Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in 1940-41?

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Katherine Mann

Britain in the Age of Total War 1939-1945 Coursework

Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in 1940-41?

Since the start of the Second World War in September 1939, Britain had been preparing for attack. The Government had issued warnings as early as 3rd September, urging people to keep off the streets when possible, carry gas masks and build air raid shelters. Many children, disabled people and women had been evacuated from cities to the country as a precaution. But by Easter 1940 there had been no fighting to speak of, and the majority of the British public had given up expecting a battle and returned to their normal lives. Evacuees returned to the cities and most people regarded this “Phoney War” as something of an anticlimax. During this period from the start of the war to spring 1940, the war to some Europeans had been anything but phoney. Hitler’s “Blitzkrieg” (lighting war) style warfare was used first on Poland. This involved the massive use of tanks, motorised infantry and the airforce in order to invade the country and beat the resistance in all areas of the military. The Polish army did not have time to prepare and were soon forced to retreat following the Soviet invasion from the East two weeks later. Warsaw had surrendered to Germany and the Soviet Union on 27th December 1939 and been split between the two countries. Britain and France knew exactly what had happened but had been unable to intervene effectively on Poland’s behalf. The successful invasion of Poland proved to Hitler that his “Blitzkrieg” was effective and could now be used on other targets, for example Great Britain.

Hitler’s original tactic against Britain was to bomb the Royal Air Force bases around the country, thus disabling her main military strength. The RAF was important to Britain’s defences because being an island away from mainland Europe meant it was difficult to cross other borders and fight countries without a good airforce and navy. Destroying radar bases was also very important. Radar had been patented as a British invention in 1935 by Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, but ironically one of the first developers of the idea was a 19th Century German. Radar enabled people on the ground to detect enemy aircraft and give warnings to the RAF who could then prepare fighters in defence. Destruction of these bases would make it much harder to detect air raids and leave Britain unprotected. On 12th August 1940 raids by Messerschmitt Bf 110s and Stukas on radar stations along the coasts of Kent, Sussex and the Isle of Wight failed to break the system. The Luftwaffe began its main offensive on 13 August 1940. Fiercely challenged by RAF Fighter Command, it attacked airfields, radar stations, ports and aircraft factories. Between 24 August and 6 September, the Germans struck at key airfields, but the raids were not decisive. The secret of Fighter Command's success lay in the system of air defence which had been developed before the war with the use of radar. German aircraft were picked up by the radar stations and tracked by the Observer Corps. The Luftwaffe's efforts intensified but so did its losses. On 17 September Hitler postponed Operation Sealion (codename for this series of attacks) indefinitely. Herman Goering, head of the Luftwaffe, had actually given specific orders to leave civilian targets alone, but on 24th August 1940 German bombers that had drifted off target hit the centre of London instead of their intended military targets. The British Government believed the attack had been intentional and Churchill ordered a bombing raid on Berlin for the next three nights. Therefore, Britain was the first side to bomb civilian targets, not Germany. The Germans, especially Hitler, were incensed, since they had arrogantly believed that Berlin was unreachable. Demanding revenge, Hitler ordered Goering to turn his attentions fully onto London and other major British cities. It was the obvious move and proved the most testing for Britain. The Nazis believed a continuous bombing campaign on British civilians would destroy morale and pressure Churchill into peace negotiations.

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The Blitz started in full force on London on 7th September 1940. It went on for 57 consecutive nights. On the first day alone 430 citizens were killed and 1600 severely injured. The first raid comprised over 300 bombers escorted by more than 600 fighters. They started bombing the East End before they carried on to bomb the City and Central London. The bombs caused more than 1000 fires. Damage was caused to two major power stations, homes and factories along the Thames and three major London railway stations. The German bombers returned the next day and a further 412 ...

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