Echoes of the Merseyside Blitz

Neil Holmes

• Publisher: Pen & Sword History
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781526702586
• eBook ISBN: 9781526702609
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

Merseyside has a long and varied history, one which its sons and daughters are justifiably proud. It has come through many struggles, but perhaps its darkest hour was the air raids that were launched against it in 1940 and 1941. Around 4,000 people lost their lives and many prominent buildings and houses were destroyed or damaged beyond repair. All of this occurred in the space of just 18 months, a period which changed the face of the region irrevocably. Using a variety of new sources Echoes of the Merseyside Blitz draws together a timeline of the blitz for the whole region, showing at a glance what was happening on any given night during that period. Taking carefully selected photographs, Neil Holmes tells the story of Merseysides blitz through a series of ghost photographs, where historic wartime images are blended with their modern counterpart to create a fascinating window in to Merseysides past.

THE MAY BLITZ: MERSEYSIDE’S DARKEST HOUR

As has been alluded to several times in the course of this book, the first seven nights of May 1941 were for Merseyside the worst experience of the entire war. The Luftwaffe made several heavy raids against the area, taking advantage of the good weather and visibility to inflict massive damage to the region’s port facilities, industry, transport infrastructure, shopping and business districts and of course, to its residential areas too.

It is important to stress just how difficult a period this was for the region, coming as it did within such a short space of time. Wallasey and Birkenhead had seen the nadir of their experience in the March raids, and although Liverpool, Bootle and Crosby had suffered badly in previous raids, the sheer scale of the damage in these seven nights eclipsed anything seen or heard about locally beforehand.

As has been noted earlier, this was not helped by an atmosphere of rumours and official secrecy, which tended to exaggerate the few known facts into nightmarish scenarios that bore no resemblance to reality. Many people left the city at night to head into the surrounding countryside, only to find it difficult to return the next day. Return they did though, and although morale was reported as being at a lower level than ever before, it still held. People were determined to ‘do their bit’ in the face of a seemingly relentless enemy.

The sheer scale of the May Blitz makes it impossible to record every single incident, even on some of the quieter nights. Although the summary ARP reports for the May Blitz are now available for viewing in the archives in Liverpool Central Library, the level of detail provided could fill a book of its own. The following will therefore naturally concentrate on the major incidents of each night. Many of these are well-known, often as stories passed down by family members who experienced them first-hand.

The impact of this short period can still be seen today for those who know where to look. The most notable example is the Liverpool One Shopping Centre, built mostly on land devastated in the May Blitz. Furthermore, whilst the number killed may seem small in comparison to the population at the time, or the raids on other cities, it must be remembered that every death represented a personal tragedy. This would have been felt keenly by the survivors, especially those serving in the armed forces, who could reasonably have expected their lives to be in greater danger than their loved ones at home.

Readers will no doubt note that this chapter is by far the longest, which is not just due to the amount of damage caused, but is also because more photographs survive from this period of the blitz than for any other. There are for example around half a dozen well-known photographs of varying quality of the Durning Road incident in November 1940, but more than twice that many of the Custom House in the aftermath of these raids.

Blitzed buildings and shattered street shelters on Fisher Street, Liverpool, in the Toxteth area of the city. This view looks from Grafton Street towards Caryl Street and the docks beyond. This former residential street is now little more than an alley.

1/2 MAY 1941

The first night of the May Blitz was comparatively quiet, but several areas across the region were hit.

In Liverpool, there was damage done to a meat factory in New Bird Street, a timber yard in Kempston Street, a shop in London Road and the glass roof of Lime Street Station. A bomb falling through the roof damaged two trains when it exploded. Travel to and from the station was also affected by unexploded bombs landing in the cutting between Overbury and Kinglake Streets.

High explosives fell on the Low Hill district, causing damage to houses. Damage was also caused to houses in Grafton Street, Fisher Street and a shed in West Brunswick Dock. Railway lines running into Garston Dock were blocked by high explosives landing in the area.

Bombs also struck houses, a bank and shops in the Cazneau Street area. The North Market was hit and damaged further (it had already been badly affected in the December Blitz) Houses on Claremont Road, Garmoyle Road and Wellington Road were demolished and there was a serious fire at Crawford’s Biscuits on Binns Road.

Birkenhead’s reports are a little harder to separate, with much of the damage done during the first four days in May recorded in one go. Over these four days, the impact on the borough was so widespread that it would be impossible to list all the places that were affected.

Amongst the places known to have been hit on this first night were St Vincent Road, St David Road, Howbeck Road, Vyner Road and Coniston Avenue. The railway line between Rock Ferry and Bebington Stations was also blocked by a crater caused by a high explosive landing there. The 11.33 pm train from Birkenhead to Chester ran into this crater, causing further damage and a delay in clearing the line.

Wallasey saw considerable damage to the docks, warehouses and shipping, with several severe fires started, some of which would not be completely put out for days. The situation would not have been helped by the raids which came later in the week as this provided little or no time for respite for the civil defences.

In Bebington, incendiary bombs caused slight damage to houses, whilst three high explosives landed on Bromborough Margarine Works, causing minor damage. In Neston, a single high explosive damaged a house on Boathouse Lane whilst six others landed in fields nearby. In Eastham, seven high explosives landed in a field, their explosions causing slight damage to nearby houses.

Although now a quiet area of Birkenhead, St Vincent Road in Claughton was once the scene of terrible loss of life, with at least nine people dying at either number 30 or 32. The sea of rubble that the civil defence workers are sifting through in the centre of the photograph is all that remains of the pre-war properties where so many lost their lives.

Here we can see slight damage to St David Road in Birkenheas, which occurred during the raid on the night of 1/2 May 1941. Another photograph, taken from further down the road, shows that the roadway was cratered. This explains the need for the temporary barrier which has been erected to prevent anyone from driving down the road.

2/3 MAY 1941

In Liverpool, no division was spared damage, with some incidents also singled out for special mention due to the serious fire damage they suffered. These included warehouses in Bridgewater Street, Norfolk Street and Chaloner Street. Dock sheds at the north eastern end of Queen’s Dock were also affected, as was a rice mill on Upper Pownall Street, the Corn Exchange in the City Centre (started by high explosives and a shattered gas main), the White Star Building and the gas company’s works on Duke Street.

A parachute mine landed on South Castle Street, doing serious damage to shops, a nearby electricity substation and two tram cars. The ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Dedication
• CONTENTS
• Acknowledgements
• Author’s Note
• Introduction
• The Early Raids, July to November 1940
• The Christmas Blitz, December 1940
• New Year Raids, January to April 1941
• The May Blitz: Merseyside’s Darkest Hour
• Late war raids, May 1941 – January 1942
• Spotting signs of the Blitz
• Glossary