How the Guardian and Observer reported the start of the ‘blitzkrieg’ - Germany’s sustained bombing campaign of the UK in the second world war

Seventy-five years ago, the second world war bombing campaign known as the blitz began in earnest. On the afternoon of 7 September 1940, 348 German bombers and more than 600 Messerschmitt fighters flew over southern England before dropping high-explosive and incendiary bombs on London. The raid ended at 6:10pm but as the docks area of the city’s East End burned, a second attack lasting eight hours took place that night.

The next morning’s Observer carried reports of the attack but also noted that London remained calm as thousands of people ‘treated the desperate fight being waged in the air as a spectacle’.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Observer, 8 September 1940.

Over the following days, the Manchester Guardian carried more details about the raids, including a report about a bomb falling directly on the ventilation shaft of crowded shelter in the East End. There was also a piece about the effects of the attack on a small country town.

The Manchester Guardian, 9 September 1940.

A graphic explained just where in northern Europe the attacks were coming from:

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Manchester Guardian, 10 September 1940.

The paper also reported from the East End which had received ‘more than its fair share’ of bombs. Closer to home, the Guardian noted that a shortage of cement had been retarding the building of shelters in Salford, while in another area, council house residents organised a rent strike in protest at the lack of protection for their families.

The Manchester Guardian, 10 September 1940.

The blitz continued for a total of 57 days of consecutive bombing.