How was London bombed?

The period from August 13 to September 6, 1940 was the difficult second phase of the Battle of Britain. The German army concentrated on attacking British air force bases and radar stations, looking for and annihilating the main force of the British Air Force. On August 24, German aircraft began to drop deadly bombs on the seven sector stations of the 11th Group.

Although none of the British fan stations were completely destroyed, they were severely damaged by a series of bombings, especially the fan stations at Biggin Hill and Kenley. The functions of these nerve centers begin to atrophy.

Since then, frontline airports in the UK have also been attacked by air raids. On 31 August, RAF Fighter Command encountered its worst day. Groups of German bombers roared in, like craters on the moon. The airport's warehouses and command buildings were razed to the ground, power transmission lines were cut, aircraft were blown up, and people on the ground were killed. On this day, the German commander dropped 4,400 tons of bombs. The Royal Air Force lost 39 aircraft and 14 pilots - this was the deadliest day so far. For the first time since the Battle of Britain, Germany destroyed fewer aircraft in one day than the Royal Air Force lost.

In the following days, storms and clouds never visited England again, and the sun was bright and cloudless for several days. For 13 consecutive days from August 24 to September 6, the German army organized thousands of aircraft bombings almost every day, that is, an average of nearly 1,000 aircraft were dispatched to attack airports, air force ground forces and the aviation industry in southern England every day. These attacks and the resulting air battles reached their climax here. The Battle of Britain has entered a decisive stage. Royal Air Force pilots have been on high alert for a month and have to dispatch several times a day. They are already too tired. Although they persisted in a last-ditch effort, the Germans' numerical superiority began to take effect.

Subsequently, in order to confuse the British Royal Air Force radar monitors, the Germans adopted a new tactic in the air, that is, the Luftwaffe fleet flew up and down the French coast all day long, just in the Royal Air Force. As far as the Air Force radar screen can see. The test personnel simply could not predict which group of aircraft would suddenly turn north, pass over the English Channel, and launch a real attack on Britain.

The 5 forward airfields and 6 theater airfields of the 11th Fighter Group were severely damaged. The two airfields at Manston and Leam on the Kent coast were unavailable to fighter aircraft for several consecutive days. Biggin Hill, the main fighter base defending London, was bombed six times in three days. The base control room was destroyed and seven ground personnel were injured or killed. As a result, only one fighter squadron could be used for a week. The RAF's fighter defenses began to weaken. In these critical two weeks, 290 British fighter planes were shot down and severely damaged; the Luftwaffe lost 285 aircraft, including 214 fighters and 138 bombers.

Britain is facing a catastrophic danger, and the entire country is in panic. Prime Minister Churchill said anxiously: "If the enemy persists, the entire organization of the entire fighter command may collapse, and the country is in danger of falling."

Yes, if this kind of blow from Germany continues If this continues, even if it only lasts for a week, there will no longer be an organized and large-scale resistance force in the British sky. It can be said with certainty that the "Sea Lion Project" will make progress.

On the night of August 24, two German Air Force planes suddenly and unexpectedly bombed the urban area of ??London, the British capital. Several bombs fell on central London, razing the ancient St. Giles' Church to the ground and knocking a statue of John Milton off its pedestal in a nearby square. Some houses were blown up and several civilians were killed. This miscast immediately triggered a rapid response from the UK. Churchill preferred to believe that this was intentional. He believed that nothing could win more sympathy and assistance from the United States than the sight of London in ruins.

Churchill made the mistake and ordered an immediate staff meeting to study countermeasures. The next night, an order came to RAF Bomber Command: a retaliatory attack on Berlin.

On August 25, the Royal Air Force launched its first air raid on the German capital. At night, there were dark clouds over Berlin. Looking at the ground targets from the air, they were blurry and looming. Only about half of the Royal Air Force bombers found the targets. The actual damage caused by this air raid in Berlin was very small, but it caused great panic in Berlin.

In the following days, the Berlin Company was bombed several times. The night bombing of August 28 was the first to kill Germans in the German capital. German officials announced that 10 people were killed and 29 injured. Hitler was furious, and that afternoon, Hitler flew back to Berlin from his temporary base camp, Berghof. He ordered G?ring's bomber force to prepare for a night raid on London as punishment for Churchill's "foolish move."

In this way, Hitler made this extremely stupid decision not for military purposes, but for political purposes, and to defend his personal status and dignity.

On August 31, the German Air Force Headquarters decided to shift the focus of the attack to London on September 7.

The period from September 7 to October 31, 1940 was the third turning stage of the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe changed its attack target and bombed London with all its strength. The British Air Force was able to breathe and the war situation took a turn.

At 19:50 on September 7, a massive German fleet consisting of 625 bombers and 648 fighter jets crossed the English Channel from different directions and altitudes and headed towards London. The British fighter force still expected that the Germans would attack their forward fighter bases again, and therefore took off proactively to defend the air base, thus giving up a possible passage to London. However, this time the Royal Air Force was fooled. The Germans had changed their attack target. They wanted to launch a large-scale lightning air attack on London.

The first wave of German aircraft accurately dropped high-explosive bombs on targets such as Thames Harbor, the densely populated East End of London, and the Woolwich Arsenal. All 23 British squadrons roared towards the bomber group. A fierce battle raged over the vast sky over London. But they arrived too late. Groups of German black bombers howled and roared fiercely over London, bombing indiscriminately. In just one hour, the German army successfully dropped more than 300 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs into London.

London suddenly became a sea of ??fire. The north bank of the Thames was reduced to a burning ruin a mile and a half long and half a mile wide, and the town of Silver was completely engulfed in flames. Large and small industrial facilities, transportation hubs, power networks, civilian residences, and parliament buildings were destroyed one after another. The sounds of explosions, collapses, calls for help, screams, and the roars of police cars and fire engines were accompanied by black smoke rising into the sky.

The city was instantly reduced to rubble, the vegetation was instantly burned to ashes, and the whole earth was shaking. From a purely military perspective, Germany's first large-scale air raid on London was successful.

In the following days, the German bombing brought unprecedented disaster to London. The bombing by German planes turned the urban area into a sea of ????fire, and the fire lit up the sky red and the Thames River... But before the firefighters could put out all the raging fires, the following German bombers roared away under the guidance of the fire. Come and drop bombs and incendiary bombs like raindrops.

The tragic scene after the German bombing of downtown London. At 5 pm on September 9, more than 200 bombers of the German Air Force, under the cover of a powerful escort group, went to bomb London for the second time. But this time they were no longer so lucky. The British Air Force has long been prepared for revenge and is ready for another enemy invasion.

Just as the German fleet had just crossed the English Channel, the British "Spitfire" and "Tornado" squadrons were immediately ordered to take off to alert over important targets in London. When the first German bomber formation, almost surrounded by escort fighters, flew into the sky over Dover, the two squadrons that had been waiting in the air for a long time quickly swooped over. The "Tornado" fighter squadron was dedicated to attacking enemy bombers, " The Spitfire fighter squadron went all out to intercept enemy fighters. The planes of both sides chased each other in the sky, launching a desperate struggle.

The clear blue sky was suddenly painted with white flight contrails, which was dazzling.

Although the Germans finally succeeded in bombing, it also gave them a powerful warning: they would never again reach the skies over London without being attacked.

In the following days, Germany continued to invade the London area at all costs and caused huge damage to London. More than 1,000 places in the city were bombed and fires broke out. Nearly 10,000 citizens died. The houses in District 105 were bombed and there were broken walls everywhere. People are short of water, electricity, gas, food, and even medicine.

However, the cruelty of the Nazis did not and could not destroy the indomitable soul of this nation. On the contrary, their actions only increased the hatred and hatred of British civilians towards the Nazis.

At this fateful moment, British Fighter Command made major changes in its tactics. "Spitfire" and "Hurricane" fighter jets no longer went into battle in scattered squadrons. They used large fleet formations that could compete with the enemy to face the Luftwaffe. The day of fighting with "large flying wings" has arrived. Hundreds of "Spitfire" and "Hurricane" aircraft were shining in the sunshine, like sharp swords across the sky, waiting to cut off the claws of the invaders one by one.

September 15th, a golden autumn day. On this day, following the two fierce air raids on the 14th, the German Air Force concentrated its maximum strength on another daytime air raid on London. More than 200 German bombers, under the cover of more than 600 fighter planes, pressed toward London, covering the sky and the sun. The German pilots felt that victory was almost within reach.

Admiral Dao, the Royal Fighter Commander, sent almost all his troops into the sky. The 11th and 12th Fighter Groups have 24 squadrons and nearly 300 aircraft, taking off in batches. All these Spitfires and Hurricanes formed a steel line of defense in the air south and west of London.

At this moment, without waiting to occupy a favorable attack position, these royal fighter jets couldn't wait to reach the same height as the German planes, and pierced the German bomber formation from the front like daggers, immediately disrupting the German fleet. "One pot of porridge". Dozens of "Spitfire" fighter jets immediately disbanded and fought independently. The pilot pressed the firing button fiercely, and the gun muzzle sprayed flames wildly. The German bombers were suddenly in chaos, and within a few minutes, they crashed one after another with thick black smoke. Today both sides tried their best and launched a large-scale chaotic fight.

Just after 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when the German planes crossed the coast again like an endless tide, the British had two more pairs of flying squadrons and three semi-alone squadrons flying rapidly. toward the enemy aircraft. German pilots encountered greater numbers of Spitfires and Hurricanes than before. The air battle was extremely fierce, and the sky was filled with streaks of white smoke.

On the ground, you can clearly see the anti-aircraft artillery groups firing angry artillery fire at enemy aircraft in the air, and hear the explosion of artillery shells in the air. From time to time, there were sounds of strafing from planes, explosions after the planes were hit, screams of engines accelerating, and sharp sounds of planes diving sharply. This is a bloody fight! This is a battle of fire! Deji fled in panic! After this special day, the German Air Force never wanted to find an opportunity to engage in a large-scale fighter confrontation with the British Air Force.

On this day, the Royal Air Force achieved a great victory. The next day the London newspaper published in large letters "185 German aircraft destroyed". People were happy and running around telling each other. Every household in London spontaneously held up the British Union Jack flag to celebrate the Royal Air Force's victory. Churchill called this day the greatest day of fierce fighting ever seen in the history of air combat. Later, the United Kingdom designated September 15 as "British Air War Day" to celebrate.

Facts show that the Germans made another miscalculation when they changed the bombing target to London. The shift of the German bombing focus saved the Royal Air Force, which was on the verge of despair, and gave the Royal Air Force Fighter Command a breather, which was almost unable to support itself. The aircraft freed the devastated sector station, thus saving Britain. It marked a turning point in the first major air war in history. The balance of the major air war began to tilt in the direction of the Royal Air Force. The German high command knew that the British Air Force had not been eliminated since the beginning of the Battle of Britain.

The bombing of London not only caused heavy losses to the Luftwaffe, but also caused the whole of Britain to share the same hatred. Goering finally felt that his arrogance and incompetence had made him fall out of favor with Hitler, and other branches of the military were also resentful of him. G?ring was isolated and the responsibility for defeating the British fell entirely on him.

In order to reduce losses as much as possible, the German army decided to carry out air raids on London at night starting from October 1st.

On the evening of the 2nd, a huge fleet of more than 1,000 aircraft took off again. They wanted to bring death to London again. The dark night became an accomplice for the German bombers to wreak havoc. At night, large numbers of German bombers successfully flew over London and other British cities. German planes swaggered across the night sky. The bombers in front dropped incendiary bombs onto the target area, while the bombers in the back followed the flames and dropped various anti-personnel bombs. On London docks, in crowded slums, in the capital's food shops, and everywhere in one of the world's largest cities, there was the sound of violent bomb explosions. Fire bombs reduced the streets of London to rubble and shards of glass. The horrors caused by German fascists in Warsaw and Rotterdam not long ago are now unfolding in front of the people of London. Entire London neighborhoods looked like they were undergoing an unprecedented disaster. Human justice has once again been destroyed and ravaged.

Night air combat has brought various new problems to the Royal Air Force. Although the British Air Force took off to intercept with all its strength, the initial effect was not ideal. The Royal Air Force still lacks sufficient experience in night-time urban air defense. At that time, of the 24 squadrons of the Royal Air Force's fighter force, only 8 fighter squadrons could be used for night interceptions. Among them are 2 "Challenger" squadrons and 6 "Blenheim" squadrons. The performance of these two types of aircraft is poor and they are ineffective against enemy air combat during the day, let alone used in night combat. The number of anti-aircraft weapons such as anti-aircraft guns and searchlights deployed near London is seriously insufficient, including only 92 heavy anti-aircraft guns. At that time, in the entire British air defense force, there were only 32 heavy anti-aircraft artillery batteries with a shooting height of 25,000 feet, only 22 light anti-aircraft artillery batteries with a shooting height of 6,000 feet, and only 14 searchlight companies. The light beams could only illuminate to 12,000 feet high. The power of these air defense weapons is limited and far from meeting the requirements of such a large city.

What is more difficult is that the "clairvoyance" thunder-shaped network, which has always played a major role in air defense operations, is unable to help. Because British radar stations are mainly deployed in coastal areas, there are basically none in inland areas. Information on the activities of enemy aircraft over the inland areas should be provided by air observation posts scattered throughout the country, but at night, all the air observation posts could only look at the black night sky and were powerless.

The air defense fell into a great passive position. Night bombing made the German bombing successful, and the losses of German bombers were also significantly reduced. Only 325 aircraft were shot down in October, far lower than the 662 aircraft in August and the 582 aircraft in September.

However, the Royal Air Force quickly learned its lessons and adjusted its deployment and strengthened its forces. In particular, General Pyle, who commanded the anti-aircraft artillery team, quickly removed the anti-aircraft artillery from the cities in various counties. The number of anti-aircraft artillery in London more than doubled in two days. In order to inspire people, Prime Minister Churchill also specially ordered several anti-aircraft guns to be deployed in Hyde Park in the city center. Air defense balloons were raised over some important locations where enemy planes might enter, such as the Thames Estuary...

After that, London's air defense entered a new stage. Whenever German aircraft invaded, the entire city suddenly rang with piercing air raid sirens. The blackout suddenly turned the neighborhood into darkness, and the entire city was hidden in the night. Suddenly, the searchlight beam used to search for targets for ground anti-aircraft guns and fighter jets shot into the sky like sharp swords, sweeping back and forth in the air. The whole sky became like day again, even brighter than the day. The German pilots could not see clearly the targets below.

London's underground railway network was used as an air-raid shelter. When searchlights illuminated the night sky, what unfolded before the eyes of London citizens was another stage for aerial combat. Hundreds of anti-aircraft guns rumbled and fired into the air, with fire and roar from all directions, weaving webs of red light in the sky.

Although sometimes the anti-aircraft guns were not very effective at night, the deafening sound greatly satisfied the residents. Everyone was happy and felt that they had fought back against the German devils. As the gunners' shooting skills became more proficient and improved, the number of downed aircraft of the German invasion aircraft increased greatly.

Sometimes the anti-aircraft batteries paused their firing to allow Royal Air Force fighter jets to rush into the night sky to intercept enemy aircraft. I saw various aircraft of the Royal Air Force rushing into the group of enemy aircraft that were "bitten" by the searchlight poles. Sometimes they dived, sometimes they pulled up, and streams of atomized contrails flew wildly in the night sky. From time to time, there were "dong dong" sounds from the sky. The sound of shooting. Occasionally, German aircraft hit by anti-aircraft guns or fighter jets suddenly turned into fireballs, falling from the sky with ear-piercing screams, followed by explosions and smoke. When the Luftwaffe bombed all parts of the UK indiscriminately, the British Royal Air Force bombers were also ordered to carry out air strikes against the Germans.

On September 5, British light bombers attacked two German bases in France.

On the night of September 7, the British Royal Air Force's heavy bombers launched a fierce attack on the port where Germany was preparing to launch an invasion for the first time. Royal Air Force attacks on ports along the entire coast from Le Havre to Antwerp and from Antwerp to Boulogne caused heavy losses to the German ships crowded there. At Dunkirk, 84 barges were sunk and damaged; at Cherbourg to Den Held, a 500-ton arsenal was blown up, a ration warehouse was burned, and many ships and torpedo boats were sunk.

From September 7 to October 12, when Hitler announced the cancellation of the invasion, the Royal Air Force sank and damaged 21 German transport ships, 214 barges, 5 tugboats, and 3 motorboats. This The figure represents approximately 12% of the total number of ships assembled by Germany for the invasion of Britain.

From September 23 to 24, the Royal Air Force Bomber Command dispatched 119 Whitney, Wellingtons and Hampdens bombers to attack Berlin. 84 of these aircraft reached the target area. The single most successful bombing was at Charlottenburg, where an incendiary bomb destroyed a gas storage tank. However, there were also many bombs that failed to explode, including one that was dropped into the garden of Hitler's official residence. It scared Hitler's guards to death, but in the end it was a near miss. This bombing killed 22 Germans.

On September 16, Royal Air Force bombers attacked German troops conducting large-scale invasion exercises, causing heavy losses to personnel and landing ships. Two long ambulance trains were filled with dead and burned soldiers transported back to Berlin. As a result, news spread in Germany and many places on the European continent: The Germans had indeed tried to land, but were repelled by the British...

While the German army was still immersed in the dullness of defeat, , the Royal Air Force took advantage of the aftermath of victory to launch an attack. On the night of September 15th, as well as on the 16th and 17th, the Royal Air Force bombers carried out large-scale and continuous bombings at the ports where the German troops were preparing to launch an invasion, causing a serious blow to the German Navy. Ships in ports from Boulogne to Antwerp were heavily bombed. Antwerp suffered particularly badly.

The naval admirals reported their losses to the head of state. On September 17, Hitler had to agree with the opinion of the Naval Staff that the Royal Air Force had not been defeated and that the Luftwaffe did not have control of the air over the British Isles. The Nazi commander was reluctant but could only postpone the landing again. On October 12, Hitler issued a formal order to postpone the "Sea Lion" program. Hitler was called to postpone, but in fact he was forced to abandon his invasion plan for the British mainland for various complicated reasons. Just like that, the evil "sea lion" escaped quietly.