Interesting, londonguy. As I zoomed in on the scale of the map, I started seeing numbers on the red dots. Not sure if that denoted the number of bombs that fell in that location, or the week/day of the blitz that it fell.
Whatever- those days were your country's "finest hour". Kudos, and thanks for posting interesting link.
"Some chicken---some neck." The USS Winston Churchill is the only U.S. Naval vessel named after a foreign head of government. It's also the only U.S. Naval vessel that requires, by law, that the second in command (the Executive Officer or ExO) be a commissioned officer of a foreign power. The ExO of the USS Winston Churchill must be a commission officer of the Royal Navy.
Hitler thought he could open and close fronts at will, and avoid a two front war. So he thought that after France capitulated, the Western Front was closed. But by bombing Germany and by arming French Resistance, Churchill kept the Western Front open. So Hitler bombed England, but he was not well equipped and never did have a plan to invade. So the effort failed.
Rudolph Hess then took an airplane and intended to negotiate a peace with England, by using a Nazi friendly aristocrat. Hitler would probably have restored Edward 8th to the throne. But Hess was apprehended and jailed at once. Then Hitler denied his endorsement of the effort.
The way the muzzies are destroying your country is far worse than any Luftwaffe bombing or V-2 rocket attack.
All the stories have been told
Of kings and days of old,
But there's no England now.
All the wars that were won and lost
Somehow don't seem to matter very much anymore.
---The Kinks, Living on a Thin Line
SJG, Hitler was very prepared for bombing England. he thought he would win the war of attrition, despite the losses caused by the RAF. The RAF though, could stand only so many losses, and were down to a hope and a prayer, when Hitler decided he had too many losses, and called off the bombings.
@mikeya02, watch the video I posted. Hitler had intended the western front to be closed after France capitulated. He never had a capability to invade England and his bomber forces were for support of ground troops only. He had never built up a fleet of strategic heavy bombers.
Problem was, Churchill started bombing. He was a big believer in bombing Germany. He had wanted to make a 1000 plane raid on Germany in the closing days of WWI.
So as Churchill started bombing German population centers, the Reich was being horribly embarrassed, as it had made no preparations. Watch the video series. Hitler makes an angry speech in front of the Berlin Sports Palace.
Hitler believed he could bomb England into submission, but this was really just psychological submission. He never had enough of a bombing capability to actually destroy a determined nation.
So Churchill's bombing and the arming of French Resistance were both ways of keeping the western front open, when Hitler needed it to be closed.
Churchill's additional reason for starting to bomb Germany was because the RAF airfields were getting attacked constantly. Churchill figured that by bombing Germany and starting with Berlin Hitler would retaliate by turning his attention to the cities. And so it proved to be. It's documented that the RAF could probably take one or two days more to break it.
For those interested in having a look at where Churchill was born see http://www.blenheimpalace.com/ - one hell of a house and open to the public most of the year. I happen to live not far away, in a house a little smaller :-)
Churchill was unusual because so many of those in his conservative party, the Tories, were actually pro-Nazi. Consider Montague Norman, chairman of the Bank of England, and then Neville Chamberlain. And then the most dangerous of all, Edward 8th.
Bombing German population centers was intended to cause a worker revolt. There had been such a revolt in 1918, and they hoisted the Red Flag. So the British, under Arthur 'Bomber' Harris called it 'de-housing'. Make no mistake, this was really mean spirited and it remains controversial to this day.
The incendiary bombing technique would not be perfected until the end of the war, with Dresden and Leipzig, but what was being done just as France capitulated was enough to cause a huge political problem for the Reich. And then by supplying and encouraging French Resistance, this meant that France was not really conquered. So Hitler was forced to act, instead of turning his attentions to the East. But he never did have a plan for the conquest of England, or to bomb it into submission either. He never had been equipped for this. All he had was the hope that by doing enough bombing that the forces of appeasement might gain the upper hand and opt for peace. Hitler's plans for world conquest always depended on political wrangling and the hope that the world would not want to fight. The last thing he wanted was what happened, to end up refighting WWI.
This British incendiary bombing of population centers was fully supported by Franklin Roosevelt, and US forces would go on to contribute to it. The only thing to exceed it would be the American incendiary bombing of Japanese cities, I think 64 of them leaving only Hiroshima and Nagasaki remaining.
Last year I visited the Churchill War Rooms (the bunker beneath the government buildings) in London. Impressive. I have a lapel poppy that I often wear in November even here.
And yes, Total War, Total WORLD War... is utterly nasty, mean, ugly business.
But when who you're fighting are those who would make the world their "Living Space", who claim to be the "Master Race" and to have the "Final Solution" for anyone who isn't... it's time to be very, very nasty.
The German people were not prepared to be bombed. No shelters, no anticipation of it. So what Churchill did was to keep both the UK and France in the war, and to be drawing the US in.
So Hitler could not turn his back on the Western Front, as he had wanted to. Hitler believed that both the UK and the US would go the route of appeasement. Thank God they didn't.
I've listened to documentary interviews. At the end of the war all the German people heard was the voice of Goebbels screaming at them out of the radio, "Do you want Total War?"
Germany went down to one of the most humiliating defeats in all history.
There were Germans who opposed Hitler. They still oppose him. There were many more who supported Hitler. They still support him.
Some things stay the same, but some things do change. Today Germany has a 1949 Constitution, and now it also has a Nuremburg Tribunal inspired Universal Jurisdiction law.
23 comments
Whatever- those days were your country's "finest hour". Kudos, and thanks for posting interesting link.
Congratulations on enduring that at a time Britain was standing alone.
http://youtu.be/G4BVzYGeF0M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKwVANRiC…
Hitler thought he could open and close fronts at will, and avoid a two front war. So he thought that after France capitulated, the Western Front was closed. But by bombing Germany and by arming French Resistance, Churchill kept the Western Front open. So Hitler bombed England, but he was not well equipped and never did have a plan to invade. So the effort failed.
Rudolph Hess then took an airplane and intended to negotiate a peace with England, by using a Nazi friendly aristocrat. Hitler would probably have restored Edward 8th to the throne. But Hess was apprehended and jailed at once. Then Hitler denied his endorsement of the effort.
SJG
Rule Britannia (With lyric annotations) 5:08
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHNfvJc9…
All the stories have been told
Of kings and days of old,
But there's no England now.
All the wars that were won and lost
Somehow don't seem to matter very much anymore.
---The Kinks, Living on a Thin Line
Once again, google can be your friend.
http://www.churchill.navy.mil/
There is an RN officer attached to the ship. He is ship's navigator. The XO is American.
Problem was, Churchill started bombing. He was a big believer in bombing Germany. He had wanted to make a 1000 plane raid on Germany in the closing days of WWI.
So as Churchill started bombing German population centers, the Reich was being horribly embarrassed, as it had made no preparations. Watch the video series. Hitler makes an angry speech in front of the Berlin Sports Palace.
Hitler believed he could bomb England into submission, but this was really just psychological submission. He never had enough of a bombing capability to actually destroy a determined nation.
So Churchill's bombing and the arming of French Resistance were both ways of keeping the western front open, when Hitler needed it to be closed.
SJG
For those interested in having a look at where Churchill was born see http://www.blenheimpalace.com/ - one hell of a house and open to the public most of the year. I happen to live not far away, in a house a little smaller :-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107943/?ref…
Bombing German population centers was intended to cause a worker revolt. There had been such a revolt in 1918, and they hoisted the Red Flag. So the British, under Arthur 'Bomber' Harris called it 'de-housing'. Make no mistake, this was really mean spirited and it remains controversial to this day.
The incendiary bombing technique would not be perfected until the end of the war, with Dresden and Leipzig, but what was being done just as France capitulated was enough to cause a huge political problem for the Reich. And then by supplying and encouraging French Resistance, this meant that France was not really conquered. So Hitler was forced to act, instead of turning his attentions to the East. But he never did have a plan for the conquest of England, or to bomb it into submission either. He never had been equipped for this. All he had was the hope that by doing enough bombing that the forces of appeasement might gain the upper hand and opt for peace. Hitler's plans for world conquest always depended on political wrangling and the hope that the world would not want to fight. The last thing he wanted was what happened, to end up refighting WWI.
This British incendiary bombing of population centers was fully supported by Franklin Roosevelt, and US forces would go on to contribute to it. The only thing to exceed it would be the American incendiary bombing of Japanese cities, I think 64 of them leaving only Hiroshima and Nagasaki remaining.
SJG
Sinking the Bismark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Ewu46w…
And yes, Total War, Total WORLD War... is utterly nasty, mean, ugly business.
But when who you're fighting are those who would make the world their "Living Space", who claim to be the "Master Race" and to have the "Final Solution" for anyone who isn't... it's time to be very, very nasty.
So Hitler could not turn his back on the Western Front, as he had wanted to. Hitler believed that both the UK and the US would go the route of appeasement. Thank God they didn't.
I've listened to documentary interviews. At the end of the war all the German people heard was the voice of Goebbels screaming at them out of the radio, "Do you want Total War?"
Germany went down to one of the most humiliating defeats in all history.
There were Germans who opposed Hitler. They still oppose him. There were many more who supported Hitler. They still support him.
SJG
part1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zdzf5aQ…
part2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hgU3wvQ…
part3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BPWoYzp…
SJG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_j…
NGO's can invoke this, and they are putting it to excellent use.
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/12/19/s…
SJG
Stevie Ray Vaughan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIhVJnYa…