What was the nature of the Blitz during the Second World War?

1. What was the nature of the Blitz during the Second World War?

2. Learning objective – to be able to identify the key features of the Blitz. I can explain the key reasons why London was bombed in the Blitz. Grade 6 I can explain and assess the key reasons why London was bombed in the Blitz. Grade 9 I can describe the key reasons why London was bombed in the Blitz. Grade 3

3. What were the aims of the bombing campaign? The initial aim of the German bombing campaign was to soften up London before the planned land invasion in September 1940. The targets were industrial sites, energy supply areas, military installations and communication centres. This aim changed on 19th September when Hitler called off the planned invasion after the Battle of Britain. The bombing campaign continued but changed its targets to – Civilians and their homes to damage morale and cause a high death count. Industry and communications to damage and disrupt the war effort.

4. Black Saturday – 7th September 1940 After a few initial raids in August 1940, the Blitz began on 7th September 1940. The bombing lasted for 12 hours and claimed the lives of 400 people and 1600 people were seriously injured. The attacks focused on the East End and targeted the docks and concentration of railways there. Up until 19th September, the bombing was concentrated on the East End.

5. The Blitz – 7th September – 11th May 1941 The Blitz was an intense bombing campaign on London which included 57 consecutive nights of bombing from September to November 1940. It was only poor weather that temporarily halted the bombing campaign which continued with less intensity. From mid-September, the bombing focused on civilians and their homes as well as national treasures and industry. The Blitz claimed 28,556 people with over 25,500 wounded. Even after the bombing, there were still a considerable amount of unexploded bombs left in London.

6. The Lull – May 1941 – January 1944 There were plenty of aid raids on London between May 1941 and January 1944 but they were not happening every night and it was much less intense than previously. Usually, German raids followed Allied raids on Germany itself in this period. The Lull gave the government time to improve its defences such as building new deep shelters [usually in Tube stations] and improved management of public shelters. During this period, 1,808 people were seriously wounded or killed during bombing.

7. The Little Blitz – 21st January 1944 – 19th April 1944 The bombing campaign in 1944 was much less intense as Germany could only assemble 475 aircraft to make attacks who were flown by mostly inexperienced pilots. Because of the inexperienced pilots as well as the Allies having a much stronger aircraft and better defences, Britain was able to fight off most of the air attacks. However, some attacks got through the defences and 3,793 people were killed and injured in these attacks.

8. What kind of bombs were used in the Blitz? Incendiaries – Bombs that started fires which were then used as targets for bombers. Fires that got out of control caused more damage than the bombers. These bombs were small and dropped in clusters. High explosive bombs – mainly dropped by later bombing campaigns and came in many shapes and sizes. Some exploded to destroy buildings while others with heavier case shells exploded firing shrapnel. Parachute mines – the most powerful bomb and because they were dropped by parachute, they were silent and hard to detect. They had a magnetic trigger which would be triggered when in contact with metal.

9. VI and V2 raids – June 1944 – March 1945 Germany’s defeat in France in June 1944 pushed London further out of Germany’s range, so they decided to switch tactics and use a new weapon – the V1 – a pilotless aeroplane which was pointed in the direction of London and launched [with no great accuracy] with the aim of landing in London and exploding. Over 9,000 V1s were launched at London and 2,515 hit London. The rest crashed or were destroyed by anti-aircraft guns. Because they flew so low, V1 rockets did not trigger air-raid warnings until it was too late. Because of this, casualty rates were high as people were caught in explosions. In the first two weeks of V1 raids, over 11,000 people were killed or wounded with 200,000 homes damaged.

10. VI and V2 raids – June 1944 – March 1945 Germany had also developed a ballistic missile – the V2. It was fast and because it was fired very high, it could not be detected or fired upon by anti-aircraft guns, until it was too late. The government tried to suppress the news of the new V2 weapon and was only forced to admit its existence after a V2 rocket hit Woolworths in Deptford in November 1944. The V2 hit Woolworths during a busy Saturday afternoon and 160 people were killed and over 200 wounded. It was only when Allied forces captured all the V2 missile sites in Europe by March 1945 when the long range rocket attacks stopped.

11. Impact of the V1 and V2 raids A new wave of evacuation began with over half a million people moved out of London. Civilian morale was hit hard and saw rising absenteeism in the workplace. More people resorted to sleeping in the Underground. Significant damage to people’s homes – 300,000 destroyed and 1.3 million damaged. Nearly 29,000 people were killed or wounded. Government popularity fell because of their failure to tell the people of the attacks until they were forced to as well as that people felt unprotected.

12. Design a timeline outlining the different stages of the Blitz. You may want to include the following words in your timeline. Also include a brief description of each stage.

13. Create a table and list all the features which stayed the same throughout the Blitz and what changed during the Blitz.

14. Plenary Write one sentence definitions for each picture on how it links to the lesson. Homework Complete – 3 links that link 2 pictures together. 3 links that link 3 pictures together. 2 links that link 4 pictures together.

15. Plenary – My Brain Subheading – My Brain Draw an outline of your brain. Fill your drawn brain with all the things you have learnt in this lesson. This can be in the form of key words, drawings, bullet points, lists – anything you like so long as it summarises your learning and that others can understand it.