The Blitz Page 9

  For 57 consecutive nights from September 7th 1940, Hitler’s planes raided London. Londoners called this the Blitz after the German expression Blitzkrieg, which means “lightning war”. Given the length of time the bombing went on, perhaps this wasn’t quite the right word! After London, most other British cities came in for similar bombardment during the period up to May 1941, some – like the centre of Coventry – being almost completely devastated.

  More than three and a half million homes were destroyed, often by incendiary or fire bombs. The House of Commons was left in ruins and even Buckingham Palace was damaged. Ordinary life stopped almost completely. About 30,000 people were killed in the Blitz, half of them in London. Up to September 1941, Hitler had killed more British civilians than fighting men. In Lewisham there were over 2,000 fires between September 1940 and May 1941. More than 20,000 incendiary bombs fell in Lewisham, and a further 2,000 packed with high explosive. Nearly 1,000 people were killed here alone. To put it another way, about one in fifty of the average war-time population of the borough was killed or seriously injured.

  But the spirit of the British people in Lewisham and elsewhere wasn’t crushed, and having failed to find an opportunity to invade in September 1940, Hitler never got another chance. The tide of the war slowly turned against him, although it took until 1945 for the allied armies to reach Berlin and the bunker where he committed suicide.

  The story of Edie Benson and her family may read like a fairy tale, but Edie might have been your grandma. These things are not so far away as they seem. . .

  Timeline

  Sept 3 1939 Britain declares war on Germany.

  May 9 1940 Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister.

  May 27 1940 British troops are evacuated from Dunkirk, France.

  June 22 1940 Most of France is under German occupation.

  July 10 1940 “Battle of Britain” begins.

  July 16 1940 Hitler makes plans to invade Britain.

  Aug 25 1940 British planes bomb German towns including Berlin.

  Sept 7 1940 First “big raid” on London by German bombers.

  Sept 17 1940 Hitler abandons invasion “until further notice”.

  Oct 12 1940 Hitler cancels invasion for winter.

  Nov 2 1940 Last of 57 consecutive night raids on London.

  Nov 14 1940 Major raid on Coventry leaves city in ruins.

  Nov 1940–April 1941 Raids on most major British cities.

  Dec 29–31 1940 Devastating air raids on the City of London.

  Apr 16–19th 1941 Some of the worst raids of the war in Lewisham.

  May 1941 Hitler turns his attention to Russia. The Blitz is over.

  Dec 7 1941 Japanese aircraft attack the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The US enters the war.

  June 6 1944 D-day. Allied troops land in Normandy.

  1944–early 1945 V-1 “doodle-bug” and V-2 rocket attacks on London.

  Feb 14 1945 As many civilians killed in a single British air-raid on Dresden as in the entire German “Blitz”.

  May 7 1945 Germans unconditionally surrender on all fronts.

  Aug 6–9 1945 Atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The world enters the nuclear age.

  Sept 2 1945 Official celebration of victory over Japan.

  For my grandparents: Ella May and Bertie, Isobel and William

  While the events described and some of the characters in this book may be based on actual historical events and real people, Edie Benson is a fictional character, created by the author, and her diary and its epilogue are works of fiction.

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  First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2001

  This electronic edition published 2012

  Text © Vince Cross, 2001

  Cover illustration © Richard Jones, 2008

  All rights reserved

  eISBN 978 1407 13290 7

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