DEVILS IN THE DARK

CRIME IN BLACKOUT LONDON

- Callum McKelvie

As WWII Britain plunged itself into darkness, it wasn't just the German bombs civilians had to fear

In early September 1939, as Hitler’s armies advanced across Europe, the British government began preparations for war. One of the concerns surrounded the threat of aerial attacks by the Luftwaffe. The technology had developed a great deal since the Zeppelin air raids of the First World War and the Luftwaffe had already demonstrated its deadly capabilities during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).

As part of Britain’s air defence, measures were taken on the ground. They limited the effectiveness of German air raids. One of these was the implementation of the strict policy of extinguishing all lights during the night hours, making it harder for German pilots to identify their targets. But what the government did not anticipate was the number of criminals who quickly took advantage of the newly darkened streets.

Historian Amy Helen Bell has meticulously researched this period, attempting to shed a light on the horrific murders and crimes in her book Under Cover of Darkness: Murders in Blackout London. “My first doctoral work was on the London Blitz, exploring how civilians experienced it as the first total-war attack on an unseen enemy,” she tells us. “In researching this I came across a particular case in which a man murdered his wife and attempted to make it appear as if she had been the victim of a German bomb. I knew there had to be many more similar cases.”

THE BLACKOUT BEGINS