The first air raid siren in London during the Second World War went off
at 11.27am on the day war was declared, 3 September 1939. It was a false alarm.
The first German bombs fell on central London on 24 August 1940. Reputed
to be a mistake by German bombers aiming for the Thames estuary, RAF retaliation
on Berlin was followed by the bombing of London on 7 September which started
'the Blitz'.
The London Blitz lasted from 7 September 1940 until 11 May 1941
On Saturday 7 September 1940 348 German bombers escorted by 617 fighters
attacked London in the late afternoon, forming a 20 mile wide block of aircraft
filling 800 square miles of sky. 448 people were killed.
London was bombed every day or night from 7 September until 2 November.
The Anderson Shelter was named after Sir John Anderson, Minister for Civil
Defence, and 2,250,000 were supplied free to people on incomes less than £150
a year.
'ARP' stood for Air Raid Precautions, the organisation responsible for organising
the defence of London and recruited 200,000 people,including 16,000 fulltime.
London Underground stations were popular places to shelter despite government
misgivings about their safety. At its peak, 177,000 people sheltered in the
tube on one night.
'AA' stood for Anti-Aircraft fire, also known as Ack-Ack, which proved relatively
ineffective against the bombers. Initially an average of 30,000 shells were
fired for each Luftwaffe plane shot down, although this ratio did improve
during the course of the Blitz. Anti-aircraft missiles were the main source
of shrapnel falling over London.
In the worst single incident in the Blitz 450 were killed when a bomb hit
an air raid shelter at a school in West Ham.
10 May 1941 was the worst night of the Blitz (and the last). 3000 people
were killed in London that night.
40% of housing in Stepney was destroyed during the Blitz.
3000 unexploded Bombs (UXBs) were dealt with during Blitz.
1,400,000 people were made homeless due to the Blitz.
Just over 20,000 people were killed in the London Blitz.
Blitz: intensive or sudden attack, usually aerial (Oxford English Dictionary)
short for Blitzkrieg meaning 'lightning war'
