The Terror Raids of 1942: The Baedeker Blitz

by Jan Gore

Overview

"We shall go out and bomb every building in Britain marked with three stars in the Baedeker Guide" the German Foreign Office announced in April 1942 as the Luftwaffe attacked Exeter, Bath, Norwich, York, and Canterbury. Over a thousand people died. These raids were direct retaliation for RAF raids on equally historic German cities. Hitler had ordered that "Preference is to be given…where attacks are likely to have the greatest possible effect on civilian life" and in this narrow aim – as Jan Gore shows in the first full history of the raids to be published for over twenty years – they certainly succeeded.

She explains the Luftwaffe’s tactics, the types of bombs that were used – high explosive, parachute mines and incendiaries – and records the devastating damage they caused. Her main focus is on the effect of the bombing on the ground. In graphic detail she describes the air raid precautions, the role of the various civil defense organizations and the direct experience of the civilians. Their recollections – many of which have not been published before – as well as newspaper articles and official reports give us a vivid impression of the raids themselves and their immediate aftermath.

Jan Gore’s original and painstaking research provides the fullest insight yet into the impact of this bombing campaign on Britain’s home front during the Second World War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526797445
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	11/14/2024
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Jan Gore is a researcher, writer and lecturer who has compiled biographies of the civilians who died during the Second World War in Bournemouth and Exmouth as well as in the Guards Chapel in London in 1944. In the past she has worked for GCHQ, Chatham House and has been a civil servant and librarian. She now lectures in French at Kingston University. She has recently been involved in assisting with a book about the Dorset artist and illustrator Rena Gardiner, and in working on an archive of her material at Cotehele.

Table of Contents

List of Plates vi

Introduction and Acknowledgements ix

Chapter 1 The Baedeker raids: background and chronology 1

Chapter 2 Bombs and radio navigation: countermeasures and the types of bombs used in the raids 24

Chapter 3 Air raid shelters and civil defence 34

Chapter 4 Exeter and the Baedeker raids, April-May 1942 46

Chapter 5 The Bath Blitz, 25-27 April 1942 76

Chapter 6 Norwich, April-June 1942 107

Chapter 7 The York raid, 29 April 1942 135

Chapter 8 Canterbury, June 1942: the final series of Baedeker raids 160

Chapter 9 Conclusion 183

Appendix: The raids by city 187

Bibliography 189

Index 193