Target City Flashcards
Why was it a significant target?
It was the seat of government
Densely populated capital city
Centre of industry
Major ports
Why was london easy to find?
The thames was a natural guide to the bombers and allowed them to follow the river to the city
Preparations for the war
Gas masks issued to all londoners
The air raid precautions act required local governments to setup air raid precautions
Boroughs setup local air raid wardens
London children were evacuated from September 1st 1939
Communal shelters were provided for those who did not have garderns or were not near their house when bombs were dropped
What was the Ministry of information
Setup in 1939. The organisations aims were to censor and media they deemed inappropriate in relation to the war .
The Government formed the Blitz spirit were all classes would unite against the enemy
Black Saturday September 1940
The first day of the Blitz First attack lasted 12 hours Over 400 people killed in the first day Attacks focused on the ports After 19 September the Planes focuses their attacks in densely populated regions
Types of Bombs
Incendiaries - dropped mainly by the first waves of bombers . 90 percent of the damage london suffered was due to the fires caused by the bombs.
High explosives-some had delayed fuses so that rescue workers would be harmed
Mines-dropped by parachute so attacks were silent and hard to detect
V1 and V2 rockets 1944-45
V1- called the flying bombs. They hit london during the day time .
Because they were pilotless they were able to fly very low making them undetectable .
V2-the first ballistic missiles . It was so fast it exploded before people heard it coming
