The Blitz timeline
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Winston Churchill Gives 'Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat' Speech
I hope that any of my friends and colleagues, or former colleagues, who are affected by the political reconstruction, will make allowance, all... Read more
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Winston Churchill Gives 'We Shall Fight on the Beaches' Speech
We Shall Fight On The Beaches is a common title given to a speech delivered by Sir Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the British... Read more
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Winston Churchill Gives 'This Was Their Finest Hour' Speech
Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years,... Read more
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First German Bombs Fall on the English City of Plymouth
The Plymouth Blitz was a series of bombing raids carried out by the Nazi German Luftwaffe on the English city of Plymouth in the Second World War.... Read more
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First German Bomb Falls on Swindon
With the declaration of war and the onset of World War II, Evacuees arrived in Swindon in 1939. Troops were stationed in churches and school... Read more
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Germany Begins Heavy Bombing of Birmingham
Situated in the Midlands, Birmingham is an important industrial and manufacturing location and is also heavily populated, being the UK's second... Read more
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German Luftwaffe Begins Air Raids on the English City of Portsmouth
The city [of Portsmouth] was bombed extensively during WW2. Nazi German Luftwaffe night-time air raids began on August 24 1940 when 1,320 of high... Read more
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Edward R. Murrow and Paul White Create 'London After Dark'
The show began on August 24, 1940 when CBS News Chief Paul White and CBS European Events Director Edward R. Murrow began to arrange the show by... Read more
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London Blitz Begins
The Blitz (from German, "lightning") was the sustained strategic bombing of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (collectively the United Kingdom) by... Read more
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King George VI Creates the George Cross to Honor Civilian Bravery During the Battle of Britain and the Blitz
The GC was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the... Read more
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Luftwaffe Begins Heavy Bombing of British Cities
From November 1940 to February 1941, the Luftwaffe attacked industrial and port cities. Targets included Coventry, Southampton, Birmingham,... Read more
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English City of Coventry Sustains Devastating Bombing from German Luftwaffe
The raid that began on the evening of 14 November 1940 was the most severe to hit Coventry during the war. It was carried out by 515 German... Read more
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German Luftwaffe Commences Main Air Raid on English City of Southampton
Southampton Blitz The Second World War hit Southampton particularly hard. Pockets of Georgian architecture remain, but much of the city was leveled... Read more
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Luftwaffe Commences Heavy Bombing of Bristol
Hitler's propaganda claimed that Bristol had been completely destroyed in a night raid on November 2, 1940 in which 5,000 incendiary and 10,000... Read more
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Sheffield Blitz
The Sheffield Blitz is the name given to the worst nights of German Luftwaffe bombing in Sheffield, England during the Second World War. It took... Read more
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The Christmas Blitz of Liverpool
The first major air raids began towards the end of 1940 against Liverpool and Wirral, with over 300 casualties sustained to air raids by the end of... Read more
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Heaviest Bombing of the Manchester Blitz, known as the 'Christmas Blitz'
The Manchester Blitz (also known as 'the Christmas Blitz') was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester and its surrounding areas in England... Read more
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Llandaff Cathedral is Badly Damaged by a German Bomb During the Cardiff Blitz
On the evening of 2 January 1941 during World War II the cathedral was severely damaged when a landmine was dropped near it during the Cardiff... Read more
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Swansea Blitz
The Swansea Blitz was the heavy and sustained bombing of Swansea by the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany on 19 February-21 February 1941. Swansea was... Read more
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Clydebank Blitz
On 13th March, 1941, 236 Luftwaffe bombers attacked targets in the Clydebank area. These included the shipyards, Dalnottar tank farm and large... Read more
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The English City of Plymouth Sustains Heavy Bombing from German Luftwaffe in the 'March Raids'
At just after 8.30pm the alert was sounded and at 8.39 the attack started. First came a group of Heinkel III bombers flying at between 9,900 and... Read more
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Belfast Blitz
William Joyce (known as "Lord Haw-Haw") announced in radio broadcasts from Hamburg that there will be “Easter eggs for Belfast”. On Easter... Read more
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The English City of Plymouth Sustains Heavy Bombing from German Luftwaffe in the 'April Raids'
Unknown to the people of Plymouth at the beginning of April 1941, the Plymouth Blitz had three more nights to run. After the air raids of the... Read more
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First Bomb of the May Blitz of Liverpool Lands on Wallasey
The May Blitz on Merseyside was one of the last series of big raids on Britain before the German invasion of Russia. It involved 681 bombers in... Read more
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German Luftwaffe Bombs Exeter as Part of the Baedeker Blitz
The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of Vergeltungsangriffe ("retaliatory raids") by the German air force on English cities in... Read more