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In the late summer of 1940 London came under fire as German bombers brought death and devastation to the City, night after night, week after week and month after month. Many cities were bombed but London suffered the most. This new documentary, Words of the Blitz, tells the powerful stories of those affected by the bombings, in their own words.
A cast of actors including Dominic West, Romola Garai, Sheila Hancock, Russell Tovey, Alex Jennings, Joseph Beattie and Steven Berkoff read the diaries and letters of men and women from teenagers to fire-fighters, nurses and senior government officials, offering a rich insight into how the impact of the Blitz was felt on a deeply personal level, but also evoking how it affected all levels of society.
They are joined by readers with a contemporary connection to the subject including a Bomb Disposal Officer just back from Afghanistan, and by Blitz survivors reading their own accounts. Along with archive footage as well as film of affected areas of London as they are today, their personal testimonies combine to create a compelling, surprising, and often deeply moving commemoration of the Blitz, brought vividly and poignantly to life in this powerful documentary.
The Luftwaffe launched the biggest air raid in history in September as 350 bombers accompanied by 600 fighters headed towards London.
Russell Tovey reads from the diary of Colin Perry, an eighteen year old from South London, who describes the sight of the aircraft heading for London.
“I set out on my old bike yesterday afternoon and pedalled through Carshalton, Burgh Heath, and on to Collie Hill – that great viewpoint overlooking all Surrey and Sussex to the south coast. Then pandemonium broke loose right above me. I jumped off my bike and looked up. It was the most amazing, impressive, riveting sight. Directly above me there were literally hundreds of planes, the sky was full of them. Bombers hemmed in with fighters like bees around their queen.”
Romola Garai reads from the diary of Joan Wyndham who was 18 years old and living in Chelsea, she describes the bombing on that night.
“Tonight the Blitz started. We saw four bombs fall on Kensington High Street…The sky over by the docks was red, as if it was an enormous sunset. The bombs are lovely…I think it’s all thrilling.”
The next morning London woke to the news that over 400 people had been killed in the bombing. The following night the bombers returned, and the next night, and the next. The Blitz had begun.
Colin Perry wrote:
“London, my London, is wounded, bloody. I came up by Tube to the Bank, and had to queue up for a long time in the subway. I suspected a bomb had fallen. Here in the heart of the City, the City of Gold, next door to my office, always considered by me as untouchable, had descended the cold and bloody stab of Hitler.”
After nearly two months of nightly air raids, by the end of October British spirits were at breaking point.
Dominic West reads from the diary of John Colville, Assistant Private Secretary to Sir Winston Churchill.
“The morale of Londoners has deteriorated. There is less of ‘we can take it’ and an inclination to say ‘this must stop at all costs’.”
Those who may have found the idea of raids exciting soon changed their minds as the nightly bombing took its toll. Joan Wyndham wrote in her diary:
“This is certainly hell and no mistake. Hardly a minute’s pause between each load of bombs and each one sounding as if it’s going to hit our house. Gosh, it’s awful; this is the heaviest bombing since the war began, the absolute poetry of destruction.”
Alex Jennings reads from George Orwell’s diary:
“The aeroplanes come back and back, every few minutes. It is just like an eastern country, when you keep thinking you have killed the last mosquito inside your net, and every time, as soon as you have turned the light out, another starts droning.”
London had been bombed continuously for 57 days and nights – when suddenly in November the bombing stopped. A week passed without a raid then the Luftwaffe launched their ‘Operation Moonlight Sonata’ – a massive attack on Coventry.
Just before Christmas, Manchester was targeted. Sheila Hancock reads from The Manchester Guardian:
“Manchester took the full force of Sunday night’s Nazi attack on the civilians of Britain. Incendiary bombs were dropped, and the white light of the flares was overshot with the red and orange colours of fire. Wave upon wave of bombers, drawn like iron filings to a magnet, swept over the burning buildings and dropped explosives among the men already working to put out the beacons of ruthless waste.”
While other cities suffered, London escaped big raids, but this would change on the night of 29th December when the Luftwaffe carried out their biggest attack yet, targeting the City of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Joseph Beattie reads from volunteer fireman’s Frank Hurd’s account of the night:
“It had been a hectic evening. Jerry had been bothering us quite a lot we were sent to an obscure little street in the City.” The particular street in which we were to get to work was a real muck-up. The street itself is a cul-de-sac… only about 20 feet wide with Costumiers’ warehouses along each side. The warehouse at the far end on the right hand side had been struck and was alight. An 80 foot high wall collapsing into a 20 foot road, with a line of flame to one side and only a very narrow path on the other side past debris and pumps. Not a pleasant prospect!”
Frank Hurd died on duty while fighting a fire at Smithfield Market. He was 24.
Britain enjoyed a respite from bombings during January and February due to bad weather conditions, however in March the bombers returned in force.
Romola Garai reads from Joan Wyndham’s diary:
“Last night the raid was bad – it was the night they hit the Café de Paris. The bomb fell on the band killing them all except the drummer .The couples on the dance floor, killed by the blast, stood for some seconds as if they were still dancing, just leaning a little – then fell, heaped on top of one another.”
Ivy Alexander reads from her own diary:
“We were lucky to escape with our lives but many of our neighbours were not so fortunate. The whole block of houses was brought down and twelve people were killed, including eight from the related families… It took days for the rubble to be cleared and the bodies recovered. I was there when two beautiful girls from the same family were discovered… They were unclothed and inextricably entwined, and their bodies had the appearance of purple and white marble.”
The last raid of the Blitz took place on the 10 May 1941, it was the biggest yet, killing 1,500 people - but it was also the last.
More than 50,000 people had died in the bombings – with over 100,000 injured and a million made homeless
Dominic West reads from John Colville’s diary in which he describes the morning after the last raid:
“It was really a sunny day with blue skies, but the smoke from many fires lay thick over London and obscured the sun. Burnt paper, from some demolished paper mill was falling like leaves on a windy autumn day. The livid colour of the sky extended from Lambeth to St Paul’s, flames were visible all along the Embankment, there was smoke rising thickly as far as the eye could see. After no previous raid has London looked so wounded the next day.”
Last edited: Wednesday, 25 August 2010
