“The two worlds, the world of peace and the world
of war, exist side by side, separated only by a few minutes of
twilight.”
“Blitz!” tells the story of December 29,
1940 in London during the Blitzkreig when the city experienced one of the worst
bombings of WWII. The book encompasses a wide variety of people from all walks
of life with the one thread tying them together the fact that they’ve decided
to stay in London despite the danger. We learn of the bravery of ordinary
citizens and how important landmarks were to morale, including St. Pauls’
Cathedral, a symbol of London which is threatened during the firebombing.
We begin before the bombing with all of the volunteers who
have chosen to stay behind, going about their everyday jobs. Most of these
Londoners were civilians so it’s interesting to see how they adjusted to their
new jobs, whether it was a member of the Home Guard, the ARP (Air Raid
Precautions Service) or the Auxiliary Fire Service. I loved how the book
chronologically progressed through December 29 with each chapter beginning with
a radio program schedule for that portion of the day. Not only is this a
refreshing way to inform the reader about which part of the day the events in
the chapter unfold, it also creates a growing sense of apprehension as day
turns to night because the reader knows what’s coming.
“The high wind which accompanies conflagrations is
now stronger than ever, and the air is filled with a fierce driving rain of
red-hot sparks and burning brands. The clouds overhead are a rose-pink from the
reflected glow of the fires.”
The great descriptions and visual imagery create an
atmosphere of danger and fear that puts you right in the midst of the chaos and
heat. “It was as light as day, with huge fires all around, flames
rising far above the houses, the place full of smoke and sparks and great blobs
of burning stuff floating about and every now and then a bomb.”
Throughout the night we follow a variety of people in different situations
across the city. All of these great little stories interspersed throughout
really showed how all-encompassing the threat was. It wasn’t unlikely for
children to slip out of their bomb shelters during raids to help fire crews. I
especially liked reading about the roof crew looking after St. Paul’s
Cathedral. During the bombing it’s described as “some miraculous
figure that appears before peace-hungry soldiers on a battlefield.”
The best story though has to be about St. Lawrence Jewry. During the raid, an
otherworldly shriek came from inside as a bomb had hit the synagogue, lighting
the organ on fire. As the hot air from the fire blew through the organ pipes it
made a sound like an alien in the throes of death. This was an awesome image
and I could easily imagine what the pipes must have sounded like.
One paragraph that really made me think described the fire
as ‘burning away time’ as it destroyed modern London. It was such an evocative
image and really cemented the destructive power of these bombs and how it
wasn’t just destroying the city it was destroying London’s past, obliterating all
memory of what came before.
I loved reading this book, not only because I’m interested
in WW2 but also because I didn’t know
much about the London Blitz other than that it happened. If you’re interested
in learning about what the London Blitz was like, this book will put you right
in the middle of the action.
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