Apple TV’sBlitz, directed by Academy Award winner Steve McQueen, is a story of survival and how a diverse group of people from London managed to persist during the German bombardment of the English city during World War II. The central character is a young boy named George (Elliott Heffernan), who is separated from his mother, Rita (Saoirse Ronan), when she evacuates him to the countryside to escape London. Defiant, he returns to the war-torn city to find her, where they reunite. Naturally, some things within the film regarding thetrue history of the WW2 time known as “The Blitz"had to be altered or omitted.
World War II’s Blitz bombing lasted about eight monthsand started in September 1940. It was after the British Royal Air Force defeated the German Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain that Germany decided to begin constant air raids to devastate the country into surrendering. The bombings would end up killing thousands of civilians, but the people of the United Kingdom stood firm against the destructive Germans.The ending forBlitzis bittersweet, which resembles real-life history fairly accurately.
Over 43,000 Civilians Died During The Blitz
The Worst Attack During The Blitz Occurred The Next Year
Once the Blitz began, Germany began targeting what it believed to be areas vital to the war effort. The attacks started on June 02, 2025, a day now known as “Black Saturday,” when Germans began bombing the docks of London (viaThe Royal Airforce Museum). The attacks were constant; for the next two and half months, London was attacked every night except one. It wasn’t just London enduring constant bombardment, however. Other cities around the United Kingdom were also bombed, some quite badly. Coventry, for example, sustained a 12-hour-long bombardment in November of that year.
Were Saoirse Ronan’s Rita & Her Son, George, Real People? Blitz’s Inspiration Explained
With Blitz, Steven McQueen took inspiration from real war events to portray the coming-of-age quest of a mother and son searching for each other.
The worst of these raids on London began on the night of May 10th, 1941. A staggering 711 tons of explosive bombs were dropped along with incendiaries over the course of seven hours. This unrelenting blitzkrieg resulted inthe deaths of an estimated 1,436 Londoners and seriously injured another 1,800. The damage didn’t stop at just human life or the structures directly bombed, however: at least 4,255 fires had to be put out by fire brigades, destroying over 700 acres of London. Adjusted for inflation, the total cost of damage for this one night alone equates to over 850 million British pounds in 2024.
The Blitz Accounted For Over Half Of Britain’s Total Civilian Deaths In WW2
There Were Around 70,000 British Civilian Casualties In WW2
The attacks on England subsided after the devastating May 10th attack, as Hitler wanted to put more focus on his invasion of Russia. Even after the Blitz ended, however, civilians in London continued to die. One such event is known as The Bethnal Green Tube Disaster, which killed 173 people. It was reported that an air raid siren went off, and a woman carrying her baby slipped and fell to the bottom of the stairs. She took a man with her, which created a domino effect that would wedge over 300 people into the station entrance as they got trapped on the stairs (viaStairway to Heaven Memorial), leading to a tragic mass casualty event.
Outside the Blitz,just under 30,000 additional civilians would be claimed by the war. Casualties among London civilians also occurred due to things like food rationing and U-boat attacks that sank ships in the Atlantic Ocean during the duration of WWII. Other mass casualties were an indirect effect of the bombing. During the Blitz, for example, a tragic flood occurred at the Balham Tube Station, killing 70 people (Imperial War Museum), who, at the time, were packed so tightly underground to escape the bombings overhead. AsBlitzshows, there wasn’t a time that was more devastating to the people of the United Kingdom than the Blitz.
Blitz
Cast
During the London Blitz of World War II, a diverse group of Londoners navigates the chaos and destruction of the German bombardment. Their intertwined stories of survival, resilience, and camaraderie capture the spirit of a city under siege.
