In Churchill’s words, Hitler had tried and failed “To break our famous island race by a process of indiscriminate slaughter and destruction”. Over 43,000 civilians were killed in the Blitz and much material damage was done, but British morale remained unbroken and Britain’s capacity to wage war was unimpaired. The capital was bombed for 57 consecutive nights, when over 13,650 tons of high explosive and 12,586 incendiary canisters were dropped by the Luftwaffe.īeginning with Coventry on 14 November 1940, the Germans also began bombing other cities and towns while still keeping up attacks on London. 7 September 1940, ‘Black Saturday’, saw the beginning of the first major attacks on London. This prompted the Germans to shift their main effort from attacking RAF airfields to bombing Britain’s towns and cities. London was bombed by accident on the night of 24 August 1940, and the following night Churchill ordered an attack on Berlin.
The Blitz – an abbreviation of the word Blitzkrieg (lightning war) – was the name given to the German air attacks on Britain between 7 September 1940 and 16 May 1941. 29 December 1940: St Paul’s Cathedral photographed during the Second Great Fire of London
