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  1. Home
  2. The Blitz

The Blitz

The Blitz – the German word for ‘lightning’ – was a sustained aerial bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe lasting eight months between September 1940 and May 1941. The Blitz killed 41,480 people, while another 86,000 people – including more than 7,500 children – were seriously injured. Here we bring you the facts and examine the consequences and aftermath of the bombings

Schoolchildren in Liverpool have their Christmas party in an air raid shelter built into a railway arch
Second World War

What was Christmas like in Britain during WW2?

Lucy Worsley, Joshua Levine and Yasmine Permaul discuss how Londoners really reacted to the devastating bombing raids. (Image by Getty Images)
Second World War

Is “Blitz Spirit” a myth?

Volunteers shovel sand in Fulham in 1941, filling bags used to protect windows from bomb blasts. Our clichés of the Blitz don’t tell the whole story, writes Lucy Worsley. (Photo by Mary Evans)
Second World War

Lucy Worsley on Blitz Spirit: the courageous stories of six Londoners

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Jeremy Crang investigates reports on British morale made during the Second World War and considers what they can tell us about the ‘Blitz spirit’. (Image by Getty Images)
Second World War

Blitz spirit or broken morale?

The ruins of Coventry Cathedral after bombing
Second World War

Your guide to the 1940 Coventry Blitz

AFS firemen tackle a blitz fire amidst the rubble surrounding St Paul's Cathedral, London. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
Second World War

Your guide to the Blitz, plus 9 places affected by the bombings

Children play as air raid wardens during the Blitz in London
Second World War

Q&A How did WW2 affect schools in London?

A woman is carried away on a stretcher following a German bombing raid on London, c1940. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Second World War

The dangers of the Blitz spirit

Simon the cat
General Modern

10 top cats in history

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Blitz
Second World War

The cruel cost of the Blitz: how did everyday Britons rebuild their lives?

coventry-blitz-ad45ea1
Second World War

The Coventry Blitz – Q&A with historian Frederick Taylor

A Black Market camera seller
Second World War

Criminals of the Blitz: how the German bombings created a golden age of crime

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Second World War

North Sea oil and the Blitz

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First World War

Escaping the Blitz and recording the First World War

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