The London Blitz

What must life have been like during the London Blitz.

I once took a tour of the Westminster Archives building. On the top floor was a section holding enormous maps from the period. Each was as big as a Mid West dining room table and covered a tiny section of London. We looked at the map for Hyde Park, covered in different coloured dots, each representing the landing spot of various types of bombs that reigned down.

An important job at that time was noting every location a bomb landed. These maps are still in use today as reference before any building permits are granted. The marks and scars of the blitz are everywhere. The Houses of Parliament were hit 14 times. St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey were hit too, as was the chapel and north section of Buckingham Palace.

Civilian casualties are incomprehensible. 400 on 9 October 1940, some nights merely 40 or so. St. George's Hospital on Hyde Park Corner treated the bulk of the wounded and ground breaking surgical procedures were developed.

On 19-20 April 1941 the first 1,000 tonne raid was launched, to honour Hitler's birthday. The biggest raid on London was 10-11 May, when 500 bombers hit, some returning for a second time. I read somewhere that they were gearing up for a third run when the weather changed. That saved London, which by that time had lost 25% of the buildings in the centre. Over 700 tons of "H.E." and 86,000 incendiaries landed between 11 pm and 5:30 am.

In my neighbourhood, the church attached to the Carmelite Monastery was completely destroyed by a doodle bug. All the buildings around still show evidence of that blast. 2,400 "V1s" reached London between June 1944 and March 1945, over 100 a day.

The most devasting of all was the V2, a 46 foot high rocket that delivered a ton of explosive and travelled at 3,500 mph. 1,145 of these rockets were launched against England, from 8 September 1944 up to the end of the War. Estimated deaths from the V1s and V2s is over 10,000.

Some of the information quoted is taken from "Walking the London Blitz" by Clive Harris.

Lights and car headlines were not allowed in the evening and that, combined with the large influx of Americans, caused the English to write, in large white letters, the way to look before crossing the street. This helpful idea is still in use today.



One final note - that photo's from an island in the centre of a big street. In London, the rule of thumb is look right first - traffic's on the left here.