September 7th 1940 This moment is a historic one. As a result of the provocative British attacks on Berlin on recent nights the Führer has decided to order a mighty blow to be struck in revenge against the British capital of the British Empire. I personally have assumed the leadership of this attack and today I have heard above me the roaring of the victorious German squadrons. Hermann Göring September 7th 1940 German Plan of Attack on London General Officer Commanding I Air Corps Grauert The following is the plan of attack that the German Luftwaffe has been ordered to make on the destruction of London, and will be carried as out follows: 1. Bomber operations: On the evening of 7.9.1940 Luftflotte 2 will conduct a major strike against the target Loge* To this end, the following units will operate in succession: For the initial attack: at 1800 one KG of II Air Corps. For the main attack: at 1840 II Air Corps, at 1845 I Air Corps to be reinforced by KG 30. 2. Disposition of I Air Corps Units: KG 30 (plus II KG/76) on the right. KG I central. KG 76 (less II / KG76) on the left. For targets see General Appendix 3. Fighter Cover: a). Purpose of initial attack is to force English fighters into the air so that they will have reached end of endurance at time of main attack. b). Fighter escort will be provided by Jafu 2 in the proportion of one fighter Geschwader for each bomber Geschwader. c). ZG 76 (for this operation under I Air Corps Command) will, from 1840, clear the air of enemy fighters over I Air Corps targets, thereby covering attack and retreat of bomber formations. d). Jafu 2 guarantees two fighter Geschwader to cover I and II Air Corps. 4. Execution: a). Rendezvous: To be made with fighter escort before crossing coast. Bombers will fly direct. b). Courses: KG 30, St Omer - just south of Cap Griz Nez - railway fork north of 'Seveneae' - to the target. KG I, St Pol - mouth of la Slack - Riverhead - to the target. KG 76, Hesdin - north perimeter Boulogne - Westerham - to target. c). Fighter escort: JG 26 for KG 30. JG 54 for KG I. JG 27 for KG 26. In view of the fact that the fighters will be operating at the limit of their endurance, it is essential that direct courses be flown and the attack completed in minimum time. d). Flying altitudes after rendezvous with fighters: KG 30 = 5,000 - 5,500 metres (16,400 - 18,000 feet). KG I = 6,000 - 6.500 metres (19,700 - 21,300 feet). KG 76 = 5,000 - 5,500 metres (16,400 - 18,000 feet). To stagger heights as above will provide maximum concentration of attacking force. On return flight some loss of altitude is permissible, in order to cross the English coast at approximately 4,000 metres (13,000 feet). e). The intention is to complete the operation in a single attack. In the event of units failing to arrive directly over target, other suitable objectives in Loge* may be bombed from altitude of approach. f). Return flight: After releasing bombs, formations will turn to starboard, KG 27 will do so with care after first establishing that starboard units have already attacked. Return course will then be: Maidstone - Dymchurch - escort fighter bases. g). Bomb loads: He III and Ju 88 no 50kg bombs, 20% incendiaries, 30% delayed-action 2-4 hour and 10-14 hour (the latter without concussion fuses). Do 17 to carry 25% disintegrating containers with B1, EL and no SD 50. Load only to be limited by security of aircraft against enemy flak. Fuel sufficient for completion of operation to be carried only. 5. To achieve the necessary maximum effect it is essential that units fly as highly concentrated forces during approach, attack and especially on return. The main objective of the operation is to prove that the Luftwaffe can achieve this.
The Blitz Around Britain The Blitz Around Britain The Blitz began on 7 September, 'Black Saturday', when German bombers attacked London, leaving 430 dead and 1,600 injured. London was then bombed for 57 consecutive nights, and often during daytime too. London experienced regular attacks and on 10-11 May 1941 was hit by its biggest raid. German bombers dropped 711 tons of high explosive and 2,393 incendiaries. 1,436 civilians were killed. However, this proved to be the last major raid until January 1943. While London was bombed more heavily and more often than anywhere else in Britain, the Blitz was an attack on the whole country. Very few areas were left untouched by air raids. In relatively small compact cities, the impact of a severe air raid could be devastating. From mid-November 1940, major provincial cities and industrial centres were targeted. In early 1941 another wave of attacks began, primarily against ports. Respite finally came from June when much of the Luftwaffe was directed against Russia and targets in the Mediterranean. In these nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed. This is how the Blitz affected towns and cities across the United Kingdom.
Ref your first paragraph, just one point: the term ‘Blitzkrieg’ was not the sustained campaign of aerial bombing. Rather it was the name given by western journalists to what they perceived as a ‘new’ form of warfare used by the Wehrmacht - seen first in Poland, but again in Western Europe in 1940, of course. I THINK it first appeared in Picture Post in September 1939, but can’t check because I'm on a walking holiday right now! (As a by the by, it was - arguably - not new at all, but simply the application of modern technology, particularly radios, armoured vehicles and aircraft, to the traditional way the Prussians and Germans had been fighting for a hundred years - some argue that it reaches back to the 18th Century.) The aerial campaign against Britain was called ‘the Blitz’ by the British - the term was also coined by the press, I think, but was clearly a derivation of ‘Blitzkrieg’. The point is that the two are different.
Yes thats the title of the thread Start of the Blitz 7th September 1940 ,German Plan of Attack on London the other detail is the convoluted thread from IWM
September 7th 1940 - The Aftermath As the first light of September 8th 1940 started to break through, the picture of the experiences of the late afternoon bombing and the continued onslaught throughout the night began to emerge. The East End probably suffered the worst, but serious damage was done to areas south of the River Thames as well as the outer city areas between Aldgate and Ludgate Hill. Fires were still raging in bond stores and the dock areas around North Woolwich, nothing escaped the tons of bombs and incendiaries that were dropped. The Royal Albert Dock, Queen Victoria Dock and King George V Dock were burning infernos, ships were damaged and the industrial areas of Custom House, Silvertown and Canning Town were still burning fiercely as raw materials added fuel to the timbers and structure of the many buildings. Places like John Knights (Soap works), Tate and Lyles (Sugar refiners) and Silvertown Rubber Works were among the factories badly hit. Others included an ink factory, a tarpaulin company and a fuel depot. On the other side of the road, now called Silvertown Way that separates the industrial factories from the residential areas, homes were demolished and others so badly damaged that they became uninhabitable. The damage went as far inland as Barking, East Ham, West Ham and Bethnal Green, areas that were highly populated and classed as residential. South of the Thames, the situation was almost as bad, and what made this worse, was the fact that most of the south side was residential until reaching Deptford. Again, as north of the Thames, houses were demolished, others became unrecognisable as walls and roofs lie in shambles in back gardens and in roadways.
The link is in the thread My own work (very kind of you to say) but I could not write a paragraph without the internet I am totally inept
Ok, I didn’t follow the links. I have done now, and my point stands, that your opening paragraph is simply incorrect - to put it bluntly. You say, ‘Blitzkrieg ('lightning war') – was the sustained campaign of aerial bombing attacks on British towns and cities carried out by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) from September 1940 until May 1941.’ My point is that that is NOT what Blitzkrieg was - and, in fact, neither does the IWM say that. The IWM is (kind of) correct in describing ‘Blitzkrieg’ as a ‘method of offensive warfare’ used by the Wehrmacht. That’s not what you’ve said in your piece, wherever it’s come from. Anyway, ‘nuff said.
changed it for you deleted it was not my piece it was IWM at least someone is paying attention this is the IWM bit The Blitz Around Britain Blitzkrieg ('lightning war') – was the sustained campaign of aerial bombing attacks on British towns and cities carried out by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) from September 1940 until May 1941. The Blitz Around Britain
Ok, I see what’s going on here. You’ve paraphrased it and had left out a critical element. They actually say: ‘The 'Blitz' – from the German term Blitzkrieg ('lightning war') – was the sustained campaign of aerial bombing attacks on British towns and cities carried out by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) from September 1940 until May 1941.’ That description of ‘the Blitz’ is correct - and the fact that it’s derived from ‘Blitzkrieg’ is correct. They are a little incorrect, I guess, in that the term wasn’t coined - certainly not doctrinally - by the Germans, as they suggest. They sort of adopted it in about 1941 (if I recall correctly, Hitler made reference to ‘Blitzkrieg’ then), but it was first coined (as I mentioned) by the English-speaking press in September 1939. Anyway, I’ll stop splitting hairs now.
A bus is left leaning against the side of a terrace in Harrington Square, Mornington Crescent, in the aftermath of a German bombing raid on London in the first days of the Blitz, 9th September 1940. The bus was empty at the time, but eleven people were killed in the houses. File:London Blitz 9 September 1940.jpg - Wikimedia Commons 001 ANDERSON H - - 09/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 002 COLLINS CBJ - - 09/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 003 FULLER EM - - 09/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 004 HOLMES H - - 09/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 005 MYLEY M - - 09/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 006 NIRESTEIN P - - 09/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 007 NIRESTEIN I - - 09/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 008 PENN R - - 09/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 009 SAWBRIDGE R - - 09/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 010 WOLKIND MI - - 09/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD
September 7th 1940 - The Aftermath Saturday September 7th 1940 The Aftermath As the first light of September 8th 1940 started to break through, the picture of the experiences of the late afternoon bombing and the continued onslaught throughout the night began to emerge. The East End probably suffered the worst, but serious damage was done to areas south of the River Thames as well as the outer city areas between Aldgate and Ludgate Hill. Fires were still raging in bond stores and the dock areas around North Woolwich, nothing escaped the tons of bombs and incendiaries that were dropped. The Royal Albert Dock, Queen Victoria Dock and King George V Dock were burning infernos, ships were damaged and the industrial areas of Custom House, Silvertown and Canning Town were still burning fiercely as raw materials added fuel to the timbers and structure of the many buildings. Places like John Knights (Soap works), Tate and Lyles (Sugar refiners) and Silvertown Rubber Works were among the factories badly hit. Others included an ink factory, a tarpaulin company and a fuel depot. On the other side of the road, now called Silvertown Way that separates the industrial factories from the residential areas, homes were demolished and others so badly damaged that they became uninhabitable. The damage went as far inland as Barking, East Ham, West Ham and Bethnal Green, areas that were highly populated and classed as residential. South of the Thames, the situation was almost as bad, and what made this worse, was the fact that most of the south side was residential until reaching Deptford. Again, as north of the Thames, houses were demolished, others became unrecognisable as walls and roofs lie in shambles in back gardens and in roadways. We got the red alert as was often the case when an impending raid was approaching from the Thames Estuary. But the usual practice was for the bomber formations to split up near the Isle of Sheppy and they then set course for the RAF aerodromes north and south of the Thames the we would revert back to a yellow. But in this case we was under a 'red' for longer than usual and messages started to come in that the bombers were seen coming up the Thames. Well, I went up and I have never seen anything like it. A thick blanket of black bombers which must have been two miles wide following the Thames. Our station was almost at the road junction that now goes down to the Woolwich ferry and we had an excellent view of what was going to happen. I think the first bombs were dropped just before the dock areas and the right side of the formation would pass right over us. We could do nothing but get back to our posts and pray like mad. The sound was deafening, the building shook and dust from walls and ceilings started to envelope our desks, we could do nothing while the raid was on although a few phone calls came through, 'this street got it' and 'so and so building has got a direct hit. Then silence, slowly the phones died, lines had been cut and we knew that once it was all over we would have to rely on messengers.
