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The First Blitz (Paperback)

Military WWI > By Year > 1917 WWI > By Year > 1918

By Andrew Hyde
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Pages: 188
ISBN: 9781781591246
Published: 2nd October 2012

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In 1917 the Germans launched a major air campaign against the British mainland which shocked the whole nation and terrorised the south-east of England.

These attacks by German bombers caused hundred of deaths and injuries, but until now the full details of these raids have NEVER before been told. These range from the massacre of Canadian troops resting in Folkstone on May 25, 1917, to the widespread carnage of shoppers a couple of miles away in the city centre. Who is any the wiser that Sherness, then a major dockyard for the Royal Navy, barely escaped a similar fate when it too was singles out for the same treatment or that a 50kg bomb struck Upper North Street School in London's Poplar on June 13, 1917. It not only took the lives of 18 school children, many as young as 5 years, but crippled and mutilated twice as many again. Terrible as this was, it was just one of scores of similar tragedies which terrified the populace of London and horrified the world.

The account of this campaign plus the political and military circumstances surrounding it, follows years of original and painstaking research, interviews and correspondence with those who remember that period.

The story of the first air blitz on the south-east which horrified the nation. Here the author tells the full story, from the massacre of Canadian troops resting in Folkestone on 25th May 1917, to the widespread carnage of shoppers a couple of miles away in the city centre which took the lives of eighteen children (some as younge as five) as well as crippling and injuring more.

Highly recommended 10/10

Great War Magazine

The author has provided the most definitive account of this first use of terror bombing on civilians, after extensive research over several years. This is an important work because it covers a critical development path for aviation and was a major justification in forming the RAF to return the compliment. When WWII opened, both the British and the Germans used lessons from this first blitz to conduct the 1939-1945 air war. Happy to terrorise others, the Germans suffered an acute sense of humour failure when the British turned the techniques on German Cities, particularly during WWII when round the clock bombing enabled the Allies to create fire storms that destroyed cities very effectively.

Firetrench

"The First Blitz" is a clear winner from the first pageā€¦Author Andrew Hyde does a fine job providing the reader both a wide overview of the campaign as well as up close, personal descriptions of each individual attack and the results thereof. This is not an easy task, but Hyde is up to the challenge and the reader is never lost.

Physically, the book is light weight, handy in size, and the font is large enough to be easily readable. At 224 pages, it is not too imposing and invites readers with a passing interest rather than only attracting the hardcore enthusiast. It is written in an informative yet prosaic style that is easy to read and relies on individual accounts and stories rather than dry facts and figures.

"First Blitz" will be a welcome addition to your bookshelf.

Indy Squadron Dispatch

About Andrew Hyde

Born in Dagenham, Essex in 1961 Andrew Hyde has been interested in history ever since he was enthralled as a child by stories of life in London in the Second World War. This interest developed into a desire to research and write on the subject. He was a major contributor to the three volume work 'The Blitz - Then and Now' which is a detailed, day by day account of the German air campaign against Britain between 1939-1945. His other published work includes 'Pearl Harbor - Then and Now. In 2007 he appeared in and contributed to, a BBC Timewatch programme - 'The First Blitz', based upon his book.

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