On Hitler’s orders from September 1940 until May 1941 cities across Britain were targeted by the Luftwaffe, German planes trying to bomb Britain into submission in what popularly became known as the Blitz. It was the most sustained and widespread bombing campaign against Britain in its history. On 18 June 1940 Winston Churchill had said in the House of Commons:
There remains, of course, the danger of bombing attacks, which will certainly be made very soon upon us by the bomber forces of the enemy. It is true that the German bomber force is superior in numbers to ours; but we have a very large bomber force also, which we shall use to strike at military targets in Germany without intermission. I do not at all underrate the severity of the ordeal which lies before us; but I believe our countrymen will show themselves capable of standing up to it, like the brave men of Barcelona [bombed in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War; with up to 1,300 people killed and at least 2,000 injured, it was the first aerial carpet bombing in history], and will be able to stand up to it, and carry on in spite of it, at least as well as any other people in the world.43
To encourage German children to practise bombing British cities, in 1940 a notorious pinball game was produced called Bomber über England (Bomber over England).
The game involved children shooting wooden balls or ‘bombs’ at British cities. This child has destroyed London, Birmingham and Newcastle, scoring 190 points.
The ordeal referred to by Churchill began on 7 September 1940 when German bombers attacked London, leaving 430 dead and 1,600 injured in what became known as ‘Black Saturday’. The capital was then bombed for 57 consecutive nights, bombs falling both day and night. The biggest raid took place on 10/11 May 1941 when German bombers dropped 711 tons of high-explosive bombs and 2,393 incendiaries, killing 1,436 civilians.
To encourage German children to emulate the bombing, in 1940 a notorious game was produced called Bomber über England or Bomber over England by the publisher Herold. It was a pinball game that featured a board map of Britain and the north-west of Europe. The map contained holes in the location of key cities including London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Newcastle, as well as holes in the North Sea representing shipping targets. The game involved children shooting coloured wooden balls or ‘bombs’ at British cities, points being awarded for hitting different enemy targets. Players were awarded a maximum 100 points for hitting either London or the Orkneys, the home base of the British fleet being at Scapa Flow. Other cities and shipping targets were worth between 30 and 90 points. The list of British targets on the game and the points scored were:
Shetland +90
Scapa Flow +100
Aberdeen +60
Edinburgh +70
Newcastle +40
Hull +30
Liverpool +40
Birmingham +50
London +100
Plymouth +80
Five shipping targets were also included in the North Sea scoring between +20 and +80 points. The game was clearly published during early 1940, as the playing map showed that Amsterdam and Brussels had been occupied by the Germans but not Calais in France. So, Amsterdam and Brussels scored respectively –80 each but Calais was worth +100 points. The highest negative score was hitting Germany by mistake which scored –100!
The game instructions were printed on the inside of the lid and read:
Deutsche Flieger überfliegen und beherrfchen die Nord see und England. Dieles Spiel, Bomber über England ist für Jung und Alt gleich interellant und anregend. Es können sich zwei oder mehr Spieler daran beteiligen. Bevor das Spiel beginnt, deponiert jeder Mitspieler einen sestgeletzten Betrag in der Kasse. Dann wird die Reihenfolge der Spieler ausgelost, und jeder Spieler verlucht, mit den beige gebenen 10 Kugeln so viele Treffer wie möglich zu erzielen. Die Kugeln, welche durch ein Loch feltgehalten werden, bleiben so lange ftehen, bis alle 10 Kugeln verschossen find. Dann werden die Treffer zufammengezählt und die Minus-Treffer vom Refultat abgeletzt. Nun versucht der nächlte Spieler sein Glück und so fort. Als Gewinner gilt derjenige, der die meiften Plus-Treffer erzielt hat. Man kann auch die Preisverteilung staffeln, sodaszjeder Mitspieler nach seinem Treffer-Ergebnis ausgezahlt wird. Also – frifch gewagt und ran an den Feind!
German planes fly over and rule the North Sea and England. The game Bomber over England is interesting and stimulating for young and old alike. Two or more players can take part. Before the game begins, each player deposits a set amount in the bank. Then the order of the players is drawn, and each player tries to score as many hits as possible with the 10 balls given. The balls, which are held through a hole, remain there until all 10 balls are shot. Then the hits are added up and the negative hits are deducted from the result. Now the next player tries his luck and so on. The winner is the one who has scored the most positive hits. You can also stagger the distribution of prizes so that each player is paid out according to his hit result. So – be daring and attack the enemy!
Many of the cities mentioned in the game would be extensively bombed by the Luftwaffe during the Blitz, their points score not necessarily reflecting their real strategic value. London, which scored 100 points, did sustain the heaviest bombing of the war. However, it was the port of Liverpool and the surrounding area of Merseyside, which ‘only scored 40 points’, that became the second most bombed area. This reflected its location as the main point of entry for imported fuel, food and raw materials, the city also serving as the strategic hub of the longest campaign of the war, the Battle of the Atlantic. On the night of 28/29 November over 350 tons of highexplosive bombs were dropped on Liverpool and from 20–23 December 1940, the city was bombed on three consecutive nights. Both the city’s docks and the surrounding terraced houses, home to the dockworkers and their families, were reduced to rubble.
The third most bombed city was Birmingham, which ‘only scored 50’ points in the game. Raids on the city took place in August, September and October 1940, followed by a very heavy attack on 19/20 November in which more than 400 tons of high-explosive bombs were dropped. The city was targeted because of its industrial factories, fifty-three workers being killed in one raid alone, on the Birmingham Small Arms works. Birmingham also witnessed a new terror tactic of hitting towns and cities on consecutive nights, it being bombed again on 21/22 and 22/23 November.
From the middle of November 1940, other major provincial cities and industrial centres were also targeted, places like Bristol, Sheffield, Manchester, Plymouth, Southampton and Coventry being particularly hard hit by the raids. The following year the raids resumed with Merseyside again becoming the major target outside London. The city was bombed almost every night from 1–8 May 1941 resulting in over 1,900 people killed, 1,450 seriously wounded and 70,000 homes destroyed. In nearby Bootle nearly half its 17,000 houses were destroyed or damaged, respite only coming when Hitler turned his forces against Russia in June 1941. In all, during the nine months of the Blitz on British cities, over 43,500 civilians were killed.