Baedeker Blitz
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The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids was a series of bombing raids by the Luftwaffe on the United Kingdom during World War II in April and May 1942. Towns and cities in England were targeted for their
Watercolour by Olive Wharry circa 1942 of St. Sidwell's Church, Exeter, after the Blitz. In the early hours of 4th May 1942 a 250 kg (550 lb) bomb fell directly on St Sidwells. The church tower was left standing but was so badly damaged that it was pulled down shortly after. A replacement church was built on the site.
St Lawrence Church in Exeter painted by an unknown author. This painting depicts Exeter's High Street. St Lawrence Church is in the background. St Lawrence Church, which predated the thirteenth-century, was destroyed on 4 May 1942.
World War II involved sustained strategic bombing of railways, harbours, cities, workers' and civilian housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory. Strategic bombing as a military strategy is
A B-24 on a bomb run over the Astra Romana refinery in Ploiești, Romania, during Operation Tidal Wave
Bombing of Wieluń, the first Polish city destroyed by Luftwaffe bombing, on 1 September 1939. In one of the first acts of World War II, German bombers destroyed 70%[citation needed] of all the buildings, including a clearly marked hospital and church, killing approximately 127[citation needed] civilians.
Polish mothers with their newborn infants in a makeshift maternity ward inside a hospital basement during the Bombing of Warsaw by the German Luftwaffe
Warsaw burning after a German bombing of the city. The Luftwaffe air campaign resulted in the deaths of an estimated 20,000 – 25,000 civilians.