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What was it like for children in the Second World War?

Learning Objective:To find out what the Blitz was and which areas were most likely to be affected.

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What do you think has happened in this

picture?

How do you know?

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What do you think has happened in this

picture?

How do you know?

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What do you think has happened in this

picture?

How do you know?

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In 1940, Hitler attacked Britain. The German air force (called the ‘Luftwaffe’) began dropping bombs on the cities of

Britain. These attacks were called air raids. The first bombing took place on 7th September 1940 with around 350

bombers flying across the channel to London. From that night on for eleven

weeks (except for one night) Britain was bombed by the Germans. One third of

London was destroyed.

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Why did Hitler decide to bomb civilians?

Hitler decided that bombing the normal people of Britain every day would weaken public morale and make the people more scared of the German forces. The raids

took place at night not only to scare people but also to make them sleep less well. And the people were right to be scared of these air raids. On the first bombing

alone, more than 400 people were killed and 1600 more were badly hurt.

The Luftwaffe symbol

A Luftwaffe aircraft

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Which areas were targeted by the Luftwaffe?

It was mainly London that was targeted but other British cities were also

attacked. The Luftwaffe mainly targeted docks, factories and railways although

many other buildings, streets and houses were also destroyed.

Why do you think the Luftwaffe would want to target factories, docks and railways?

London’s docks are bombed

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What do you think was done by Britain to try and prevent the air

raids?

Why were the air raids called The Blitz?

The word ‘blitz’ comes from a shortened version of the German word for ‘Lightning War’ - Blitzkrieg.

Think, pair, share your ideas.

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Lots of measures were taken to try and stop the bombers. The Royal Air Force had many battles with the Luftwaffe in the skies as they tried to

prevent them from bombing Britain. Another technique was to use barrage balloons which were held to the ground with steel cables.

Any aircraft that flew into a barrage balloon or its ropes would be destroyed so the Luftwaffe had to

fly higher. Another method was the blackout. People were told to block their windows with

blinds so no light could escape and street lamps were turned off. This meant German planes

couldn’t target the areas they wanted to bomb because they couldn’t see anything.

Barrage balloons

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When did the Blitz end?

The Blitz ended in May 1941 because Germany wanted to focus

its attention on the invasion of Russia. Also, the Royal Air Force were stronger than the Luftwaffe and had destroyed lots of German

planes. By the end of the Blitz, 60,000 people had lost their lives, 87,000 people has been badly hurt

and 2 million homes had been completely destroyed.