As Hitler realised that France and Britain were not going to make peace he planned an offensive in the West in Spring 1940. This offensive completely changed the war with the Fall of France. This presented great concern for the British government over the courage and unity of the British people as Britain was left alone without the support of her allies. This also meant that Britain was extremely vulnerable to invasion from the Germans. In July 1940 Hitler gave orders for the preparation of Operation Sealion, which was a cross channel invasion of southern England. To make the invasion easier he sent the Luftwaffe to destroy the British RAF, which prompted the “Battle of Britain.” It was vital that British people remained united as Hitler hoped for a quick and cheap victory hoping the British resistance of will for war collapsed. However the strength and aptitude of the RAF was greatly underestimated by German air intelligence. The climax of the attack came when a massive Luftwaffe raid on London ended with the shooting down of 56 German planes. Göring had lost the Battle of Britain. It is said, “Victory in the Battle of Britain owed something to the heroism of British pilots and the technical standard of the new Spitfire and Hurricane Fighters.”
Nevertheless, this victory meant the Germans would have to change tactics and the British Government were concerned over air attacks on civilians. They were concerned about the effect they would have on their courage and unity of the people. This concern was increased as a result of the air raid by the German Luftwaffe in the Spanish Civil War on Guernica in 1937. It was market day when the attack took place so the consequences were horrific; it caused extensive death and destruction. The government were concerned about how the people would react, as they knew that they were aware of the attacks. The attack had caused worldwide outrage and had been highly publicised so the British people had seen and read stories of the attack. Furthermore, the attack generated a strong sense of fear. The government wanted to ensure that this would not cause the people to lose all sense of courage and unity therefore pressurising them into surrendering.
Furthermore, bomber aircrafts were developing, becoming much more sophisticated, and a more potent weapon. Therefore, the theory of mass bombing was of great concern to the British government as it could lead to a loss of faith in the Government. Moreover, there was a fear that the people would lose faith not only the Government but in the monarchy and therefore the institution of Britain itself. This fear proved to be correct. After a series of raids on the East End there was great animosity towards the King and Queen as it was felt they were apart from the people as source F shows, “The King and Queen were booed the other day when they were visiting the destroyed areas.” In London especially in the East End the was a feeling of resentment towards the more wealthy as it was felt it was unfair that they had better conditions. For example despite food being rationed the richer people of Britain were able to eat in restaurants or to buy more expensive foods on the black market. Source D shows this lack of unity and obvious class divide. It shows an angry scene of confrontation and the desperation of the people and the loss of any sense of morality and appropriate conduct. However, other sources strongly contradict this source showing great courage and unity among different genders and classes. This sense of unity is shown is source B in which you can clearly see people of different social standings such as a policeman, ARP warden and nurses working together in order to deal with the tragic situation, putting the bodies of school girls into sacking. This photo epitomises the unity of the British people as it shows a great diversity of people cooperating in a situation of extreme adversity. It is the belief of some historians that the Blitz unified the previously divided classes through the comprehension that a bomb would not distinguish between the classes.
However it is shown in some sources that the people of Britain did not face the bombing raids with courage and unity as it caused a new phenomenon called trekking. This was when citizens would flee to the countryside as indicated in source E, “Taxi drivers report to taking group after group to Euston and Paddington with belongings”. However despite the exodus from cities people still returned for work as shown in source G “Yet many of those who trekked were the same people who continued to turn up for work.” This determination of the British not to let the German’s defeat them is illustrated perfectly after the concentrated attack on Coventry. The Government feared that the mass bombing would corrode morale but it had the opposite effect, the people became defiant and resilient. Within weeks, Coventry’s factories were open and they had quadrupled their pre-Blitz output. The Blitz spirit had been forged.
However, newspaper reports and pictures were censored. They concentrated on the heroism and courageousness of the rescue services and everyone’s determination to carry on as normal and showing everyone in good humour and the unity of the people. Photos were often orchestrated in order to present a situation in a certain way an example of this is source C in which you can tell it has been staged to show the people in a cheerful manner, there is a sense of them being told to “Smile for the camera”. However that does not erase the fact that all the furniture in the background had been neatly stacked so the community must have worked together. Furthermore, undercutting the immediate hostile atmosphere of source D in the background you can see people standing in an orderly queue waiting for a bus. This demonstrates the British people courageousness and determination to carry on as normal. People kept their spirits up by joking about the raids. A bombed out shop keeper put up a sign reading “More open than usual.” There are many photographs which illustrate Londoners striving to carry on as normal.This pictures also strongly suggest that the British did face the Blitz with courage and unity. There is a famous picture of a milkman delivering milk in a London street devastated during German bombing raid and Fireman are still damping down the ruins behind. There was a sense, especially in London that you should remain happy as there was always someone worse off, this sentiment was expressed in an official report published in 1942 “People preferred to cling to what was left and help neighbours who had suffered worse.” People set up organisations to help others such as soup Kitchens for the homeless. For example in the wake of the concentrated air attack on Coventry huge relief was set up 20,000 meals were served each day to the destitute. Gas and electricity was restored. Furthermore, people were united in their determination to defeat Hitler, when one Londoner was interviewed she replied, “Why should I let Hitler drive me out of Poplar.”
Millions of ordinary people showed great courage and unity by personally contributing to the war effort by working in air raid precautions and the auxiliary services.The British peoples courage and unity is expressed perfectly in source A, “the British people showed they didn’t have to be in uniforms to be heroes”. Many of these workers were unpaid, part-time and voluntary with other jobs. In all areas of Civil defence, whether it was as an ARP warden or as First Aid Post they had to undertake extremely dangerous jobs. Firemen risked their lives fighting the blaze. When the city of Coventry was bombed the firemen showed great courage and unity as even when the water mains were broken they were still willing and determined to fight the blaze. One of the most dangerous jobs was that of defusing unexploded bombs. British citizens helped the war effort in numerous ways. Men who were too young or old to join the army or whose day jobs were necessary to keep the country running joined the Home Guard. Women also played a key role in contributing to the war effort, showing that Britain was united as both men and women worked together, one in six of the ARP wardens were women, gender barriers were broken down. Huge numbers of women joined the armed forces even though they did not have to. Though, one of women’s most valuable contributions to the British war effort was in joining the Land Army, 80,000 women served in the Land Army. Plus many more flew unarmed aircraft, drove ambulances, worked as nurses and in munitions factories. All areas of Britain were united in defeating Hitler. They showed great courage in the process going beyond the call of duty, “The work of the ARP services was magnificent-by nine o’clock all the casualties were out.”
Another precaution against the effects of air raids was the provision of air raid shelters. Individual shelters were issued to households such as the Anderson shelter was erected in the garden. Despite the bad conditions of air raid shelters people strived to make them as comfortable as possible by furnishing them with chairs and taking their pets with them. However, as many city dwellers lived in terraced houses with only a small yards they had to use a communal shelter or later they were able to use the Morrison shelter indoors. In communal shelters people remained cheerful and spirited by singing songs as recounted by a Londoner who lived through the Blitz, “we was always singing, we was always happy.” This positive attitude shows that the British people faced the Blitz with courage and unity as they used the company of others to keep their spirits up, courageously and defiantly laughing in the face of danger. Furthermore, many Londoners bought platform tickets for the London underground and then camped at the stations at night. Though there were incidents of hostilities such as arguments and fights but that is only to be expected when the psychological strain of incessant bombing is considered. Therefore, positive and powerful memories such as the one stated earlier cannot be discounted, there is too much evidence showing that the camaraderie of the people was strong.
Therefore, to conclude I believe that the people of Britain did face the Blitz with courage and unity and that this impression is not a myth. There is no doubt that people did find the incessant bombing raids psychologically draining and therefore states of panic did occur with consequent “treks” into the countryside. However, the evidence that the people of Britain faced the Blitz with courage and unity is too overwhelming to be completely dismissed.The fact that thousands of men and woman joined voluntary services to support the war effort and the defiance and resilience of the people of Coventry cannot be ignored. After all Britain was victorious in a state of total warfare and to do so a country must be unified and fight courageously.