The Blitz
The sustained Blitz on London begins with Black Saturday
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗The fires started in daylight became navigation beacons for the bombers that came back after dark.
Sirens at 4:43 p.m.
London's air-raid sirens sounded at 4:43 p.m. on 7 September 1940. Soon afterward a first wave of roughly 400 Heinkel and Dornier bombers reached the city and dropped high-explosive and incendiary bombs.
The Luftwaffe concentrated this daylight attack on docks, warehouses, factories and the homes beside them in east and south London. Imprecise area bombing devastated civilian neighbourhoods along with the intended targets.
This was not the first bomb to fall on London. It was the first mass raid of the sustained Blitz.
The second wave, guided by the first
An all-clear sounded around 6:30 p.m. About ninety minutes later, more than 300 aircraft began a second attack carrying some 300 tonnes of high explosives and landmines.
The fires from the daylight raid helped guide the night bombers in. The attack ran until about 4:30 a.m. on 8 September.
By dawn 430 Londoners were dead and 1,600 injured.
Why the Luftwaffe turned to the city
German intelligence had incorrectly concluded that RAF Fighter Command and the airfields protecting London were near collapse, so Luftwaffe leaders shifted the main weight of the offensive onto London's docks and communications.
The air battle was still very much in progress; major daylight fighting continued, including the attacks of 15 September.
The National Archives and the London Museum describe 57 consecutive nights of bombing beginning on 7 September; the Imperial War Museums date the principal Blitz from that night to 11 May 1941.
Sources
Researched 24 Aug 2026 7 sources not yet audited Date corrected
How this was checked
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Date corrected. The research places this at 1940-09-07.
What the sources leave uncertain
- Authoritative British institutions describe 57 consecutive nights of bombing beginning September 7. Some summaries instead say London was bombed on 56 of the following 57 days and nights; the opening date and sustained character of the campaign are not disputed.