expects to terrorise and cow the people of this
Little does he know the spirit of the British
nation, or the tough fibre of the Londoners.
Churchill, broadcast 11 September 1940.
reports from London are agreed that the population
is seized by fear. The Londoners have completely lost their
French radio, 18 September 1940
'HistoryLearning' site - basic
People at War
(The History Place)
of London exhibition - VERY interesting
BBC site on the Blitz: Myth and Reality (esp. the personal
stories - wow!)
Film clips and YouTube:
Film clip (and in
London Can Take It! - classic American documentary,
which played an important part in bringing the USA into
Shields bombing (interactive site)
govt's Learning Curve site
extract from Norman Longmate's fantastic book: How We Lived
city was in darkness
black-out material (at 2 shillings a yard) prevented
any gleam of light from the windows.
At the start of the Blitz people feared even to
strike a match.
Many things (including pavement edges) were
painted white; pedestrians ‘wore something white at
lost their way, walked into canals, bumped into
Car headlights were hooded.
It was said that more people died from traffic
accidents than from Nazi bombs.
Only criminals, lovers and astronomers loved
Fire-watchers and street wardens stayed awake
all night listening for any attack.
Things were not always as well-organised as
they might be; my mother was put on listening duty,
even though she was deaf.
mothers grabbed their children and went out to the
Anderson shelter in the garden – brightened up with
flowers growing on the roof, and pictures, even
wallpaper, on the walls.
They took with them birth certificates, Post
Office books, First Aid kit and personal treasures.
Others preferred to shelter under the Morrison
shelter in the sitting room, or in the cupboard under
In the City, thousands were sleeping the night
in the Underground, or in fouling-smelling public
places such as Coventry and Plymouth, many people had
left the city and gone to sleep outside in the
came the throb of plane engines.
People could tell the different enemy planes by
their engines, as they could tell them by their
engines seemed to be saying: ‘Where are you?
Where are you?’
Anti-aircraft (‘ack-ack’) guns opened fire
– people were killed by their shells falling back to
requires you to know about air-raid precautions (the
measures taken to prepare for Nazi bombing attacks).
Here is a list:
barrage balloons, search lights and ack-ack (anti-aircraft) guns
shelters (including Anderson, Morrison, public
shelters, and The London Underground).
equipment (included sandbags, taping windows, stirrup
pump, incendiary bomb scoop)
(evacuation was a form of ARP)
Civil defence services (included the Auxiliary Fire
Service, First Aiders and amublancemen)
27,000 volunteers in the
Royal Observer Corps (listening for bombers at night/ looking
for planes or doodlebugs during the day)
Schools and churches had their own ARP arrangements (like
schools have drills today)
booklets and cigarette cards giving advice to householders
ARP wardens were not just officious men who went round
shouting 'put that light out'. In the
event of an 'incident', they coordinated the casualty
services, the WVS and the boy scouts (who ran
came the bombs.
explosives (HEs) blew up buildings.
Incendiaries caused fires and were dropped in
clusters called ‘breadbaskets’ or ‘Molotovs’.
Later in the war, the Nazis dropped parachute
bombs – which exploded when they touched the earth.
Unable to see where the factories were, the
bombers resorted to ‘carpet- bombing’.
90% of houses in London were damaged.
On the night of 14-15 November 1940 Coventry
was so badly bombed that the Nazis coined a new word:
‘coventrate’ – meaning to destroy a whole city.
Winston Churchill visited Coventry.
‘They have sown the wind, they shall reap the
whirlwind’, he said.
Later in the war he sent 1,000-bomber raids to
attack German cities.
Many German civilians were killed; some people
nowadays say Churchill was wrong, but during the war
many British people thought it served them right.
If they keep this up for another week, the
war will be over.
The East End won’t be able to stand much
more of this sort of thing. What’s more, the Fire Brigade won’t be able to
stand much more of it either.
This is the first leave I’ve had since
came the bombs.
You could hear the HEs going over the top
with a low whistling sound.
After a moment or two they started in with
the incendiaries and dropped a Molotov over the
was fire in every direction. The City was turned into an enormous, loosely-stacked
furnace, belching black smoke.
Air Raid Warden, speaking in January 1941.
This photograph, published in the Daily Mail in
December 1940 – showing St Paul’s towering
over the fires of the Blitz – was called by the
Greatest Picture of the War’.
It had symbolic meaning to the people at the
time - can you think what?
everybody sheltered during a raid.
Firemen fought the fires.
Fire-watchers tried to put out incendiaries.
Rescue workers dug for buried people.
who could tried to get on with their lives.
The homeless went to government rest centres.
The Women’s Voluntary Service provided cups
of tea and blankets. Bomb disposal men tried to disarm UXBs (unexploded
was a dangerous job; many UXBs were booby-trapped.
everybody behaved bravely.
Some people talked about surrendering.
In the East End of London, there was some
government’s Mass Observation researchers were
from 1941 of bus which had fallen into the crater of a
bomb which blasted through the roof of an underground
The government did not allow this photograph to be
published; can you think why?
British nation is stirred and moved as it never has
been at any time in its long and famous history, and
they mean to conquer or to die.
What a triumph the life of these battered
cities is over the worst that fire and bomb can do!
The terrible experiences and emotions of the
battlefield are now shared by the entire population.
Old men, little children, the crippled, the
veterans of former wars, aged women, the hard-pressed
citizen, the sturdy workman with his hammer in the
shipyard, the members of every kind of ARP service,
are proud to feel that they stand in the line together
with our fighting men.
This, indeed, is a grand, heroic period of our
history, and the light of glory shines upon all.
Churchill, broadcast 27 April 1941.
I just went down to the Post an’ when I came back my
street was as flat as this ‘ere wharfside – there
was just my ‘ouse like – well, part of my ‘ouse.
My missus was just making me a cup of tea for
when I came ‘ome.
She were in the passage between the kitchen
and the wash-‘ouse, where it blowed ‘er.
She were burnt right up to ‘er waist.
‘Er legs were just two cinders… and ‘er face…
The only thing I could recognize ‘er by was
one of ‘er boots…
I’d ‘ave lost fifteen ‘omes if I could ‘ave kept my
Hull Air Raid Warden.