Following the German invasion of Poland, the British Government declared war on Germany in September 1939. It was widely expected that air raids on London would soon occur. Preparations were made, public shelters were provided as were Anderson shelters, small family shelters that were erected in people's gardens. Additionally about 13% of the population left London in the days following the declaration of war and many children were evacuated to the country.

The expected air raids did not take place and gradually many of the people who had left London, including evacuees, returned. Even the fall of France and the expectation of imminent invasion did not stop the return to the capital.

The first attack by the German Air Force (the Luftwaffe) was aimed at destroying the Royal Air Force (RAF) and began in the summer of 1940. German bombers attacked RAF airfields like Biggin Hill in the south of England and other strategic such as aircraft factories. This was the 'Battle of Britain'. Between July and September 1940 the skies above the south of England were the scene of battles between German and British fighter planes, including the famous Spitfire. It was this battle that produced Churchill's famous remark "Never in the field of human comflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

The Germans' attacks were highly effective and the RAF lost pilots and planes at an unsustainable rate. Luckily for Great Britain, the Germans switched tactics in early September and largely abandoned the intensive bombing of airfields and began bombing London so giving the RAF the respite it so desperately needed.

The first of the big air raids on London were aimed at the industrial areas and docklands mainly, in the East End of London. For the first few weeks, these raids took place by day and night but the Germans soon switched to night time raids only because they were losing too many bombers during the day. Night time defence of London was mainly ineffective. Although the anti aircraft guns gave hope to Londoners, they actually brought down a very small number of bombers. At that time the RAF had no useful night fighter either.

After its initial onslaught on the East End, from mid September the Luftwaffe attacked the rest of London and it was in this period that the famous bombing of Buckingham Palace occurred when the then Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) made her remark about being able to look the East End in the eye.

Air raids took place almost every night and a large number of German bombers dropped hundreds of tons of bombs on the capital. Typically there were 100 to 200 bombers dropping around 200 tons of high explosive and 300 incendiaries although there were raids with 300 and 400 planes with more than double the amount of bombs dropped.

This bombing took its toll on the fabric of London and disrupted the lives of people there. Roads and railways were damaged and destroyed as was other infrastructure like sewers and gas and water pipelines. Repairs to the city's infrastructure was put at the top of the agenda and they were carried out quickly so the German aim of disrupting London's commerce and industry was greatly frustrated.

The resilience of Londoners in the face of this nightly onslaught has passed into legend. Ordinary men, women and children showed amazing and sustained courage just by carrying on with their daily lives in spite of the nightly bombing raids. In the end, many people became so habituated to them that they just carried on with what they were doing. For example, cinemas would continue to show films during raids and the audience would remain to watch them.

Although the image of Londoners sheltering in Underground stations is a familiar one from films about the Second World War, surprisingly it was only a minority of people who used them, only about 4%. Most Londoners (around 60%) stayed at home and did not even use an Anderson shelter in the garden.

From November 1940 the Luftwaffe stopped concentrating on London and started bombing other towns and cities too. Raids on London continued but they no longer occurred nightly. However, some of the raids were heavier with more explosives and incendiaries dropped than in the earlier ones.

By May 1941 Germany was embroiled with its invasion of the Soviet Union and so raids on London stopped.

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