What was an air raid?
An air raid was an attack by enemy planes dropping bombs. Warning of enemy planes was given by sirens. When people heard the sirens’ wailing sound, they went into air raid shelters. Big bombs exploded with a loud bang and blew buildings apart. Small bombs called ‘incendiaries’ started fires. Firefighters worked bravely to put out the flames. Rescue teams pulled people from fallen buildings. Ambulances took the injured to hospital. When the planes had gone, the sirens sounded the ‘All Clear’. Back to top The Blitz Air raids on London began in September 1940. This was the start of the Blitz. Lots of other places were bombed, including industrial cities and ports such as Birmingham, Coventry, Southampton, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Hull and Glasgow. There were air raids on seaside towns, such as Eastbourne, and on cathedral cities such as Canterbury. In 1944, Britain faced attacks from new weapons. First came the V-1, a robot ‘flying bomb’. Then there was the V-2, a rocket which fl
