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

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Year Ten Coursework - November 2002

Britain in the Age of Total War 1939-45

THE BLITZ

Question One; -

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

The major cities of Britain were in my opinion bombed for the following reasons; - A, as an attempt to lower morale with Britain, B, to cut off supplies coming both in and out of the country by bombing major ports etc, C, to weaken British defences to such an extent that an invasion could become easier and more of a reality, and of course to win control of the skies, because if the Germans did that, then winning the war outright would be very much in their favour.

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I shall now go through a list of nearly a dozen cities of Britain in no particular order. I shall say what damage was done to any particular building of historical or industrial interest, and I shall also explain why I think that, that city was bombed.

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London; - On the 7th September, Londoners went about there business as usual, the sun was up, but by mid morning, the clouds had begun to roll in, and by early evening, the first drops of rain began to fall, and as darkness fell, a blanket of German bombers made their way up the river Thames. The first bombs were dropped on the dockland areas, and as the smoke and fire raised, the planes made their way towards the very heart of London, by morning, the capital of Britain was as an eyewitness put it, "Gone up in smoke." This bombing continued for 57 consecutive nights. On the 13th September 1940, Buckingham Palace was hit, however both the King and Queen were unharmed, but the Queen was reported to have said, "I feel I can look the East End in the face now." The Port of London was damaged, being a big commercial port it was a vital artery for the nation as a whole for supplies etc.

Hitler in my opinion ordered bombing over London constantly, because he thought that if the capital were destroyed, then it would severely lower morale. It had quite the opposite effect in my opinion, the then Minister, Winston Churchill inspired not only Londoners but people all over the country with his rhetoric regaling of the British nation.

Liverpool; - Liverpool can boast the biggest single raid on a mainland city throughout World War Two on the 3rd May 1941. The raid involved just over 500 bombers and fires burnt out of control all over the city, because the main water systems of the city had been hit. The city lost some of it's finest buildings, A freighter, the SS Malakand, carrying some one thousand tons of explosives, received a direct hit, the explosion was heard over twenty five miles away. The docks around the ship were devastated, as were the tightly packed terrace homes of those who lived and worked in the docks. This was also the main port for supplies coming in from America, and affected supplies heavily in the city and all over the country.
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Liverpool was bombed heavily, it was a major industrial, commercial city, it manufactured a lot of weapons etc and all buildings, warehouses, and factories connected with industry etc were obvious targets for bombs. As with London, heavy bombing was used as an attempt at trying to lower morale.

Birmingham; - This was and still is a large industrial city which contained a great many factories, workshops and warehouses, all very necessary from the Germans point of view to bomb, since it would put a temporary halt to the manufacture of planes and machinery. Birmingham was also a ...

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