Every red dot on this map is a Nazi bomb that fell on London in the Blitz
THE story is told in the history books and, for those fortunate enough to have them, in the recollections of the great-grandparents who survived it.
But for future generations of children who ask about the Blitz, you can show them its full enormity – with a single click.
An astonishing interactive map has been created to show where every single German bomb landed on London during eight terrifying months of the Second World War, when thousands were killed and more than a million homes destroyed.
The year-long mapping project, called Bomb Sight, was devised by geographer Dr Kate Jones, of the University of Portsmouth. It uses red bomb symbols to illustrate where each one fell.
It shows how the entire greater city, from Egham in the west to Dartford in the east, Potters Bar in the north and Caterham in the south, was obliterated.
Dr Jones said: ‘When you look at these maps and see the proliferation of bombs dropped on the capital, it does illustrate the meaning of the word “Blitz”, which comes from the German meaning lightning war.
‘It seems astonishing that London survived the onslaught. The Bomb Sight project demonstrates the clustering together of lots of different data using the power of geography.’
It uses maps from the London Second World War bomb census, taken between October 1940 and June 1941, which until now has only been available to view in the reading room at the National Archives.
The bombsites have been combined with geo-located photographs from the Imperial War Museum and geo-located memories from the BBC’s WW2 People’s War Archive. Users can manipulate the map and zoom into specific streets or boroughs, as well as find out what type of bomb was dropped where. They can also explore photographs and stories from those involved or affected by the war.
With funding from higher education charity Jisc, Dr Jones has created a website and mobile app to make the interactive map available to the public, especially students, teachers and citizen researchers.
Paola Marchionni, Jisc programme manager, said: ‘Bomb Sight is a fantastic resource. The original Blitz maps have been scanned and geo-referenced thanks to the National Archive and testimonials from the BBC have been incorporated together with historical images from the Imperial War Museum to create an interactive teaching and learning resource that is similar to a map sat nav.’
The Android app also gives users an augmented reality view, which allows users to point their phone at a street scene and, using the phone’s camera and GPS, it will display the bombs that fell nearby.
The map can be accessed at www.bombsight.org.