WW2: Baedeker Raids Start, Apr 23, 1942

Target Handbook for
 the Baedeker Raids, 1942.

Apr 23, 2017—This day in 1942 Germans began their “Baedeker Raids” on England, bombing several medieval cities. Almost 1,000 English civilians were killed in the bombing attacks.

Unlike the earlier bombings of English cities in 1940-41, which were strategic, to kill civilians and destroy buildings to weaken  the English public's will to fight with Germany, the April-June 1942 bombings of cities were targeted at historic cities. They were a retaliation for the RAF raid on the German port of Lübeck on March 28, when 234 British bombers destroyed 2,000 buildings, killed 312 civilians and left 15,000 Lübeck residents homeless.

In reprisal, the Luftwaffe attacked English cathedral cities. The Germans called their air attacks “Baedeker Raids” for the German publisher of its famed tourist guidebooks. Exeter was the first city to be attacked. Much of the city was damaged and 70 people were killed. Baron Gustav Braun von Sturm of the Luftwaffe said: “’We shall go out and bomb every building in Britain marked with three stars in the Baedeker Guide." The task was given to Luftflotte 3.

Exeter was bombed again twice in the next fortnight. Bath was attacked April 25 and 26, York on April 28 resulting in the destruction of 15th-century Guildhall, and Norwich on April 27 and 29. The RAF then launched a "1000 Bomber" raid on Cologne (Köln). The Luftwaffe responded by targeting Canterbury, which was bombed on May 31, June 2 and June 6. It was reminiscent of Mahatma Gandhi's statement: "An eye for an eye and the whole world is blind."

Despite the tit-for-tat vandalism, Oxford and Cambridge were spared. Oxford is on any three-star list in England. Dr Malcolm Graham, Head of Oxfordshire Studies at Westgate Library, in his book Oxfordshire At War, says that Oxford's escape from Baedeker raids "has never been satisfactorily explained."

Oxford had been one of the cities included in the invasion plans for 1940, which included only central Oxford, not the farther-out Morris Radiators factory on Woodstock Road or the Cowley works. A squadron of Heinkel III bombers was reportedly on its way to obliterate Morris Radiators and probably Cowley on August 30, 1940. It was attacked by RAF fighters and turned back, and no second attempt to bomb Cowley was tried.

See also: Why didn't Hitler bomb Oxford?

HERALDRY: St Edmund Hall

Arms of St Edmund (Teddy)
Hall, an Oxford College

St Edmund "Hall" is not a hall but (since 1957) a College, just as Regent's Park "College" is not a college but a Hall. It is commonly known among students more by its initials S.E.H. and by the nickname Teddy Hall than by its official name.

Blazon: Or a Cross patonce Gules cantoned by four Cornish Choughs proper.

Authority: The arms do not appear to have been granted, but are authoritative because they are ancient. They were "discovered" as the arms of St Edmund of Abingdon by a Benedictine monk-detective, Dom Wilfred Wallace. The four choughs (pronounced chuffs)  are also referred to as sea-pies and oyster-catchers. These choughs should not have the white wings shown in Brooke-Little's 1951 review of the Oxford coats of arms, a rare mistake for Brooke-Little, who was Richmond Herald.

Nominee of Arms: The coat of arms is attributed to the Founder of the Hall, (St) Edmund Rich of Abingdon (sometimes spelled Abington), a few miles south of Oxford. He was the first Oxford-educated Archbishop of Canterbury (1210-1233). Below the college arms is found the Latin chronogram-dedication Sanctus edmundus huius aulae lux (St Edmund, light of this Hall). The text is rendered as sanCtVs edMVndVs hVIVs aVLae LVX. Adding the numerals (the capital letters) gives 1246, the date St Edmund was canonized.

Institutional History. St Edmund is considered to have founded the eponymous hall in 1236. It is  the only surviving medieval Aularian ("Hall") house, giving the name of "Aularians" to SEH members. It acquired the status of a college in 1957, while retaining the historical name "Hall". Its nominee, St Edmund of Abingdon, is the first known Oxford Master of Arts and became the first of many Oxonians to become Archbishop of Canterbury. The name St Edmund Hall (Aula Sancti Edmundi) first appears in a 1317 rental agreement.

Physical History. St Edmund Hall is on the north side of High Street ("the High"). The front quadrangle – in the middle of which is a medieval well – is bordered by the porters' lodge, the Old Dining Hall (1659), the college bar and buttery (with a mid-15th-century fireplace), a chapel, and an Old (late 17th century) Library above. The quadrangle includes some accommodations for students and fellows. Modern accommodation and a dining hall are to the east of the quadrangle, and the college library is in the deconsecrated 12th-century church of St Peter-in-the-East, including a crypt that is still consecrated. To the north is a garden with a seated bronze figure representing Edmund as an impoverished student; most scholars in the earliest centuries were impecunious and lived in squalid conditions. The college also owns annexes at Norham Gardens, on Dawson Street, and on Iffley Road.

Intellectual and Religious History. The college has a history of being independent of both Church and State. During the late 14th and early 15th centuries it was a bastion of John Wycliffe's supporters; college principal William Taylor was ultimately burned at the stake, and principal Peter Payne fled the country. In the late 17th century, St Edmund Hall incurred the Crown's anger for encouraging its members to remain loyal to the Scottish House of Stuart and to refuse to take the oath to the German House of Hanover (i.e., they were "non-jurors" or "not swearers").