🪻deadly flowers 🪻

Today is July 15th, 1987. You lived in a small neighborhood north of London. This town was also called Enfield. But the war with the Irish Republican Army was honored. It was also called Operation Troubles. Also, when World War II was raging in London and its suburbs, truly terrible events took place here. There were constant bombings and sirens, children were evacuated, and the Royal Arms Factory was the main target: Enfield was a strategically important point because it was here that the Royal Small Arms Factory was located, which forged rifles and machine guns for the British army around the clock. German bombers desperately tried to destroy this factory.
And you lived in Enfield. But one day they got to you too. You desperately began to run away from your house, across the field, but there was one problem. This field was called the death field: because arugula flowers grew there. Those flowers were blue and left that color everywhere they touched. But you went there. The field was huge and you were already in the center.

For London and its surrounding areas (including Enfield), World War II was a time of brutal trial that forever changed the face of the city and people's lives. It was a period of total, devastating aerial warfare, with civilians finding themselves on the front lines.
Below is a detailed account of how the city lived and survived in those years.

1. Beginning: "Blitz" (September 1940 – May 1941)
   After capturing France, Adolf Hitler planned an invasion of Great Britain (Operation Sea Lion). To break the British spirit and destroy their air force, Nazi Germany launched a massive bombing campaign known as the Blitz (from the German Blitzkrieg, meaning lightning war).
   • 57 consecutive nights: From September 7, 1940, German Luftwaffe bombers bombed London every night without interruption - the London Blitz.
   • The horror of incendiary bombs: The Germans dropped not only high-explosive shells that destroyed buildings, but also thousands of incendiary bombs. These caused "fire tornadoes" that engulfed entire city blocks. The famous Docklands, the East End, and the historic center burned.
   • Scale of the disaster: During the Blitz, more than 20,000 civilians died in London and more than a million homes were destroyed or damaged.
2. Life Underground and the "Spirit of Blitz"
   The city's residents had to completely restructure their lives in order to survive.
   • The London Underground as a lifesaver: Every night, as soon as the wailing siren sounded, tens of thousands of Londoners descended into the deep-level underground stations. People slept right on the platforms, on the tracks (trains were stopped), and on the steps of escalators. Tea stations were available, doctors were on duty, and even concerts were held to distract the crowds.
   • Garden Shelters: Those living in suburbs (like Enfield) built "Anderson shelters" in their yards—small bunkers made from corrugated iron sheets dug into the ground and covered with soil. They didn't protect against a direct hit, but they did provide protection from shrapnel and blast waves.