Blitz Street

Documentary

BBC / ABC DVD

Roadshow Entertainment

R4 DVD

During the early years of World War II German bombers damaged or destroyed large amounts of London’s more crowded residential suburbs. Although the bombing was initially against military targets like the docklands, there was considerable damage to the surrounding residential areas. Later this damage seems to have been deliberately encouraged in an attempt to break the British morale. We have all seen the photos of gutted buildings, rubble-choked streets and rescuers digging frantically to recover the living from under the wreckage of their terrace houses.

This documentary is one of those strange ones that explores one of the byways of history. The producers built two replica terrace houses using the materials and building techniques of the time then tested their reaction to various bombs and explosives that they would have encountered during the war. The results are fascinating. High speed cameras record the explosions so they can be analysed later. Various gauges and meters measure blast and sound pressure levels. We get a good explanation of the effects of a nearby bomb burst on humans. There is a point at which the sound pressure wave can disable a person’s hearing and another point at which they will die. The blast could kill just as surely as the bomb explosion. On the high speed films we can often see the blast wave as it hits a building.

As the War turned against Germany Hitler again became obsessed with the idea of bombing the British to surrender. The V1 and V2 were his answer, since the Luftwaffe had proved unable to break the British. The effect of the V weapons is examined. They were horrifying in the amount of damage they could do and the almost complete lack of protection from them. There is no doubt that these were intended purely to intimidate the civilian population since they could not be aimed precisely enough to only hit military targets. Yet against the constant night bombing, the civilians came through. Night after night they trooped into the shelters not knowing if their house would still be standing when they came out. There are many poignant stories from the survivors.

Presenter Tony Robinson as usual does a tremendous job explaining in clear terms just what each simulated bomb burst would have achieved in terms of death and destruction, but it is the high speed photography of buildings being destroyed that is truly horrifying. Nothing can prepare you for the sight of an entire slate roof buckling as it is blown upwards then slumping back into its original position.

The original four-episode series has been condensed to a single episode for this DVD, but doesn’t seem to have lost anything by being abridged.

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