Blitz

The word Blitz is short for Blitzkrieg, which means lightning war.

In the middle of September 1940 the battle of Britain had been lost by the Germans. The Blitz was designed by Hitler to destroy Britain's morale. The bombing raids were done by night to add to the fear.The attacks started on September 7th 1940 and continued to May 1941. London had suffered the most. At the start of the campaign, the government did not allow the use of underground rail stations as they considered them a potential safety hazard. But the population of London took the matters into their own hands and opened the chained entrances of the underground, they were safe from high explosive bombs and incendiary bombs (fire bombs). The City tube station was hit when a bomb went through the road and fell into it. Over 200 people were killed. This is a description of the Underground during the Blitz: The government failed to realise the potential use of the underground stations. The government estimated that 87% or more people would use the issued shelters (usually Anderson shelters) or spaces under stairs. and that only 4% of the population would use the underground stations. Each night underground stations played host to thousands of families in London grateful for the protection. The Luftwaffe (The German air force) used the river Thames to help them get to London, and when the first wave of enemy planes came over London they dropped incendiary bombs to guide the next wave of planes. After incendiary bombs high exsplosive bombs were dropped. By May 1941, 43,000 had been killed across Britain and 1.4 million had been made homeless.Not only was London attacked but so were many British cities. Coventry and Plymouth were particularly badly bombed but most of Britain’s cities were also attacked – Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool. As Britain had no night-time fighters then, the bombers had to cope with AA gun fire and avoiding barrage balloons and searchlights.
 * "By 4.00 p.m. all the platforms and passage space of the underground station are staked out, chiefly with blankets folded in long strips laid against the wall – for the trains are still running and the platforms in use. A woman or child guards places for about six people. When the evening comes the rest of the family crowd in."**

The Blitz was the boming in Britain by the Nazi. **They used under ground as an airaid shelter** During the blitz London. The BLITZ Hitler belived that by targeting civilians he could force the British to surrender. 7th september 1940 began his daily bombing campaign. London was the main target other major cities were targeted as well. 430 people were killed and 1,600 were badly injured. The blitz is when Hitler tried to invade Britain in the summer of 1940, by destroying the royal air force and the royal navy.In July 1940, Hitler put his plan into action. The German air force (Luftwaffe) began making daily bombing raids on British ships, ports, radar stations, airfields and aircraft factories. The Battle of Britain had begun. The Royal Air force took to the skies and there were many battles between British and German planes over the Channel. During this time we lost many lives, but Germany lost more. At the beginning of September Hitler new that his plan wasn’t working so he decided to try a new tactic to conquer Britain. Hitler believed that by targeting civilians he could force the British to surrender and on 7th September 1940 began his daily bombing. London was the main target but other major cities in Britain were also bombed. Casualties were high. On the first day of bombing 430 people were killed and 1,600 badly injured.  //__Blackout__

During the war blackouts made it harder for night time bombers to find and hit a target.Cheap,black cotton fabric known as blackout material was used to cover windows inside.No light was allowed to be seen from outside and sometimes they needed to use two or three layers.Each person was responsible for keeping total darkness at night time and could be reported to the police if they did not.//