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

A black and white photograph of a man and a woman close together. The man has his arms around the woman and they are both in stage dress: her in a long dress and him with a ruff and feathered hat

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Keep calm and carry on singing: why Britons fell in love with opera during World War Two. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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"I felt very alone in a world gone horribly mad": the experiences of evacuees in WW2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

St Paul's Cathedral photographed through the smoke after a night when the German air force bombed London

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"War's greatest picture"? Inside the night St Paul's Cathedral survived the Blitz

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

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What was Christmas like in Britain during WW2?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Is “Blitz Spirit” a myth?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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)

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Lucy Worsley on Blitz Spirit: the courageous stories of six Londoners. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Blitz spirit or broken morale?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The ruins of Coventry Cathedral after bombing

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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)

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

Children play as air raid wardens during the Blitz in London

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Q&AHow did WW2 affect schools in London?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

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The dangers of the Blitz spirit. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Simon the cat

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10 top cats in history

Blitz

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

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The Coventry Blitz – Q&A with historian Frederick Taylor

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Criminals of the Blitz: how the German bombings created a golden age of crime. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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North Sea oil and the Blitz. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Escaping the Blitz and recording the First World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.