10 Interesting Facts About “The Blitz”

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View_from_St_Paul's_Cathedral_after_the_Blitz

1. What is The Blitz?

“The Blitz” refers to the heavy bombings in London and other cities in Britain during World War II. The term comes from the word “blitzkrieg” which means “lightning war.” The main targets of this operation were London and other major cities in England.

2. Where did The Blitz come from?

The Blitz began and developed before World War II by a member of the German military, Heinz Guberian. The Blitz was developed from the concept that victory could also be achieved through rapid movement. The concept dated back to World War I but for some unknown reasons, it was not used until the next war.

3. The Blitzkrieg Strategy

The offensive began with an attack on the main line of resistance of the enemy with rapid movements. This allowed the forces to penetrate deep into enemy’s rear line. Afterwards, they surrounded the enemy’s main line and in full speed.  This created confusion among the enemy ranks that led to the victory over the German forces.

4. Air-Land Battle

The Air-Land Battle was developed from the American Blitzkrieg concept of World War II. The Air-Land battle was designed to overcome the enemy by using fast, piercing, and powerful attacks to break deeper into the enemy’s line of defense and to catch them off guard by additional marine forces.

5. The First Day of  Blitz

A book was written to illustrate what happened in the 1st day of London bombing, by Peter Stansky. He arranged the stories of people who recorded their experience during the first hours of bombing. The sufferings of underground evacuees were narrated in this book. It also relayed how the future of Britain changed with this terrifying event.

6. Bicycle Blitzkrieg

The bicycle blitzkrieg was a Japanese form of Blitz also used during the war. Because of intense heat and jungle terrain of the war, Japanese strategists decided to use bicycles instead of horses for transporting troops and light materials. Because of the huge numbers of rivers in Malaysia, the British army destroyed many bridges but could not stop the Japanese troops. They had to wade through the rivers with their bikes on their shoulders. The British could not get away from the Japanese troops and were forced to surrender.

7. Why Didn’t the Cities Die?

No matter how hard the Germans bombed the cities in Britain, people of that country never los hope and faced the enemies with their strong and brave hearts. Despite the absence of essential utilities and almost half of all houses, the cities had never stopped functioning because of these people.

8. The German Blitz

The bombing in the city of London was the first and original Blitz tactic. The city was the target and was bombed for 57 consecutive nights. Around 60,000 people were affected by the bombing and over a million buildings were destroyed or badly damaged.

9. Bomb Back, Bomb Hard!

Hilde Marchant, a war correspondent, concluded in her article that Bomb back and bomb hard” it was the cry of civilians to the British government. These civilians miraculously survived the bombings of German forces in Coventry, England. The civilians showed immeasurable courage for nights of nonstop attacks.

10. American Version

The American version of blitzkrieg was developed by George S. Patton Jr., one of the best and successful generals of World War II. A great commander admired for his determination in the battlefield. He even improved the original Blitz of Germany into his mechanized version by adding tanks and armored vehicles in the U.S. Army.

“Blitz” is now popularly used to mean “great speed.”

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