Hello, today I would
like to write about London in the age of the second world war. I have chosen
this topic, because I am interested in history and I think we shouldn´t forget
that London wasn´t always a pleasant city with charming atmosphere, but there
were also times, when the inhabitants were in danger, they were dying, they
suffered with every minute, but their bravery showed Nazis, that it is not
possible to break their morale and make them to give up! How did London look
like? Let´s see…
At first, London was a
normal city, probably till July 1940. Of course – there was a war, so the
traffic was limited, because it was necessary to save fuels. There had to be
blackout. Food, clothes, everything was on leaflets, etc. But London was still
OK. There wasn´t any bigger disaster. The destruction of London has come after
the battle of France. That time the German forces turned to the UK. They
planned an invasion (the operation was called Seelöwe), so it was
essential to gain a superiority over
the UK. This is a beginning of Battle of
Britain.
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| St Paul´s Cathedral https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz |
The
Battle of Britain started in July 1940. This battle was happening exclusively in the air over the Isles and
partially in the see. There are few goals, which German wanted to reach:
- to annihilate the RAF
- to ruin British purchasing - to cause as extensive loses in British navy and RAF as is possible
However
London was till 7th September in save (I don´t count unplanned
bombing on 24th August) – Luftwaffe were attacking rather military or industrial objects. But after his own speech in Sport
stadium on 4th September has Adolf Hitler commanded the first bombing of
London - for the 7th September and the operation of bombing London and
other British cities is called Blitz.
This is the beginning of terror that were inhabitants of London going through
till 21st May 1941.
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| A Tower bridge in fire - http://www.palba.cz/viewtopic.php?t=278 |
Brits
haven´t expected an assault of London, so they haven´t had anti-aircraft defense
well prepared. People were hiding in the underground; the buildings were burning,
people have had dearth of food and clothes. They were losing their close
family, friends, homes… During the Blitz
were injured so many people that the medical staff couldn´t provide care
everybody. That´s tragic, but we have to realize, why were Germans doing it and
what was the result.
Nazis
started with bombing London, because they believed that they will break British
morale and make them give up. But the British nation has by contrast united.
People were helping other, voluntarily joining army and militia. They hated
their common enemy and were decided to resist or die. Very important for keeping
morale was the then prime minister – Winston Churchill. Maybe you know some of
his citations:
- Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
- I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.
- You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
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| Winston Churchill - page |
From
the military view, the bombing of London meant an important break in bombing of
RAF airports, so they could gain new power. It was time for drill new pilots
and airborne staff and mainly time for renovation the airports. So the bombing
of London was turning point of the battle of Britain. German air strikes were
still less frequent and finally ended in May 1941 with German defeat.
For
your closer imagination, where the bombs were falling, I´m attaching here a
reference for one page, which shows you detailed city plan with the fallen bombs.
And
if you are really interested in this topic, you can also visit "Imperial War Museum" in London.
Vocabulary:
fuels - paliva
purchasing - zásobování
navy - námořnictvo
RAF- Royal air force (Britské královské letectvo)
Blitz - a german word for thunderbolt (blesk)
anti-aircraft - protiletecká (obrana)
by contrast - naopak, oproti tomu
air strikes - nálety
Sources:
https://zpravy.idnes.cz/kam-padaly-nemecke-bomby-behem-blitzu-britove-maji-interaktivni-mapu-1is-/zahranicni.aspx?c=A121207_145134_zahranicni_ad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain
http://www.vhu.cz/exhibit/ustredi-rozhlasoveho-vysilani-bbc-v-londyne-za-druhe-svetove-valky/
