The bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent fear that was struck into the hearts of the people convinced many (including the German leadership) that a population could be bombed into surrender. The theory was that being in fear of a sudden and violent death there would be uprising and civil unrest urging the British government to capitulate. That theory was now being put into practise.
It was believed at the time that British towns and cities would be bombed immediately after war was declared and preparations were made for the estimated 3,500 tonnes of bombs that would be dropped on the first night and the further 700 tonnes every day after that. 1,250,00 a cardboard coffin were produced and plans were made for mass burials. All non-emergency hospital patients were sent home in order to make room for the 2,800,000 expected casualties. This was all done after all hospitals were taken over by the government under the Emergency Medical Service. Every cinema and theatre was closed and it became an offence to be caught without a gas mask. Fortunately Britain had the advantage of Radar, invented in 1936 by Robert Watson Watt and a network of Radar stations were already in place by 1939. With this important tool Britain was able to warn the R.A.F of approaching raids.
As well as attempting to terrify the civilian population the German High Command also chose to target major commercial and industrial areas, for example Coventry, the heart of Britain’s industry was almost reduced to rubble in a single night. Other targets included the busy docks of Liverpool (known as the hub of the ‘Battle of the Atlantic Campaign’), Glasgow and Belfast. London suffered 5,300 tons of high explosives on the capital in just 24 nights. Londoners and the world were introduced to a new weapon of terror and destruction in the arsenal of twentieth century warfare.
Every city with any beneficial input to Britain was targeted and their inhabitants traumatised. Everybody was trying to protect themselves and their family, and now nowhere was safe.
In the first years of the Blitz, the government provided Anderson shelters and 150,000 of these were distributed to houses with gardens. They consisted of corrugated iron covered with earth deep in the ground. They were usually cold and damp but they did provide a little private shelter for those who had them. They were also quite effective as the picture shows. This particular shelter remained intact after taking the full force of a bomb in London, 20th March 1941. The Morrison shelter was also fairly popular. This was an iron cage that doubled as a table but was designed to protect the family as their house collapsed around them. The theory was they would crawl out of the rubble unhurt. However if they were trapped and the house was on fire they would die, powerless to save themselves.
Larger civic shelters were constructed of brick and concrete in British towns but the simple construction plans of the government often led to sand and lime being used instead of concrete. This led to the occupants seeking refuge dying as a result of their faulty shelter. The defence of the cities is believed to have been the anti-aircraft guns (which stopped firing when the British Fighter Command launched their aircraft) however these were largely ineffective and were mainly fired to boost the people’s morale. Searchlights and an early warning system ensured accuracy and preparation. The Royal Observer Corps played a vital role in this as many units were based on the coast and could inform authorities in London of impending attacks. Within the cities the ARP (Air Raid Precautions) wardens, police and other services organised the emergency services after a raids. The AFS (Auxiliary Fire Service) played a vital role both during and after a raid in coping with the many fires caused by incendiary bombs. Many people believe the German bombers were lead to their targets by the fires from previous incendiary bombs; which is true but the lead bombers followed a radio beam and when it intersected with another one crossing it the plane was over the target. This then allowed following bombers to aim at the fires, a practice that was copied by the allies later in the war.
While all this was going on the children of Britain, the future, were being packed off on trains to a safe place. Evacuation had begun. Children and other vulnerable people from suspected targets (known as evacuation areas) were evacuated to safer places known as (Reception areas). The hosts could choose whom they wanted to stay in their home and this often resulted in problems for the children without an immaculate appearance and impeccable manners. For some children it was an experience they did not want to end and for others they were subjected to a major change in lifestyle with unsympathetic hosts who didn’t really want them there.
Numbers of people evacuated in September 1939
Schoolchildren 827,000
Mothers and children 524,000
Pregnant women 13,000
Blind and disabled people 7,000
Teachers 103,000
When war was declared television was shutdown as the government were unsure how to control this new type of media. The government felt it important to keep the morale of British people up and propaganda was the best way to do this. The government’s censorship gave the people of Britain something to hope for and made them believe that the Germans were not affecting us at all. This may have been well known to the people but they were willing to believe anything that made their traumatic lives a little more bearable. Radio was a bridge between what was going on and what people were feeling. People believed radio more because it was spoken live. As for newspapers, there were very tight restrictions on what could be reported. The Daily Mirror was a very popular newspaper, so Churchill feared a press campaign would be his downfall, just as chamberlain had suffered in 1940. From then on the paper toned down. Newspapers tended to report in an upbeat fashion. If bombing occurred, no precise information was supplied, only positive comments made by citizens. Reports often used to concentrate on a particular family's story, so as to bring hope to other readers. They often twisted the truth to keep morale high. In cases of individual disasters, newspapers were often made to report or show photographs of the incident only a few days later, and some times had to wait even longer. This occurred with the bombing of Balham tube station, where several hundred people drowned because of a severed water pipe.
Censorship of photographs was very common during the blitz. Photographs were not always censored because they showed death and disasters of the worst kind, but also because they portrayed the misery and angst of civilians, and depicted the widening gap between the ways of life of the working classes in comparison. However all the censorship could not hide the damage nor repair it and it could not erase the images of burning and dismembered corpses in the minds of the people.
Although the people stoically stood shoulder-to-shoulder against the onslaught, what they suffered was nothing compared to what the Germans were going to suffer. As Sir Arthur (bomber) Harris said when he had the new generation of long-range heavy bombers at his disposal
“They have sown the wind, now they will reap the whirlwind”.
