The Blitz (11 page)

 

 

Sept 3 1939
Britain declares war on Germany.

May 9 1940
Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister.

May 27 1940
British troops are evacuated from Dunkirk, France.

June 22 1940
Most of France is under German occupation.

July 10 1940
“Battle of Britain” begins.

July 16 1940
Hitler makes plans to invade Britain.

Aug 25 1940
British planes bomb German towns including Berlin.

Sept 7 1940
First “big raid” on London by German bombers.

Sept 17 1940
Hitler abandons invasion “until further notice”.

Oct 12 1940
Hitler cancels invasion for winter.

Nov 2 1940
Last of 57 consecutive night raids on London.

Nov 14 1940
Major raid on Coventry leaves city in ruins.

Nov 1940–April 1941
Raids on most major British cities.

Dec 29–31 1940
Devastating air raids on the City of London.

Apr 16–19th 1941
Some of the worst raids of the war in Lewisham.

May 1941
Hitler turns his attention to Russia. The Blitz is over.

Dec 7 1941
Japanese aircraft attack the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The US enters the war.

June 6 1944
D-day. Allied troops land in Normandy.

1944–early 1945
V-1 “doodle-bug” and V-2 rocket attacks on London.

Feb 14 1945
As many civilians killed in a single British air-raid on Dresden as in the entire German “Blitz”.

May 7 1945
Germans unconditionally surrender on all fronts.

Aug 6–9 1945
Atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The world enters the nuclear age.

Sept 2 1945
Official celebration of victory over Japan.

For my grandparents: Ella May and Bertie, Isobel and William

 

While the events described and some of the characters in this book may be based on actual historical events and real people, Edie Benson is a fictional character, created by the author, and her diary and its epilogue are works of fiction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2001

This electronic edition published 2012

 

Text © Vince Cross, 2001

Cover illustration © Richard Jones, 2008

 

All rights reserved

 

eISBN 978 1407 13290 7

 

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