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The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not Any complacency was dispelled by intense bombing raids on the nights of 13-14 and 14-15 March 1941, when an estimated 250 German bombers attacked Clydeside targets and caused extensive damage and heavy casualties. The phoney war only lasted for 8 months, until May 10th 1940, when the Germans attacked France, Belgium and The Netherlands, not 1941. The Greenock Blitz is the name given to two nights of intensive bombing of the town of Greenock, Scotland by the Nazi German Luftwaffe during the Second World War.The raids over the nights of the 6 and 7 May 1941 targeted the shipyards and berthed ships around the town (similar to the Clydebank Blitz the previous March). Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted. This went on for about a year. National Records of Scotland have published valuation rolls from 1940 on our online research service, ScotlandsPeople, adding over 60,000 new digital images. A few months later, at around 4pm on 1 July, an enemy plane flew over Wick and dropped two bombs. The final wave came around 2 am; dropping high-explosive bombs and parachute land mines which caused widespread destruction. The brunt of the bombing fell on residential areas. Glasgow did not suffer such intense air raids during 1940 as did many large English cities. Over time, sightings of enemy planes and dog fights over the sea became more common, ships were lost and war became a reality for the local population. The Greenock Blitz is the name given to two nights of intensive bombing of the town of Greenock, Scotland by the Nazi German Luftwaffe during the Second World War. During these attacks, 6,400 high explosive bombs and 300 parachute mines fell onto the country. This formed part of wider air operations across Scotland – with 250 in total by 2 September 1945. In a bid to counter these attacks, airfields were established across the country. Archive List > United Kingdom > Glasgow and Argyll, On Thursday 13th March 1941 around 9 pm the sirens started over Glasgow (Clydeside) My Mum washed my hair that night and instead of going to the shelter because she thought I might catch cold after getting over meningitis we went under the double bed. Over the two nights, 271 people were killed and over 10,200 injured. This story has been placed in the following categories. The 1940 valuation rolls include more than 2.8 million indexed names and addresses for owners, tenants and occupiers of buildings throughout Scotland, including a record of the annual valued rent. As the war progressed, and Caithness provided defences for Scapa Flow in Orkney, the Germans turned their focus to the north of the mainland. It consisted of a large number of mounds of combustible materials scattered over a wide area of the moorland to simulate a burning urban area. I remmber, not being able to get sweets. 11 of the 15 had died immediately, followed by another four in hospital. [citation needed], At 3:30 am the "All Clear" sounded, but a large area of the town was in flames. It was one of the most bombed airfields of World War Two. Whilst causing damage to naval property, few homes or civilians were directly affected at this time. My Uncle came to stay and he had a poorly tummy. The second wave attacked primarily the east end and centre of Greenock; the distillery in Ingleston Street had been set alight in the first wave, causing a huge fire which acted as a beacon for the rest of the bomber force. On the nights of 13th and 14th of March 1941, the town was largely destroyed as it was considered the industrial heart of Glasgow. Before the blitz hit London in September 1940, the population of northern Scotland had found themselves amongst enemy action. In October 1940, for example, some 140 homes were damaged and three people died when enemy planes dropped bombs and ‘raked the streets with machine gun fire.’ In total, 222 high explosives are said to have been dropped in the north. From a total of 180,000 homes nearly 25,000 suffered damage and 5,000 were destroyed outright. referenced. Four shops and four dwellings were destroyed completely, with property in nearby Rose street also suffering badly. [3] Bombs fell all over the town and surrounding area; serious damage being inflicted on East Crawford Street and Belville Street. © Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Re: Bombs over Glasgow in WW2 Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:28 pm I thought it was perhaps time to inject a bit of colour into this thread following the two week debate on the intent of the Air Raids carried out by the Luftwaffe. Wick became the focus of enemy attacks in the far north of Scotland and was attacked 6 times over the course of the war. You are browsing in: Archive List > The Blitz. James Isbister was hit by a shower of shrapnel in Stenness on March 16th 1940. Scores of large bomb craters were found after an inspection of the decoy after the air raids.[4]. The brunt of the bombing fell on residential areas. Its location made it an ideal site for Coastal Command Maritime patrols over the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean as pilots flew on reconnaisance, convoy escort and anti-submarine patrols. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. Flying low, the pilot had probably intended to aim for the harbour area, but the bombs fell short of their target and exploded next to each other, directly on the roadway of Bank Row. During the first few months of the ‘phony war’ the north was a major focus of attacks of enemy air raids. RAF Wick opened in September 1939. The bombing of Bank Row, Wick, on 1 July 1940 is recorded in the 1940 Valuation Rolls The Clydebank blitz. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites We were all alright fortunately we only had doors blown off and windows blown in and water supply cut off altogether. Glasgow was one of the few major cities in Britain not to come under sustained aerial attack during WW2. [citation needed], The attack began around midnight on 6 May when around 350 German bombers attacked the town. There was 39 people killed as the school was used as a First Aid post and Air Raid wardens post. Three people were seriously injured, 12 more were slightly injured and several others had sustained minor cuts and bruises. Despite a quick response from Wick’s civil defence services, 15 people had died including five men and three women. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. On the evening of 10 April 1940, 60 German bombers aimed an intensive raid on Scapa Flow, but ultimately failed in their mission, losing seven planes. Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Inverclyde Council | War Dead: Greenock WW2", http://www.lostancestors.eu/memwar/G/Greenock02.htm, Air Raid Precautions in the United Kingdom, Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greenock_Blitz&oldid=975271534, Articles needing additional references from January 2014, All articles needing additional references, Articles lacking reliable references from January 2014, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2014, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, http://inverclyde-tv.com/stories/4717-greenock-blitz, This page was last edited on 27 August 2020, at 18:04. The sugar refineries, distillery and foundries were all extensively damaged, the Municipal Buildings complex was partly destroyed, and several churches were left as burnt-out shells. [1][2] Prior to the outbreak of war, there were very few active military airfields in Scotland. There had been no warning siren sounded - children on their school holidays were playing in the street in the warm summer’s afternoon whilst adults were shopping or at work – all were caught off guard with devastating consequences. There were also kilns for smoking herring, a cartwrights workshop, and a blacksmiths. Störangriffe ('nuisance raids') - small probing attacks which took place during night and day - had begun by June 1940. Most of the content on this site is created by our users, who are members of the Hard runways were made with hangars and other buildings – two of the original hangars and original control tower still stand today. public. On 1 July 1940, however, two bombs fell from enemy planes onto the town of Wick. Orkney, for example, was where the first civilian of World War Two was killed. The valuation rolls record this significant growth in ‘ministry’ occupancy of property and land, and this is evident when comparing the 1935 and 1940 rolls. those of the BBC. Initially, incendiary bombs were dropped around the perimeter of the town. Other properties, whilst still standing, were left uninhabitable. 1,000 seriously injured. However, damage to the shipyards was minimal. WW2 People's War Homepage Archive List Timeline About This Site: Contact Us: Blitz in Glasgow by redcarcleveland. Amongst the shops on Bank Row were: two tailors, an ironmonger, a butcher, three grocers, one furniture store, one baker, a confectionery shop and a goods and clothes shop. Airfields were also established at Castletown, Skitten and Dounreay with decoy airfields constructed some distance from the real sites, as well as an emergency landing ground. 1,200 people killed. We were lucky. A partnership between the National Records of Scotland and the Court of the Lord Lyon. Meantime my Dad was at the pictures and told that a bomb had landed on Bankhead (Primary) school so despite air-raid wardens blowing their whistles he half ran and half crawled home as our house was just round the corner from the school. Also sponges (cakes) made with powdered egg. Please help this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. Find out how you can use this. I thought that was unfair, I suppose I didn't realise at the time he was poorly. [citation needed], Air raid sirens at 12:15 am on 7 May marked the beginning of a second night of bombing. All my Mum could think of was the organ in the flat above and whether it would land on us! The raids over the nights of the 6 and 7 May 1941 targeted the shipyards and berthed ships around the town (similar to the Clydebank Blitz the previous March). My Mum gave him our only fresh egg. Many civilians fled to the tunnels in the east end of the town, significantly reducing casualties the next night. Three local firemen were awarded the George Medal - Firemaster A.S. Pratten, Sub-Station Officer William Neill and Fireman James Berry - who entered a burning building and at great personal risk managed to control a blaze which threatened to destroy a quantity of material essential to the war effort. By 9.10pm, over the western suburbs of Glasgow, over Bowling and Dalnottar and – especially – over the crowded, densely housed and productive little town of Clydebank, the bombs had begun to fall. The people of Caithness were startled by the raid, and alarms were sounded in Wick and Thurso as shellfire lit up the skies. Mum gave us a paper bag holding sugar and pieces of rhubarb to dip in the sugar to try and make up for not getting any sweets. There is a booklet written about this wartime event called 'Bankhead - The Story of a Primary School at War'. The decoy was lit on the second night of the blitz. We used annexes and different halls in the area to beable to give us 1 HOUR'S schooling a day. [citation needed], An Air Ministry decoy starfish site behind Loch Thom prevented the number of casualties being even higher. Originally a grass field one nautical mile north of the town, it was used for scheduled flights between Inverness, Wick and Kirkwall by 'Highland Airways Limited' before being taken over by the Air Ministry. On a moonlit evening on Thursday 13 March 1941, just after 9pm, the first of 236 German bombers converged on Clydeside. Seven children were also amongst the dead : Frederick Blackstock (5), Isabella Bruce (7), James Flett (7), Kenneth MacGregor (8) sisters Elizabeth Miller (5) and Amelia Miller (9) Donald Thomson (16) and John Wares (5). In the early days of the war, German aircraft and submarines had launched attacks on ports in Scotland, including Rosyth at the Firth of Forth and Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands in October 1939. For any other comments, please Contact Us.

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