She said her windows were smashed from a bomb explosion yet the nearest bombs that fell were a road away.
They must have had some power!
At THAT point in the war, the vast majority of ordnance was "iron" bombs - a large bursting charge inside a very thick iron shell They'd be what we'd call today "blast bombs" - because the exploding bomb was for a split second by compressed by the iron casing...BEFORE the casing was fragemented and formed the outer surface of an expanding blast wave...
...and that fragemented casing could cause MEGA problems! Even late in the war, U.S. bombers dropping bombs from lowish altitudes could find shrapnel from their OWN bombs peppering them at 5,000 feet!
Anyway - the largest purpose-designed bomb the Luftwaffe had during the Blitz was a 500 lb iron bomb; actually quite small Because their air force was dual purpose - the SAME aircraft had to carry out a strategic bombing campaign such as bringing an enemy's capital to its knees..AND supporting troops on the ground.
The Germans rapidly worked out - they also had evidence from bombing town in Poland, Rotterdam etc. - that the 500 lb bombs they used were too small to cave in water mains etc. I.E. make firefighting difficult So they wanted a BIG bomb and they needed it fast....but bombs, like any other weapon, need time to design and test! So instead they took German naval mines...:eek:...took out their magnetic fuses, fitted early delayed action fuses and dropped THEM, with parachutes attached to slow their descent so they didn't simply break apart when they hit the ground...and THEY, weighing 1,000 lbs, were the largest "bomb" they dropped during the Blitz. That's why you'll always hear OAPS taking about "landmines"
They were also nasty 'cos the time delay wasn't too reliable - they could go off after a few seconds...or a few hours! Usually with people standing around them....:(
Compared to the US bombers near the end of the war German bombers were very inaccurate.
Oh. I thought the Allied bombers were also very inaccurate, hence the complete annihilation of some of Europe's most significant cultural sites at the end of the war, like the medieval city centre of Frankfurt with its 2000 timber-framed houses, or the jewel-like Baroque splendour of Wurzburg, or Nuremburg, the home of Durer, not to mention Dresden.
Oh. I thought the Allied bombers were also very inaccurate,
Oh they were - the Oboe blind bombing system would at least get Bomber Command bombers over the right town by the last two years of the war...a VAST improvement over 1939-41!...but the USAAF's "legendary" Norden bombsight wasn't anywhere near as accurate as the Americans liked to believe
hence the complete annihilation of some of Europe's most significant cultural sites at the end of the war, like the medieval city centre of Frankfurt with its 2000 timber-framed houses, or the jewel-like Baroque splendour of Wurzburg, or Nuremburg, the home of Durer, not to mention Dresden.
Unfortunately it wasn't down to mere inaccuracy; the Allies set out to destroy every major city in Germany in the last six months or so of the war - a concerted campaign that included Dresden (famously)...but also Potsdam, Pforzheim, etc., etc...every German city over a certain size.
Unfortunately it wasn't down to mere inaccuracy; the Allies set out to destroy every major city in Germany in the last six months or so of the war - a concerted campaign that included Dresden (famously)...but also Potsdam, Pforzheim, etc., etc...every German city over a certain size.
My god Buckingham Palace is surrounded my dropped bombs. How it's still standing i'll never know
IT was a definite target....and was actually hit twice with relatively minor damage...but the famous "tail-less" Heinkel that dropped on Kings Cross Station and killed so many was rammed by a Hurricane pilot who realised that the Heinkel had got through and was heading STRAIGHT for the Palace...and he had no ammunition left for his guns...
Really? Remember the HUGE number of small factories and production facilities inside hamburg....or Dresden Germany industry had several large centres...but a large part of it was actually the small "back street" factory workshop level.
And I have to say - war is hell. You're not actually supposed to softpedal it...you're supposed to win, and in the shortest time possible - for every day saved is fewer of your OWN soldiers and people dying.
These were just - in intent, I'm not diminishing the act - the same as any British city being attacked in 1940 and 1941. We had medieval city centres too...like Coventry.
If the Luftwaffe could have done the level of damage in 1940 that Bomber Command could do five years later, do you honestly think they wouldn't have?
IT was a definite target....and was actually hit twice with relatively minor damage...but the famous "tail-less" Heinkel that dropped on Kings Cross Station and killed so many was rammed by a Hurricane pilot who realised that the Heinkel had got through and was heading STRAIGHT for the Palace...and he had no ammunition left for his guns...
Love your posts with gems of info like this. Fascinating stuff, keep it up.
No, I'm sorry, but for once I like to think that my knowledge exceeds your own. It is a complete myth that Coventry had this fabulous preserved medieval centre prior to World War Two. Pure propaganda. Like so many British cities, between the Victorians and slum clearances in the 1930s, most of Coventry's medieval buildings had been demolished before the bombs started dropping. The truth is that we had nothing comparable with Frankfurt, Hildesheim, Dresden, Wurzburg, Nuremberg, Kassel, Potsdam or the glorious Braunschweig.
Here are some photos of Coventry's city centre right before the start of the war:
I'd love to know how many dropped in and around Sheffield. I know our steel factorys took a huge hit as at the time we had the only drop hammer in the country which made rolls royce parts for the spitfires.
A sad story is the old Marples Hotel in the city centre, people were in the cellars during the bombing raids. At 11:44pm a bomb hit the hotel at ripped through the floors stopping on the ground floor and exploded right above everyone in the cellar, 77 people died.
The whole building has now been remade and was a German motorbike shop for a while :eek: but now a Western Union.
is a complete myth that Coventry had this fabulous preserved medieval centre prior to World War Two. Pure propaganda. Like so many British cities, between the Victorians and slum clearances in the 1930s, most of Coventry's medieval buildings had been demolished before the bombs started dropping.
Which is it? "Complete"...or just "most"? Don't forget Ford's Hospital, for instance...which I see just happens not to be in the slideshow...
The truth is that we had nothing comparable with Frankfurt, Hildesheim, Dresden, Wurzburg, Nuremberg, Kassel, Potsdam or the glorious Braunschweig.
We should of course then ask why they went to war...given that they had so much to loose?
Which is it? "Complete"...or just "most"? Don't forget Ford's Hospital, for instance...which I see just happens not to be in the slideshow...
Ford's hospital is just one building! Imagine 2000 of them lined up on streets and you have Frankfurt or Braunschweig! So it is a complete myth that Coventry had an intact city centre as most of it had already been cleared, leaving some fragments behind. And the much-vaunted Coventry Cathedral had only been a cathedral since 1918! Before then it was just a large parish church.
A cluster of bombs fell round the corner. Not mentioned on the map though. Blew the school windows out apparently.
V2 just up the road in '45 damaged 2000 houses including mine. Not got a straight door-frame in the house
The map only goes up to July 41. I remember seeing a bomb map in Stratford Museum that showed many more hits in my neighbourhood.
Including one very near my house that I presume accounts for the crack in our window bay and a wonky bedroom door frame I have only this year had sorted.
The truth is that we had nothing comparable with Frankfurt, Hildesheim, Dresden, Wurzburg, Nuremberg, Kassel, Potsdam or the glorious Braunschweig
It's worth remembering that England suffered a series of Luftwaffe raids during the war specifically BECAUSE the Germans thought we had The so-called "Baedecker Raids" - where the targets were selected courtesy of the pre-war continental Baedecker tourist guide for their historical significance. They weren't that effective at destroying the cultural hearts of places like York and Bath and Canterbury...but there was damage to Britain's heritage, to places like York Guild hall, and the Bath Assembly Rooms
However that's more because the Luftwafe's main effort was by then on the Eastern front...but theintent to target on that basis was there.
My old house in Strone Road was bombed in the war but it doesn't show it though it does show 2 bombs landed in adjacent cemetery so maybe one of them did it, not sure. Good website though.
It's worth remembering that England suffered a series of Luftwaffe raids during the war specifically BECAUSE the Germans thought we had The so-called "Baedecker Raids" - where the targets were selected courtesy of the pre-war continental Baedecker tourist guide for their historical significance. They weren't that effective at destroying the cultural hearts of places like York and Bath and Canterbury...but there was damage to Britain's heritage, to places like York Guild hall, and the Bath Assembly Rooms
However that's more because the Luftwafe's main effort was by then on the Eastern front...but theintent to target on that basis was there.
They succeeded in destroying much of Exeter's city centre though, although not perhaps as much as was wiped out during slum clearances or in post-war redevelopment and road-building. Exeter's post-war townplanner, Thomas Sharpe, believed that Exeter lost half of its historical buildings. Even worse, the pig ignorant city council failed to reinstate and restore the more important structures that had been damaged, and then set about pulling down most of what was left. I worked out that Exeter lost around 75% of its city centre buildings between 1900 and 1980, only a small portion of which was caused by bomb damage in 1942. The rest went either before the war or after it.
(And the idea that the Nazis targeted cities based on Baedeker's guidebooks is perhaps another myth. It stems from an alleged comment by Baron Gustav Braun von Stumm, although whether this is exactly how the cities were selected is up for debate. And it's also worth remembering that the first of the Baedeker raids, on Exeter in April 1942, was as a retaliation for an RAF attack on the wonderful Hanseatic port of Lubeck, the destruction of which made the bombing of Coventry look like small potatoes. Lubeck was chosen as it had plenty of ancient timber-framed buildings that would burn easily. After careful restoration, the centre of Lubeck is now a World Heritage Site, which is more than can be said for the hell-hole that is Coventry.)
Lubeck was chosen as it had plenty of ancient timber-framed buildings that would burn easily.
...AND the fact that it was a relatively important North German port - and supported a number of u-boat building yards in the area The Battle of the Atlantic was anything but won in 1942....
It stems from an alleged comment by Baron Gustav Braun von Stumm, although whether this is exactly how the cities were selected is up for debate.
...except for the fact that the raids do correlate with the three-star ratings in the Baedecker guide! The fuzziness in the concept comes from the second group of raids, after the attack on Cologne, which included places like Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft etc. - although these were important to the Navy's war effort, with "The Nest", the extensive HMS Europa at Lowestoft, being the headquarters of the RN Patrol Service, while Great Yarmouth was an important RN anchorage in both world wars, and Ipswich a stop on the East Coast convoy route.
But a lot of historians say that this group of raids shouldn't really be grouped under the "Baedecker Blitz"...although traditionally they are.
Comments
At THAT point in the war, the vast majority of ordnance was "iron" bombs - a large bursting charge inside a very thick iron shell
...and that fragemented casing could cause MEGA problems! Even late in the war, U.S. bombers dropping bombs from lowish altitudes could find shrapnel from their OWN bombs peppering them at 5,000 feet!
Anyway - the largest purpose-designed bomb the Luftwaffe had during the Blitz was a 500 lb iron bomb; actually quite small
The Germans rapidly worked out - they also had evidence from bombing town in Poland, Rotterdam etc. - that the 500 lb bombs they used were too small to cave in water mains etc. I.E. make firefighting difficult
They were also nasty 'cos the time delay wasn't too reliable - they could go off after a few seconds...or a few hours! Usually with people standing around them....:(
In all seriousness, a more strategic target than you'd think
Fell between Oct. 7, 1940 and June 6, 1941
Oh. I thought the Allied bombers were also very inaccurate, hence the complete annihilation of some of Europe's most significant cultural sites at the end of the war, like the medieval city centre of Frankfurt with its 2000 timber-framed houses, or the jewel-like Baroque splendour of Wurzburg, or Nuremburg, the home of Durer, not to mention Dresden.
Oh they were - the Oboe blind bombing system would at least get Bomber Command bombers over the right town by the last two years of the war...a VAST improvement over 1939-41!...but the USAAF's "legendary" Norden bombsight wasn't anywhere near as accurate as the Americans liked to believe
Unfortunately it wasn't down to mere inaccuracy; the Allies set out to destroy every major city in Germany in the last six months or so of the war - a concerted campaign that included Dresden (famously)...but also Potsdam, Pforzheim, etc., etc...every German city over a certain size.
Indeed. An unforgivable act of barbarism.
IT was a definite target....and was actually hit twice with relatively minor damage...but the famous "tail-less" Heinkel that dropped on Kings Cross Station and killed so many was rammed by a Hurricane pilot who realised that the Heinkel had got through and was heading STRAIGHT for the Palace...and he had no ammunition left for his guns...
Really? Remember the HUGE number of small factories and production facilities inside hamburg....or Dresden
And I have to say - war is hell. You're not actually supposed to softpedal it...you're supposed to win, and in the shortest time possible - for every day saved is fewer of your OWN soldiers and people dying.
These were just - in intent, I'm not diminishing the act - the same as any British city being attacked in 1940 and 1941. We had medieval city centres too...like Coventry.
If the Luftwaffe could have done the level of damage in 1940 that Bomber Command could do five years later, do you honestly think they wouldn't have?
No. And for the reason given a while ago, probably highly unlikely. At the very best, it could only EVER be done for urban areas
Love your posts with gems of info like this. Fascinating stuff, keep it up.
No, I'm sorry, but for once I like to think that my knowledge exceeds your own. It is a complete myth that Coventry had this fabulous preserved medieval centre prior to World War Two. Pure propaganda. Like so many British cities, between the Victorians and slum clearances in the 1930s, most of Coventry's medieval buildings had been demolished before the bombs started dropping. The truth is that we had nothing comparable with Frankfurt, Hildesheim, Dresden, Wurzburg, Nuremberg, Kassel, Potsdam or the glorious Braunschweig.
Here are some photos of Coventry's city centre right before the start of the war:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/coventry/hi/front_page/newsid_9159000/9159406.stm
There's very little of antiquarian interest or beauty to be seen, unlike German cities before the war:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=196145
A sad story is the old Marples Hotel in the city centre, people were in the cellars during the bombing raids. At 11:44pm a bomb hit the hotel at ripped through the floors stopping on the ground floor and exploded right above everyone in the cellar, 77 people died.
The whole building has now been remade and was a German motorbike shop for a while :eek: but now a Western Union.
http://www.chrishobbs.com/marples1940.htm
Which is it?
We should of course then ask why they went to war...given that they had so much to loose?
Ford's hospital is just one building! Imagine 2000 of them lined up on streets and you have Frankfurt or Braunschweig! So it is a complete myth that Coventry had an intact city centre as most of it had already been cleared, leaving some fragments behind. And the much-vaunted Coventry Cathedral had only been a cathedral since 1918! Before then it was just a large parish church.
Anyway, this is all off-topic so fare ye well.
Indeed. And they lost it.
Here you are - guides to how to find out
The map only goes up to July 41. I remember seeing a bomb map in Stratford Museum that showed many more hits in my neighbourhood.
Including one very near my house that I presume accounts for the crack in our window bay and a wonky bedroom door frame I have only this year had sorted.
Kingston-upon-Hull was the most bombed City apart from london between 1940-45, With over 95% of the City housing damaged or destroyed.
It's worth remembering that England suffered a series of Luftwaffe raids during the war specifically BECAUSE the Germans thought we had
However that's more because the Luftwafe's main effort was by then on the Eastern front...but the intent to target on that basis was there.
They succeeded in destroying much of Exeter's city centre though, although not perhaps as much as was wiped out during slum clearances or in post-war redevelopment and road-building. Exeter's post-war townplanner, Thomas Sharpe, believed that Exeter lost half of its historical buildings. Even worse, the pig ignorant city council failed to reinstate and restore the more important structures that had been damaged, and then set about pulling down most of what was left. I worked out that Exeter lost around 75% of its city centre buildings between 1900 and 1980, only a small portion of which was caused by bomb damage in 1942. The rest went either before the war or after it.
(And the idea that the Nazis targeted cities based on Baedeker's guidebooks is perhaps another myth. It stems from an alleged comment by Baron Gustav Braun von Stumm, although whether this is exactly how the cities were selected is up for debate. And it's also worth remembering that the first of the Baedeker raids, on Exeter in April 1942, was as a retaliation for an RAF attack on the wonderful Hanseatic port of Lubeck, the destruction of which made the bombing of Coventry look like small potatoes. Lubeck was chosen as it had plenty of ancient timber-framed buildings that would burn easily. After careful restoration, the centre of Lubeck is now a World Heritage Site, which is more than can be said for the hell-hole that is Coventry.)
...AND the fact that it was a relatively important North German port - and supported a number of u-boat building yards in the area
...except for the fact that the raids do correlate with the three-star ratings in the Baedecker guide! The fuzziness in the concept comes from the second group of raids, after the attack on Cologne, which included places like Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft etc. - although these were important to the Navy's war effort, with "The Nest", the extensive HMS Europa at Lowestoft, being the headquarters of the RN Patrol Service, while Great Yarmouth was an important RN anchorage in both world wars, and Ipswich a stop on the East Coast convoy route.
But a lot of historians say that this group of raids shouldn't really be grouped under the "Baedecker Blitz"...although traditionally they are.