For the first time during the Second World War citizens were targeted. Few areas of the world were unaffected; the war involved the "home front" and the bombing of civilians more than in any previous conflict.

The massive bombings of cities, including the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and the firebombing of Dresden in Germany, the destruction of Coventry in Great Britain caused devastating destruction and loss of life. Bombing raids on civilians were seen as a way to destroy the morale of the population.

In order to keep track of where bombs fell the Ministry of Home Security started a Bomb Census Survey in September 1940 which first registered where bombs fell in London, Birmingham and Liverpool. By September 1941 the whole of Great Britain was covered. The survey was used to assess bombing patterns, the bomb types and the damage caused. Sometimes a single bombing raid was covered by the survey or sometimes a period of weeks was covered. The information for the survey was collected by the local civil defence staff, such as Air Raid Wardens and the police.

While most cities suffered from the bombing raids sometimes a stray bomb fell on more remote areas. This was because bombers sometimes lost their way and dropped their bombs on the wrong target or dropped their bombs before they reached their target or even dropped bombs that remained (either because they were not all released over the target) on their way back to their base.