The Blitz was a German bombing offensive against Britain in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The Germans conducted mass air attacks against industrial targets, towns and cities, beginning with raids on London towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a battle for daylight air superiority between the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force over the United Kingdom.
The Luftwaffe gradually decreased daylight operations in favour of night attacks to evade attack by the RAF, and the Blitz became a night bombing campaign after October 1940. The Luftwaffe attacked the main Atlantic sea port of Liverpool in the Liverpool Blitz and the North Sea port of Hull, a convenient and easily found target or secondary target for bombers unable to locate their primary targets, suffered the Hull Blitz. Bristol, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Southampton and Swansea were also bombed, as were the industrial cities of Birmingham, Belfast, Coventry, Glasgow, Manchester and Sheffield.
More than 40,000 civilians were killed by Luftwaffe bombing during the war, almost half of them in the capital, where more than a million houses were destroyed or damaged.
Before the Blitz, take a look at these amazing snapshots to see how beautiful everyday life of England was during the 1930s.
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
Before the Blitz: Snapshots That Show Everyday Life of England in the 1930s
