [120], British night air defences were in a poor state. He frequently complained of the Luftwaffe's inability to damage industries sufficiently, saying, "The munitions industry cannot be impeded effectively by air raids usually, the prescribed targets are not hit". [108], Kesselring, commanding Luftflotte 2, was ordered to send 50 sorties per night against London and attack eastern harbours in daylight. [189] The "Communist threat" was deemed important enough for Herbert Morrison to order, with the support of the Cabinet, the cessation of activities of the Daily Worker, the Communist newspaper. German planners had to decide whether the Luftwaffe should deliver the weight of its attacks against a specific segment of British industry such as aircraft factories, or against a system of interrelated industries such as Britain's import and distribution network, or even in a blow aimed at breaking the morale of the British population. 219 Squadron RAF at RAF Kenley). [117] Attacks against East End docks were effective and many Thames barges were destroyed. Many people over 35 remembered the bombing and were afraid of more. London experienced regular attacks and on 10-11 May 1941 was hit by its biggest raid. In this section. 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". 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. It would prove formidable but its development was slow. The oil-fed fires were then injected with water from time to time; the flashes produced were similar to those of the German C-250 and C-500 Flammbomben. He recognised the right of the public to seize tube stations and authorised plans to improve their condition and expand them by tunnelling. [29] The British produced 10,000 aircraft in 1940, in comparison to Germany's 8,000. [77] Before the war, civilians were issued with 50million respirators (gas masks) in case bombardment with gas began before evacuation. Around 66,000 houses were destroyed and 77,000 people made homeless ("bombed out"[158]), with 1,900 people killed and 1,450 seriously hurt on one night. [60] In March 1943, 173 men, women and children were crushed to death at Bethnal Green tube station in a crowd surge after a woman fell down the steps as she entered the station. The Minister of Aircraft Production, Lord Beaverbrook and Churchill distanced themselves. Seven major and eight heavy attacks were flown, but the weather made it difficult to keep up the pressure. [121] Few anti-aircraft guns had fire-control systems, and the underpowered searchlights were usually ineffective against aircraft at altitudes above 12,000ft (3,700m). Seeschlange would be carried out by Fliegerkorps X (10th Air Corps) which concentrated on mining operations against shipping. [143], Not all of the Luftwaffe effort was made against inland cities. Although the weather was poor, heavy raids took place that afternoon on the London suburbs and the airfield at Farnborough. By the end of 1941, the WVS had one million members. Dowding had introduced the concept of airborne radar and encouraged its usage. [45] This method condemned the offensive over Britain to failure before it began. Hitler quickly developed scepticism toward strategic bombing, confirmed by the results of the Blitz. Browse 1,952 london blitz stock photos and images available, or search for the blitz or world war ii to find more great stock photos and pictures. [163] By the end of the air campaign over Britain, only eight percent of the German effort against British ports was made using mines. 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. Warehouses, rail lines and houses were destroyed and damaged, but the docks were largely untouched. "[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. On 17 April 346 tons (352t) of explosives and 46,000 incendiaries were dropped from 250 bombers led by KG 26. [122][123] In July 1940, only 1,200 heavy and 549 light guns were deployed in the whole of Britain. [50] London hospitals prepared for 300,000 casualties in the first week of war. Regional commissioners were given plenipotentiary powers to restore communications and organise the distribution of supplies to keep the war economy moving. [190], The brief success of the Communists also fed into the hands of the British Union of Fascists (BUF). [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. 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. [98] The fighting in the air was more intense in daylight. 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. The German bombers would fly along either beam until they picked up the signal from the other beam. A third poll found 89% support for his leadership in October. [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. These units were fed from two adjacent tanks containing oil and water. [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. This heavy bombing by German forces began in September 1940 and lasted for 57 days. [109] Special units, such as KGr 100, became the Beleuchtergruppe (Firelighter Group), which used incendiaries and high explosives to mark the target area. [160], On 13 March, the upper Clyde port of Clydebank near Glasgow was bombed (Clydebank Blitz). [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 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. 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. Ports were easier to find and made better targets. The government did not build them for large populations before the war because of cost, time to build and fears that their safety would cause occupants to refuse to leave to return to work or that anti-war sentiment would develop in large congregations of civilians. There was also minor ethnic antagonism between the small Black, Indian and Jewish communities, but despite this these tensions quietly and quickly subsided. A significant number of the aircraft not shot down after the resort to night bombing were wrecked during landings or crashed in bad weather. Ground-based radar was limited, and airborne radar and RAF night fighters were generally ineffective. The attacks against Birmingham took war industries some three months to recover fully. At this time, the Underground lines were mostly owned and run by separate companies, all of which were merged together with . Throughout 1940, dummy airfields were prepared, good enough to stand up to skilled observation. These include Peter Hennessy, Andrew Thorpe, and Philip Ziegler, who while admitting serious exceptions, argue that the population largely behaved well during the Blitz.[193]. Get 20% off purchases above 10.Apply discount code SAVE20 at checkout.. Company Search. The Blitz was a huge bombing campaign of London and other English cities carried about by the German airforce from September 1940 to May 1941. 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 'all clear' was sounded at 05.00 on 8 September - 420 people were killed and over 1600 seriously wounded. American observer Ralph Ingersoll reported the bombing was inaccurate and did not hit targets of military value, but destroyed the surrounding areas. Bomb-Damage Maps Reveal London's World War II Devastation. Battle of Britain timeline. 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. The GL carpet was supported by six GCI sets controlling radar-equipped night-fighters. The History Place - World War II in Europe Timeline: London During the Blitz London during the Blitz A view of Big Ben through barbed wire entanglement. [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. [5] Large air battles broke out, lasting for most of the day. 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. 12 Group RAF). The London Blitz started quietly. [42], Although it had equipment capable of doing serious damage, the Luftwaffe had an unclear strategy and poor intelligence. [161] Another raid was carried out on 11/12 May 1941. [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. [173] On 3/4 May, nine were shot down in one night. 6063, 6768, 75, 7879, 21516. Daniel Todman reveals how Britons rebuilt their lives, and their cities, in the aftermath of the raids Published: December 1, 2017 at 4:27 pm Subs offer On 8 May 1941, 57 ships were destroyed, sunk or damaged, amounting to 80,000 long tons (81,300t). Hello, I Am Charlie from London - Stephane Husar 2014-07-15 The Demon in the Embers - Julia Edwards 2016-09-02 . Ingersol wrote that Battersea Power Station, one of the largest landmarks in London, received only a minor hit. [b] The British had anticipated the change in strategy and dispersed its production facilities, making them less vulnerable to a concentrated attack. Other units ceased using parachute flares and opted for explosive target markers. In mid-September 1940, about 150,000 people a night slept in the Underground, although by winter and spring the numbers declined to 100,000 or less. Much of the city centre was destroyed. People referred to raids as if they were weather, stating that a day was "very blitzy". THIS DAY IN HISTORY September 07 1940 September 07 The Blitz begins as Germany bombs London On September 7, 1940, 300 German bombers raid London, in the first of 57 consecutive nights of. There were also many new civil defence roles that gave a sense of fighting back rather than despair. Only a few weeks after the British victory in the Battle of. Predictions had underestimated civilian adaptability and resourcefulness. [5][6] Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall Hermann Gring, commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, ordered the new policy on 6 September 1940. Throughout 193339 none of the 16 Western Air Plans drafted mentioned morale as a target. The docks drew produce and people from all over the world; they survived the bombings of World War II and the economic downturn of the 1970s and 80s to become a hive of industry and activity once again. The OKL had not been informed that Britain was to be considered a potential opponent until early 1938. [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. On 10/11 March, 240 bombers dropped 193 tons (196t) of high explosives and 46,000 incendiaries. [129] AA defences improved by better use of radar and searchlights. At the beginning of the war in 1939, London was the largest city in the world, with 8.2 million inhabitants. Bombers were noisy, cold, and vibrated badly. The Blitz was a huge bombing campaign of London and other English cities carried about by the German airforce from September 1940 to May 1941. The lightning attack was infamously called "Black Saturday". Between 1940 and 1945, over 52,000 civilians were killed in Britain during bombing raids by German aircraft. Here are the flats today, courtesy of Street View . Corum 1997, pp. Many civilians found that the best way to retain mental stability was to be with family, and after the first few weeks of bombing, avoidance of the evacuation programmes grew. Entertainment included concerts, films, plays and books from local libraries. By September 1940, London had already experienced German bombing. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term Blitzkrieg, the German word meaning 'lightning war'.[4]. [149], A further line in the directive stressed the need to inflict the heaviest losses possible, but also to intensify the air war in order to create the impression an amphibious assault on Britain was planned for 1941. The British government grew anxious about the delays and disruption of supplies during the month. [31] On 7 September, the Germans shifted away from the destruction of the RAF's supporting structures. 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. [17], The vital industries and transport centres that would be targeted for shutdown were valid military targets. 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.