the home front in world war two part two the blitz
TRANSCRIPT
Aims of the lesson
By the end of the lesson you will
• Understand what we mean by the blitz
• Understand the aims of objectives of the blitz and to evaluate the extent of its success or failure
• Evaluate how the people of Britain reacted to the bombing of the major cities
The Background
• 1st September 1939 – war declared
• Feared air and gas attack – 38 million gas masks issued
• Shelters build in major cities
• Blackout after dusk
• Many children evaluated from the major towns to the countryside
• Battle of Britain – won by summer 1940
The aims of the blitz
• Hitler aimed to get the British people to surrender by bombing the major cities
• He aimed to cripple Britain’s industry and to force her political leaders to the negotiating table
• To concentrate on London where the effect on morale would be greatest
The Blitz – Winter 1940 / 41
• From September 1940 London was bombed for 76 consecutive nights
• 1st raid – 7th September• 436 civilians killed• 1600 injured• Morale was not effected
too badly and it helped to bring people together
The effects of the blitz
In the shelters
Coventry
• Other cites were also targeted by the Germans
• Coventry suffered more than most
• Morale almost cracked as the city was turned to ruins
• The beautiful medieval Cathedral was completely wrecked
Hartlepool
• Hartlepool was targeted by the Germans because of the docks and its industry
• Many civilians were killed especially in the Middleton Grange area
• The Victoria Ground was almost destroyed
The effects of the blitz
• Ended in the summer of 1941
• 40 000 civilians had been killed
• 2 000 000 homeless• But Hitler had failed to
destroy British industry or break morale
The Doodlebugs – V1
• In 1944 Hitler started to send unmanned rocket bombs to drop on London
• These caused thousands of casualties
• They made a buzzing noise – once it stopped the bomb would plunge to the ground
The V2 rocket
• The V2 rocket travelled at supersonic speeds
• Victims knew nothing of it until the explosion
• A very worrying weapon – Hitler could not produce them quickly enough
• Stopped by the RAF bombing the launch sites in Holland and Belgium