Fall of London (War of the Worlds)
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In H. G. Wells' fictional classic, The War of the Worlds, London fell to the Martian invaders. It is described in detail in H.G. Wells' book.
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[edit] Dispositions
The offensive on London began at 9pm on Sunday. The Martians had earlier in the day been forced to retreat to their then-primary encampment at Horsell after losing one of their number while attacking the towns of Weybridge and Shepperton. At 9pm, near St. George's Hill - where one of three Martian fighting-machines had been damaged earlier that evening by artillery fire - four other fighting-machines joined up with the first three. The seven fighting-machines then proceeded to establish an attacking line twelve miles wide (between St. George's Hill, Weybridge, and Send). At this time, over 115 artillery pieces had been deployed covering London. Heavy artillery pieces had been established in a defensive line near Kingston, Richmond, and Wimbledon, while smaller artillery pieces were placed in various areas of cover south of this defensive line around the villages of Staines, Ockham, Ditton, Esher, and Hounslow. Up to the opening of this offensive, the British military authorities were confident in their defenses, given that a Martian had been destroyed earlier in the day at Weybridge. However, the Martians employed a new weapon which eliminated the artillery as a threat to their attack: black smoke.
[edit] Black Smoke attack
Black Smoke was a toxic gas dispatched from the fighting-machines by gunfire. When the projectiles were fired, they hit the ground and broke open, releasing enormous clouds of the gas. Any person or animal breathing or even touching this gas died almost instantly. From their offensive line, the Martians completely saturated the valley of the Thames with Black Smoke, and used their heat-rays on any artillery positions that were exposed in full view, or on hills above the smoke. By midnight, the defensive line south of Richmond and Kingston had been forced, which led the military authorities to advise the government to evacuate London. While this was happening, the fourth Martian invasion ship landed at Bushy Park. Before dawn the next day, the evacuation order was given out to the public.
[edit] Evacuation order
The public dispatch read: The Martians are able to discharge enormous clouds of a black and poisonous vapour by means of rockets. They have smothered our batteries, destroyed Richmond, Kingston, and Wimbledon, and are advancing slowly towards London, destroying everything on the way. It is impossible to stop them. There is no safety from the Black Smoke but in instant flight. This sparked the beginning of the Great Panic. Londoners embarked on an en-masse stampede northwards and westwards out of London. Before the Government and military leadership moved to Birmingham to establish a new headquarters, they had ordered railway companies to prepare trains to assist in the evacuation, which had commenced from Chalk Farm Station at that same hour.
[edit] Strategy
Because the Martians could have annihilated the entire population of London during Day Four, but did not do so, it is surmised that the goal of the offensive at this stage was simply the destruction of military opposition and the demoralization of the civil populace.[citation needed] These goals were achieved as the only offensive operations embarked on by British forces after Day Four were the preparation of mines and pitfalls across the midland counties. The Martians did not advance beyond the central part of London until Day Five, which by that time was relatively clear of refugees. London was totally under Martian occupation by Day Six (sightings at Highgate and Neasden confirmed this). Their final base was established within London on Primrose Hill, the site of the seventh Martian landing.
[edit] Aftermath of the Fall
By Day Six, there were reports of a Martian fighting-machine reaching Barnes and a failed attempt to destroy another fighting-machine at Waltham Abbey Powder Mills. Special trains were being run from St. Albans to relieve the pressure of the fleeing London populace on the home counties as by this time the central London terminal would have been rendered untenable.
By Day Seven of the invasion, the Martians were making forays into Essex, in the process destroying any remaining pockets of military resistance. One of these forays (consisting of three fighting-machines) engaged and destroyed several artillery batteries near Shoeburyness on the way to the Essex coast, in which they attempted to cut off refugees fleeing by ship. This attempt was thwarted by the Royal Navy, which was the only major military setback of the invasion the Martians suffered (apart from the destruction of the one Martian fighting-machine on Day Three).
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