The Terror Raids of 1942: The Baedeker Blitz

Meticulous research provides the fullest insight yet into the impact of this bombing campaign on Britain’s home front during the Second World War.

“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.

“One can never understand what either side hoped to achieve by destroying historic cities and killing and maiming their citizens during a conflict such as the second world war. Jan Gore attempts to explain the thinking behind it, and the awful consequences … A terrific account. ” —Books Monthly

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