The Blitz Companion

The Blitz Companion

Author: Mark Clapson

Publisher: University of Westminster Press

Published: 2019-04-02

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 1911534491

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The Blitz Companion offers a unique overview of a century of aerial warfare, its impact on cities and the people who lived in them. It tells the story of aerial warfare from the earliest bombing raids and in World War 1 through to the London Blitz and Allied bombings of Europe and Japan. These are compared with more recent American air campaigns over Cambodia and Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, the NATO bombings during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, and subsequent bombings in the aftermath of 9/11. Beginning with the premonitions and predictions of air warfare and its terrible consequences, the book focuses on air raids precautions, evacuation and preparations for total war, and resilience, both of citizens and of cities. The legacies of air raids, from reconstruction to commemoration, are also discussed. While a key theme of the book is the futility of many air campaigns, care is taken to situate them in their historical context. The Blitz Companion also includes a guide to documentary and visual resources for students and general readers. Uniquely accessible, comparative and broad in scope this book draws key conclusions about civilian experience in the twentieth century and what these might mean for military engagement and civil reconstruction processes once conflicts have been resolved.


Night Blitz

Night Blitz

Author: John Ray

Publisher: eBook Partnership

Published: 2012-12-08

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 1909270768

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September 1940: defeated in the Battle of Britain, despite their superior numbers and better equipped aircraft, the Luftwaffe launched a new campaign of attack, their target this time the civilian population. For eight months, with hardly a night's break, Luftwaffe bombers pounded industrial cities and seaports in a concentrated attempt to smash Britain's war economy and destroy civilian morale. It was the first time a civilian population had been subject to mass attack, night after night, and important lessons were to be learned on both sides. If this campaign failed - as it did - then surely Britain could win the war.In this finely structured and consistently fascinating study of the campaign, Second World War historian John Ray assesses the strategies, weapons and defence tactics employed throughout the Night Blitz. He graphically recalls the effects of the Blitz on British cities, industry and people, month by month. This was the war at home, when terror fell indiscriminately from the skies. Yet despite all the death and destruction, the spirit of the British people remained undaunted even in their darkest hours.


The Little Blitz

The Little Blitz

Author: John Conen

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9781781553084

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The Little Blitz on London in the early part of 1944 is briefly mentioned in most accounts of the aerial war against the UK during the Second World War but is seldom deemed worthy of more than a few lines. The Little Blitz is the name applied to the air raids on Britain which were the manifestation of the Luftwaffe's Operation Steinbock, planned in the last few months of 1943 and put into effect from the middle of January 1944. The raids, planned as revenge for the destructive RAF raids on Berlin, were mainly targeted London, and after nearly three years of respite from air raids, the Little Blitz was an unwelcome surprise for residents of the Capital. The offensive was largely ineffective but some of the raids caused significant casualties and damage, and some alarm amongst the population and the authorities. This is the first account of the Little Blitz to explore these bombings in detail and assess their impact on London. This book describes the raids, making use of some vivid personal accounts, to give a gripping picture of the effect that these little-known events had on a complacent city.


The Night Blitz, 1940-1941

The Night Blitz, 1940-1941

Author: John Ray

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9780304356768

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Defeated in the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe crossed the Channel with a new plan in mind. For eight months, they ceaselessly pounded industrial cities and seaports in order to smash England's war economy and break the spirit of its citizens--who had never before experienced such a massive attack. In this finely structured account, a World War Two historian assesses the tactics employed throughout the night blitz and graphically recalls its effects throughout the country, month by month. Defeated in the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe crossed the Channel with a new plan in mind. For eight months, they ceaselessly pounded industrial cities and seaports in order to smash England's war economy and break the spirit of its citizens--who had never before experienced such a massive attack. In this finely structured account, a World War Two historian assesses the tactics employed throughout the night blitz and graphically recalls its effects throughout the country, month by month.