Most explanations for the start of the British campaign have assumed that it was a response to the German bombing of Rotterdam on May 14, but the first raid, on Münchengladbach, had already taken place three days before, while Rotterdam was not mentioned in any of the cabinet discussions about initiating the bombing of German targets. The decision was taken because of the crisis in the Battle of France, not because of German air raids.24 The actual circumstances surrounding the onset of bombing were more complex. By chance the German attack in the west on May 10, 1940, began on the same day
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