WWII's Battle for London

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 3 November 2021

⏱️ 35 minutes

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Summary

At the start of the Second World War London was one of the largest and most important cities in the world, a centre of industry, finance and the heart of Britain's empire. It was also an irresistible target for the Luftwaffe and between 1940 and 1945 London would be mercilessly attacked by German aircraft and V-weapons. Thousands were killed and wounded and many parts of the city were left devastated by the bombing but ultimately the Nazi attempt to cut the head off the imperial snake failed. Today's guest on the podcast is historian Jerry White, Author of the upcoming book: The Battle of London, 1939-1945 - Endurance, Heroism and Frailty Under Fire. He and Dan discuss why London was so important to both sides in the conflict, the fears of the British public and government, the effect the bombing had on the British war effort and how the city was defended.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone, welcome to Downsnow's History Hit. Just after the outbreak of war in
0:04.6	1939, in the 6th of September, the first British fighter pilot was killed in the Second World
0:10.6	War. It was a friendly fire instant, the Battle of Barking Creek, ironically named as inexperienced
0:16.7	fighter pilots and ground crew, anti-aircraft people on the ground, all made terrible mistakes,
0:22.0	it ended up with one pilot being killed, a hurricane destroyed as it was pumped on by Spitfires
0:27.8	and one of those Spitfires as well destroyed by ground fire, anti-aircraft fire. It was a reflection
0:34.1	of the sensitivity the British state had towards the protection of its capital London, it was
0:39.4	just a few miles east of London in the Tempsestree with its so-called battle took place. In some ways,
0:45.2	I suppose it is the start of the Battle for London in the Second World War, which continued
0:50.4	right the way through the Dine Days of War in the end of Hitler's V2 rocket campaign,
0:57.2	which would see the first man-made objects to enter space, the V2 rockets supersonic ballistic
1:03.2	missiles fired from occupied Europe into Britain, doing terrible damage to London in particular.
1:08.8	London was one of the most important cities in the world, the centre of the largest empire
1:12.6	and earth, a massive industrial, financial centre, port as well, and as such it was essential
1:18.0	to Britain's national salvation. It was also now in the 20th century as a result of development
1:24.6	of aerial warfare on the front line. The Battle for London, which would incorporate what we
1:29.2	know as the blitz, rumbled on right the way through the Second World War and Jerry White's
1:33.7	award-winning historian has got a new book out called The Battle of London 39-45, which places
1:39.4	all these moments the Second World War like the Battle of Britain, like the terror campaigns
1:43.3	of the V1 and V2 in the overall context of a struggle for Britain's imperial capital.
1:48.6	It was great talking to Jerry about this and he can listen to other podcasts about Second
1:52.4	World War or watch TV shows. We're going to TV show about the Air War in the Second World
	...

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