 On the night of 23 April 1942 , a small raid was made against Exeter , followed the next day by a pronouncement by Gustaf Braun von <unk> that they would destroy every location found in the Baedeker tourist guides that was awarded three stars . Raids of ever @-@ increasing size followed over the next week , in what became known in the UK as the Baedeker Blitz . This first series of raids ended in early May . When Cologne was greatly damaged during the first 1 @,@ 000 @-@ bomber raid , the Luftwaffe returned for another week of raids between 31 May to 6 June . 
