Witnessing the London Blitz

"The London Blitz, 1940," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2001).

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/blitz.htm

                                                                      

Overview: This is an article written by Ernie Pyle who was a journalist and eyewitness during the London Blitz of 1940. In his article, he explains how it felt and looked like when he was witnessing the bombing. This would help people understand what it was like when they were being attacked by the Germans.

In this article, Pyle says how it was dark when he heard the guns being fired. He states how he heard the Germans flying over when they were attacking London. He said he could feel the building shake when the guns were being fired, how he could hear when the bombs hit the buildings. Although he was not in London during the bombing, he was close enough to see it out the balcony of the building he was staying. He states how the horizon would light up due to the fire from the bombs being dropped by the Germans.

Throughout the rest of the article he is able to describe how he heard the fire burning buildings, and how it all looked when the smoke blew away; he saw how damaged all the buildings were. This article would be a give a reader a great idea on how it looked and felt like to witness the bombing of London in 1940-1941.

Argument: This article shows although he thinks what he sees is eye-catching, he still believs it is a disaster for the citizens of London; in otherwards, it sounds like he leans towards the side of the British.

Source: Since it is an eye-witness, it helps me believe it is reliable. This shows me the author finds witnessing rare disasters up close an interesting thing to watch, he does show some sympathy by explaining the destruction he sees.