A German Heinkel He 111 bomber flying over Wapping and the Isle of Dogs in the

East End of London at the start of the Luftwaffe's evening raids of 7 September 1940.

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The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term "Blitzkrieg", the German word for 'lightning war'.

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The Germans conducted mass air attacks against industrial targets, towns, and cities, beginning with raids on London towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940. German bombers were ordered to attack London, to draw RAF Fighter Command into a battle of annihilation. Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, ordered London to be systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 57 days and nights. Most notable was a large daylight attack against London on September 15th.

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The Luftwaffe gradually decreased daylight operations in favour of night attacks to evade attack by the RAF. The Luftwaffe attacked the main Atlantic sea port of Liverpool and the North Sea port of Hull which was a convenient and easily found target or secondary target for bombers unable to locate their primary targets. The port cities of Bristol, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Southampton, Swansea, Belfast, and Glasgow were also bombed, as were the industrial centres of Birmingham, Coventry, Manchester and Sheffield. More than 40,000 civilians were killed by Luftwaffe bombing during the war, almost half of them in the capital, where more than a million houses were destroyed or damaged.

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By mid September Hitler acknowledged that the Luftwaffe had still not gained the air superiority needed for the invasion of Britain. Hitler said the campaign was to intensify regardless of invasion plans: "The decisive thing is the ceaseless continuation of air attacks." and a proposal to attack residential areas to cause "mass panic" was turned down by Hitler although he reserved the option of terror bombing. British morale was to be broken by destroying infrastructure, armaments manufacturing, fuel and food stocks. Göring gave the order for this change in strategy. This new phase was to be the first independent strategic bombing campaign, in hopes of a political success forcing the British to give up. Hitler hoped it might result in "eight million going mad" (referring to the population of London in 1940), which would "cause a catastrophe" for the British. In those circumstances, Hitler said, "even a small invasion might go a long way". Hitler was against cancelling the invasion as "the cancellation would reach the ears of the enemy and strengthen his resolve". On 19 September, Hitler ordered a reduction in work on Operation Sealion. He doubted if strategic bombing could achieve its aims, but ending the air war would be an open admission of defeat. He had to maintain the appearance of concentration on defeating Britain, to conceal from Joseph Stalin his covert aim to invade the Soviet Union.

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During the battle, and for the rest of the war, an important factor in keeping public morale high was the continued presence in London of King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth. When war broke out in 1939, the King and Queen decided to stay in London and not flee to Canada, as had been suggested. George VI and Elizabeth officially stayed in Buckingham Palace throughout the war, although they often spent weekends at Windsor Castle to visit their daughters, Elizabeth (the future queen) and Margaret. Buckingham Palace was damaged by bombs which landed in the grounds on 10 September and, on 13 September, more serious damage was caused by two bombs which destroyed the Royal Chapel. The royal couple were in a small sitting room about 80 yards from where the bombs exploded.

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On 24 September, in recognition of the bravery of civilians,

King George VI inaugurated the award of the George Cross.

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Source: Wikipedia

Firefighters tackling a blaze amongst ruined buildings after an air raid on London.