BASIC PRESENTATION

Interactive map of the bombings

LIVERPOOL

Date : 28-29 November and 20-23 December 1940

Main information : one of the most bombed area outside London, hit by 350 tons of high explosive bombs

Material damage : city’s docks and the surrounding streets of terraced houses were devastated and 8,000 out of 17,000 houses were destructed

Human damage : 1,900 people were killed, 1,450 seriously wounded and 70,000 made homeless

Extent of bomb damage in the city

BRISTOL

Date : 24 November 1940

Main information : German bombers dropped 1,540 tons of high explosives and 12,500 incendiaries.

Material damage : Many of the city's historic buildings were destroyed or in flames and 175 unexploded bombs were left behind.

Human damage : 207 were killed and 187 seriously injured.

city's historic buildings destroyed

CARDIFF

Date : 2 January 1941

Main information : marked the start of a series of raids on cities targeted for their docks, vital in maintaining Britain's supply lines.

Material damage : residential areas, docks and factories were hit.

Human damage : 165 people were killed and the same number injured

Account of surviving in Cardiff

PORTSMOUTH

Date : 10-11 January 1941

Main information : German aircraft dropped 140 tons of high explosive bombs on the naval aircraft

Material damage : 40,000 incendiaries on the city in the dockyard and the city's Guildhall

Human damage : 450 people were killed and 10% of the population made homeless.

Cleaning of bombed areas

BIRMINGHAM

Date : 19-20 November 1940, and then 21-22 and 22-23

Main information : more than 400 tons of high explosive bombs were dropped, Britain's third most-bombed city

Material damage : city's most important factory the Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) was destroyed

Human damage : 53 workers of the BSA were killed

Destroyed factories

MANCHESTER

Date : 22-23 and 23-24 December 1940

Material damage : The Free Trade Hall, Smithfield Market and St Anne's Church were destroyed. The roads were blocked, the industrial area badly damaged and more than 8,000 homes were destroyed or made uninhabitable. The Trafford Park industrial area was badly damaged by fires

Human damage : lack of information

Fire burning a building in Manchester

SOUTHAMPTON

Date : nights of 23 November and 30 November

Main information : the second raid lasted 6 hours, 800 high explosive bombs were dropped.

Material damage : the water, gas and electricity supplies were cut off in many areas.

Human damage : The Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) were short of firefighters and reinforcements had to be brought in from other areas.

Destroyed city of Southampton

COVENTRY

Date : 14-15 November 1940

Main informations : German bombers dropped 503 tons of high explosive and 30,000 incendiary bombs on the city, which is an important engineering and armaments center.

Material damage : destruction of the medieval Cathedral, one third of the city's houses were made uninhabitable and 35% of its shops destroyed.

Human damage : 568 people killed and 850 seriously injured

The medieval Cathedral destroyed

SHEFFIELD

Date : 12 and 15 December 1940

Main information : the city is famous for steel production, and a major centre for armaments manufacture

Material damage : light damages to the city's industrial areas, the city center was devastated in the raid and nearly 3,000 homes and shops were destroyed.

Human damage : 750 were killed

Sheffield's destroyed city center

HULL

Date : March and 8-9 May 1941

Main information : vital east coast port of Hull suffered two heavy raids in March and then was badly hit again on 8-9 May.

Material damage : the whole of the riverside quay was devastated by fire.

Human damage : 450 people were killed and 10% of the population made homeless.

The bombed city of Hull

plymouth

Date : March and April 1941

Main information : docks and naval bases as major targets, suffered a series of devastating raids.

Material damage : historic Guildhall and the main shopping streets were particularly badly hit.

Human damage : more than 900 people were killed and 40,000 were made homeless.

Shoppers among piles of rubble and makeshift stalls

Clydebank

Date : 13-14 March 1941

Main information : hit by two nights of devastating raids. Clydebank was in the industrial area of Clydeside to the west of Glasgow. Air raid shelter provision was inadequate.

Material damage : docks, shipyards and residential areas were hit

Human damage : around 50,000, 35,000 people were made homeless.

Destroyed building in Clydebank

BELFAST

Date : 7-8 April 1941 then 15 April

Main information : The raid lasted for five hours. As fires burned out of control, fire crews were sent both from the Irish Republic and from mainland Britain.

Material damage : docks and shipyards were the primary target, although as in other dockside cities, the residential areas nearby were badly hit.

Human damage : 745 were killed.

Church on fire in Belfast