From September of 1940 through to May of 1941,
Germany launched a mass bombing campaign that would end up both terrifying and devastating the citizens of the United Kingdom.
This series of continuous bombing came to be referred to as "The Blitz".
The estimated losses are reported as being 40,000 civilians killed with many more than that injured,
over 3,300 aircrew killed,
2,250 aircraft lost and over 2 million homes lost, more than 60% of which were in London.
Throughout the Second World War the United Kingdom had put into place rules for civilians to follow during the nighttime.
A procedure called a blackout.
All sources of light would be cut off,
thick dark curtains would be drawn as to avoid reflecting or
outputting any sources of light, and any forms of public lighting such as street lamps would also be cut off.
It was said by officials that this would assist in keeping the German planes blind in the sky,
preventing them from seeing any well lit targets.
in reality, however, thousands of accidental deaths were caused by the poor lighting conditions and
experts have since claimed that these blackout procedures were put into place only to test the
cooperation of civilians and that the blackout does not provide any strategic benefit in combatting the enemy line of sight.
It was during this war and ongoing blackouts yet after the devastating attacks by German air forces that one
individual decided to set about on a deadly spree.
Born on the 18th of February, 1914, in York, England, Gordon Friedrich Cummins has a largely unknown history.
With even his birth date being a point of controversy, his earliest confirmed information is his marriage in 1936.
