I wrote recently about the Blitz. The worst of it was over by May 1941 but in 1944 there was what became known as The Little Blitz.
John Conen’s book describes it and here is a description of the events he writes about.
‘Historical events which are frequently mentioned in passing, but never explored in any depth or detail always arouse curiosity. One such event is the Little Blitz on London in the early part of 1944, briefly mentioned in most accounts of the aerial war against the United Kingdom during the Second World War but seldom deemed worthy of more than a few lines.
The Little Blitz is the name applied to the air raids on Britain which were the manifestation of the Luftwaffe’s Operation Steinbock, planned in the last few months of 1943 and put into effect from the middle of January 1944. The raids, planned as revenge for the destructive RAF raids on Berlin, mainly targeted London – after nearly three years of respite from air raids, the Little Blitz was an unwelcome surprise for Londoners.
The offensive was largely ineffective but some of the raids caused significant casualties, and caused alarm amongst the population and the authorities. This is the first account of the Little Blitz to explore these raids in detail and assess their impact on London. This book describes the raids, making use of some vivid personal accounts.’
I mentioned accounts of the Blitz written by people at the hub of events in More Chronicles of War. Now here are a range of first-hand accounts from people in all walks of life. Something not in the book was contributed by Lorraine Taylor and published on the Fulham and Hammersmith Historical Society website.
During the first part of the war I lived at 3 Colehill Lane Fulham, one time when there was an air raid we were all sitting under the dining room table ( we did not go in shelters as we had a dog and cat ) a bomb fell on the shelter and the blast from it blew our front door off the hinges , it flew along and out of the back door.
In about 1942 we moved to another flat in New Kings Road, I remember the bomb that fell on Pickfords Depot and another time my deaf Uncle kept telling my Mother and Father that he could not hear the bombs falling and exploding, then suddenly one dropped very near and the wall heaved so much that his head went backwards and forwards, banging against the wall.
Mother said ” You must have heard that one Jack” and he replied ” I did not hear it but I felt it “.