Baby Blitz
In September of 1940, Hitler began heavy bombing of London and other important cities in England. In the beginning, there were bombings every day and every night. Countless homes and buildings were destroyed, and many civilians were killed. The “Blitz” lasted until May of 1941.
Firefighters putting out a blaze in London after an air raid during The Blitz in 1941.
So this is the London Hedy found when she arrived. After disembarking from the Aquitania at Glasgow, Scotland on the 11th of January, 1944, Hedy took a train to London, first telephoning “JRM” at the US Embassy 72 Grosvenor Square to let him know her arrival time.
Before she left Brooklyn, NY, her point of embarkation, she had been issued a small size Service Lightweight Gas Mask and four anti-gas eye shields. It was illegal to go outside without a gas mask, usually carried in a small case.
Almost everything was rationed … clothes, food, soap, gasoline. The ration coupons were very valuable. By the end of January, Hedy had to apply for supplementary clothing coupons. The ration book she was issued on the 17th had only 24 coupons – 12 coupons short!
Only 10 days after Hedy arrived, the Luftwaffe resumed mass bombing of London in what was called the “Baby Blitz.” These raids went on for 3 months, with less destruction this time. By 1944 Germany had lost many of their aircraft during the Allied bombings over the Axis countries and could not spare planes or their pilots to wage as severe a strike as before.
However, in June, the Germans began to send the unmanned V-1 rockets … the “buzz bombs.”
Hedy wrote, “It may have been exciting to watch the German bombers but when the buzz bombs (V-1′s) started, that was different. The bombs flew over, and when the motor stopped that was it. You knew it was going to hit.”
Welcome to London.
Update: January 24, 2012. The U.S. Embassy in London was 1, Grosvenor Square. The 72 address was actually the main OSS headquarters most likely not published anywhere but was typed on this mimeographed note.