Author Jan Gore published the book “The Terror Raids of 1942: The Baedeker Blitz” in 2020 (Dec). This will be her second publication. 

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The book tells about a series of German air attacks in 1942. These are referred to as the Baekecker Blitz. This is because of a German Foreign Office announced in April 1942. It had announced ‘We shall go out and bomb every building in Britain marked with three stars in the Baedeker Guide'.

Hitler directed that these raids be made. They were in retaliation for British raids on the German towns of Rübeck and Rastock. They are terror raids as they primarily targeted civilians and historical buildings. The cities of Exeter, Bath, Norwich, York, and Canterbury were the target of these raids. 

Included are many facts about the air raid shelters in use and the Air Raid Wardens. The book tells the stories of those who lived through the raids and of some of those who died. The raids occurred during the April to June 1942 period. 

I thought that the 6+ hours I spent reading this 240-page history were interesting. I learned a few new things from reading this book. In particular, I was surprised at how may took refuge in Morrison Shelters. It is hard to imagine spending hours in a 6.5 ft long, 4 ft wide, and 2.5 ft high wire cage. Especially when many shared that cage with another adult and children. I do like the chosen cover art. I give this book a 4 out of 5.

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This book gives homage to survivors and  victims of the bomb raids that took place in Great Britian. 

I appreciated the personal stories of real people who witnessed the night terror and the devastation on their community. People lost their homes, family, and their own lives during dark times. It was saddening to read through the testimonies! 

The personal stories do seem to overlap ,but I'm glad the author expressed their side of the story.

Whilst most Britons have heard of ‘The Blitz’, the many smaller scale, but nonetheless highly destructive and lethal, raids on other cities across the UK is increasingly only a subject that is appreciated by those who have made a study of this aspect of World War 2. This is particularly the case as those with personal recollections of the raids in Bath, York, Exeter and other cities of cultural significance are by definition now in their 80s and 90s. 

This book examines the series of raids that came to be know as the Baedeker Raids, taking their name from a famous German tourist guide book, the UK edition of which provided information on areas of cultural significance. Hitler had claimed that the attacks on the Baltic ports of Lubeck and Rostock had little military value and were intended instead to destroy the prized mediaeval cities. In consequence he launched a series of terror reprisal raids, which would have the twofold purpose of destroying culturally significant cities in Britain and terrorising the local populations. The raids, on Exeter, Norwich, Bath, Canterbury and York, were highly destructive and caused significant loss of life. Unusually, because most were, at least initially, lightly defended, the German aircraft are described as using shallow dive bomb and machine gun fire tactics to aid accuracy and cause even more terror to the civilian population. 

The book benefits from many personal accounts that serve to bring a degree of realism and authenticity to the descriptions of the attacks. It is one thing to read ‘casualties were limited to just over a hundred dead’; it is something else entirely when someone who was a child at the time describes the bomb explosion that killed three of his family members and destroyed his house. It is also striking to read of the many examples of heroism or simple voluntary tasks, such as firewatching, that carried significant personal risk. 

This is a valuable book that provides an insight into just one strand of the non-London Blitz. It is, of course, difficult to read these accounts without also sparing a thought for the German civilians who would experience even more persistent and extreme bombing as the RAF made good on Air Marshall Harris’s promise that, having sown the wind in the early days of the war, Germany would ‘reap the whirlwind’.

This is an intense read.

Its got the witnesses and survivors recounting what they say on that night/day. 

Reading what these people saw and went through is hard. Its explains things really well so you can imagine what it was like.