During the Second World War the Luftwaffe repeatedly bombed London, the major ports such as Plymouth, Bristol and Liverpool, and major industrial centres such as Coventry, Glasgow and Manchester.

Civil defence measures carried out by Air Raid Precautions (ARP) were organised by local authorities. It was the duty of Air Raid Wardens to report incidents in their area. Today, the most important sources of information available to trace whether your area was bombed are the original wartime records kept by the ARP. In most cases, where they still exist, the original records of ARP from the Second World War are held either in the archives of the local authority, or in some cases in the county record office for your area.

In London, in addition to the records of the Borough Councils, the London Metropolitan Archives hold material on bomb damage suffered in the Greater London area during the Second World War. Included in the collections of the London Metropolitan Archives are maps showing the areas of London damaged by bombs during the Second World War.

At national level, civil defence during the Second World War was organised by the Ministry of Home Security. The archive papers of the Ministry of Home Security are held by The National Archives at Kew. The papers of the Ministry of Home Security include a number of reports of bomb damage, and papers and maps relating to the bomb census carried out by the Ministry of Home Security Research and Experiments Division and the Air Ministry. 

If you are interested in reading more about the bombing of the United Kingdom during the Second World War click here for details of how to visit the Department of Printed Books.

Sources:
Civil defence by Terence O'Brien (pub. HMSO and Longmans, London, 1955)
Front line 1940-41: the official story of the civil defence of Britain (pub. HMSO, London, 1942)