Mönchengladbach

First Raid

Most people think Germany started bombing cities first.

• Fact: On the night of May 11, 1940 (the day after Churchill became Prime Minister), the British RAF bombed the German town of Mönchengladbach.
• Reason: This was a tactical strike against German industry near the border, but it was the first time bombs fell on a German city. Hitler was furious but did not retaliate against London immediately. He was still hoping for peace.

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August 24, 1940

Accident

By August, the German Luftwaffe was crushing the RAF. They were bombing airfields and radar stations. Britain was days away from running out of planes.

• Target: On the night of August 24, a group of German Heinkel 111 bombers were ordered to destroy oil refineries at Thameshaven and aircraft factories at Rochester.
• Mistake: Navigating in the dark is difficult. The pilots drifted off course by about 30 to 40 miles. Instead of hitting the factories on the coast, they flew too far west and dropped their bombs on Central London (Cripplegate and the East End). This resulted in very few civilian casualties.
• Reaction: Churchill knew this might have been an accident, but he saw an opportunity. He ordered an immediate revenge attack.

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The Bait

Bombing Berlin

Churchill decided to strike the heart of the Nazi empire.

• Raid: On August 25, British bombers attacked Berlin for the first time. The physical damage was small, but the psychological damage was huge. Hermann Göring had promised the German people that if a single enemy plane flew over Germany, they could call him “Meyer” (a German insult).
• Trap: Churchill wanted Hitler to attack London. He knew that if the Germans stopped bombing the airfields and started bombing the city, the RAF would have time to repair their planes and survive.

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Hitler Snaps

Blitz Begins

Hitler fell for the trap completely.

• Speech: A humiliated Hitler gave a screaming speech where he said: “If they attack our cities, we will erase theirs!”
• Switch: On September 7, 1940, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to stop attacking the airfields and focus all fire on London. This was The Blitz.
• Irony: This decision killed 40,000 British civilians, but it lost Germany the war. By ignoring the airfields, the RAF was able to recover. They shot down so many German planes that Hitler had to cancel the invasion of Britain.

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Good Cop/Bad Cop

Deep Dive: Accident or Intent?

Was it really an accident? This is where you can challenge the narrative.

• The Bad Cop (Goebbels): Joseph Goebbels (Propaganda Minister) had been begging to bomb London for weeks. His diary entries show he was itching for a fight. He called the bombing an “organizational masterpiece.”
• The Good Cop (Hitler): Hitler was the one holding the leash. He issued Directive No. 17, which explicitly forbade terror attacks without his permission. He still wanted a peace treaty.
• The Argument: The August 24 bombing was a navigational accident (flight logs prove they were off course). However, Goebbels used that accident as the perfect excuse to get what he wanted. The accident was the spark, but the Nazi desire to destroy London was the fuel.

Dehousing

Lindemann Plan

Later in the war (1942), the British took this a step further.

• Memo: Churchill’s scientific advisor, Frederick Lindemann, wrote a secret paper arguing that “precision bombing” of factories wasn’t working.
• Strategy: He proposed “Area Bombing” or “Dehousing.” The goal was no longer to hit military targets. It was to burn down the homes of the working class to break their morale. This policy led directly to the firestorms of Hamburg and Dresden (which we will cover in Topic 5).

The Conclusion

Summary

The bombing of civilians was an escalation that both sides participated in. It started with a navigational error (German accident), turned into a provocation (British bait), and ended with a calculated policy of destruction (Dehousing). It was a moral tragedy for the civilians, but a strategic masterstroke that saved the British military.

The Lindemann Cabinet Paper (March 1942): Official Minute. (The document officially proposing the targeting of civilian homes to “dehouse” the German population).
Hitler’s Sportpalast Speech (Sept 4, 1940): Radio Broadcast. (Hitler’s angry reaction to the Berlin raid, promising to “erase” British cities).
RAF Bomber Command Directive (Feb 14, 1942): Area Bombing Directive. (Orders stating the primary target was now “the morale of the enemy civil population”).
Goebbels Diaries (August 1940): Private Journal. (See entries for Aug 7, Aug 24-26, and Sept 11 for his shift from “waiting” to “glee” regarding the bombing).
Führer Directive No. 17 (August 1, 1940): Military Order. (Hitler’s specific order reserving the right to order terror attacks for himself).

Richard Overy: The Bombing War: Europe 1939-1945 (Penguin). Read Chapter: “The Battle of Britain.” (Overy details how the Luftwaffe was losing the airfield battle and needed a strategic pivot, making the shift to London a military necessity, not just revenge).
Juliet Gardiner: The Blitz: The British Under Attack (HarperCollins). Read Chapter 1: “The Storm Breaks.” (Details the accidental start of the bombing and Churchill’s immediate counter-attack).
Patrick Buchanan: Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War (Crown). Argues that Churchill deliberately provoked the bombing of London to bring the US into the war.
Max Hastings: Bomber Command (Zenith Press). Analyzes the shift from precision bombing to area bombing.
A.C. Grayling: Among the Dead Cities (Bloomsbury). A philosopher asks if the Allied bombing of civilians was a war crime.
Jörg Friedrich: The Fire: The Bombing of Germany, 1940-1945 (Columbia University Press). Focuses on the suffering of German civilians under the “Dehousing” plan.

Hermann Göring: Interview at Nuremberg. (Admitting that the bombing of Berlin was a shock to his prestige).
Winston Churchill: Their Finest Hour. (His own account of the decision to bomb Berlin).