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3 unusual facts about Baedeker Blitz


Baedeker Blitz

The cities were reputedly selected from the German Baedeker Tourist Guide to Britain, meeting the criterion of having been awarded three stars (for their historical significance), hence the English name for the raids.

The German bombers suffered heavy losses for minimal damage inflicted, and the Axis' need for reinforcements in North Africa and Russian Front meant further operations were restricted to hit-and-run raids on coastal towns by a few Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter-bombers.

On 27 April Winston Churchill told the War Cabinet that the government should do all it could to 'ensure that disproportionate publicity was not given to these raids' and 'avoid giving the impression that the Germans were making full reprisal' for British raids.



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