The purpose of propaganda is to invoke an emotional response from the target audience: one which is not based on critical thinking. Terror bombing is so morally offensive to its victims that it has always been used as a propaganda tool by the government. The greatest success of the ‘myth of the Blitz’ was the fact that so many people who actually lived through the catastrophe believed in it wholeheartedly and began to internalize it. They started behaving according to the mythos. Londoners in particular acted as their own self-fulfilling ‘myth’ told them they should. The myth emerged out of the bravery and courage demonstrated by the English people under such appalling circumstances.

‘Blitz’ is a symbolic term used to describe the Nazis’ failed bombing campaign of Britain. The destruction of civilian targets did not achieve the intended goals of demoralizing the British into capitulation, however.

The deeper narrative of the ‘myth of the Blitz’ concerns the people, who, divided by class conflicts and political in-fighting prior to the war, overcame the odds and were united in defiance of Hitler and the Nazis. The myth was based on an assumption that the country could repel the invasion through team work, preparation, and the will to keep muddling through in spite of it all. Instead of crushing the morale of the British people, the Blitz became a unifying event which bolstered their resolve to defeat the Nazis.

The reality on the ground was far more complex and nuanced, however, as Nella Last’s diaries reveal.

Myth or not, the Blitz was undoubtedly a transformative event which helped to strengthen the people’s will under the refrain of ‘Britain can Take It.’ The Blitz brought the civilian population of the country into the equation for the first time. In Nella’s hometown of Barrow-in-Furness, she had more immediate concerns regarding the scarcity and the cost of food, the lack of news from her sons overseas, and matters of simple day-to-day survival. The Blitz meant the shattering of normal life for many Britons. Untold numbers suffered through sleepless nights with the anxiety of emerging from the shelters to find their homes destroyed. As a mom, Nella was proud to be sharing some of the same hardships and danger experienced by her boys.

This was a period during the conflict when families were separated by the war – and sometimes having to cope with the loss of a family member. Some people took it better than others. The difficulties of life with blackout curtains, rationing and enemy bombers flying overhead was stressful enough without having to worry about family matters. Fuel for recreational use was cut off, and eventually Nella and her husband couldn’t go anywhere except by bus. Rationing became severe in the last years of the war, so Nella tried to grow vegetables that were not available at the grocery store, and she tore up her yard to keep hens so she and her husband could have more than the one egg per week war rationing allowed.

August 13, 1940 was supposed to be a great day for Germany: ‘Adlertag’ – Eagle Day. The Nazis expected little resistance from the RAF. the Luftwaffe was the greatest air force in the world. Once air superiority was achieved, it would be a simple matter of sending in the shock troops to occupy the territory.

Operation ‘Sea Lion’ necessitated that the Luftwaffe wiped out the RAF as quickly as possible and establish air superiority over British skies. The Nazis knew that invading and occupying Britain would be a far more difficult proposition than overrunning mainland Europe. Still, following their conquests, the Luftwaffe was confident they could successfully carry out the mission, and that Adlertag would forever be known as the day of Germany’s great victory over the British empire. History has shown that it didn’t quite work out that way. Hitler’s decision to switch targets from RAF airfields and radar installations to a strategy of bombing cities in order to terrorize the British people turned out to be a strategic blunder for the Nazis.

Blitz, the German word for ‘lightning’ was applied by the British press to describe the heavy bombing raids carried out over Britain in 1940 and 1941. The concentrated bombing of industrial targets and civilian centers began on September 7th 1940, with the heaviest raids on London. Millions of children, mothers and pensioners had been evacuated to the countryside. Nella Last was one of those brave souls who stayed behind, trying to keep some semblance of a normal home life. Her attitude typifies the British stereotype of persevering against the odds and keeping a ‘stiff upper lip.’

The scale of the attacks rapidly escalated. In their efforts to ‘soften up’ the British population and to destroy morale in preparation for the massive land invasion, the Luftwaffe extended their range to include the major coastal ports and centers of production and supply such as Liverpool, Manchester and Barrow.

London’s four million inhabitants were ripe for terror tactics. The night raids were practically continuous. Many people who were tired of repeatedly being forced to interrupt their sleep travelling back and forth from the shelters eventually took up residence there. Oddly, this also gave rise to a new spirit of solidarity and community which helped to propagate the myth of the Blitz.

The political response to the bombings was far from unwavering, however. Members of the Communist Party began to suggest that German occupation would be better than the sustained bombing. Pacifist groups represented another faction. Feelings of desperation and hopelessness began to surface, and a sentiment that the German juggernaut could not be stopped was widespread in the cities which sustained the heaviest bombing raids during the Blitz.

Controversial wartime films such as The Life and Death of Col. Blimp served to confuse and disturb the British public. Col. Blimp is a satire on the English Army – even though it is staunchly pro-British. The film suggests that Britain’s military commanders were faced with the dilemma of balancing traditional notions of “fair and honorable” warfare with the desire to retaliate in equal measure against such an evil enemy.

Another of the growing fears among the population during the Blitz was the realization that despite the skill and bravery of the RAF pilots, the Luftwaffe seemed to be able to attack at any time and in any place, destroying cities and lives indiscriminately. ‘He comes when he wants’ was a sentiment being shared by a growing number of people. London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights. Over a million homes were destroyed or damaged, and more than 40,000 civilians were killed.

The raids were meant to destroy morale, but it had the opposite effect for the most part. Additionally, this strategy did not significantly damage Britain’s war industries. The eight months of bombing never seriously hampered British production levels, and military manufacturing continued to operate and even expand during the Blitz.

In the aftermath of World War II, Britain went through a period of enormous social change. The country was completely bankrupt from fighting a global war. Britain quietly relinquished its status as the world’s greatest imperial power. Churchill was voted out and the new Labor government nationalized many industries and oversaw the modernization of Britain’s manufacturing base. But it was the massive cultural and social changes that really transformed British society. Today, Britain has achieved a new kind of classlessness which would have seemed unimaginable to people living through the Blitz.

A myth is defined as ‘a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation’; a ‘story that is believed by many people but which is not true’ – or ‘an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution.’

Whether the Blitz was a myth or not simply depends on one’s perspective. Under the terrifying nightly bombing raids, the myth was real enough. To those living peacefully in the countryside: not so much.