Winston Churchill had a lot on his plate.
It was September 7, 1940, and Hitler’s armies had invaded much of Europe.
The Nazis climbed to one of the highest points on the French coast, where they set up tables with food and champagne to watch the start of the Luftwaffe’s aerial attack on London.
The British press called this bombing campaign the Blitz, and it would last for an excruciating eight months. Since Germany mostly attacked London at night, the lives of Londoners became confined to the hours of daylight. During the worst attack, in April 1941, bombs of all sizes struck Piccadilly, Chelsea, Oxford Street, and elsewhere, killing 1,180 people.
Of course, London endured. But by the time the Blitz ended in May, the United Kingdom had lost more than 44,000 people, including many children.
To learn more about the harrowing decisions made by Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II, dive into our Instaread on The Splendid and the Vile.
