Remembering the Bristol Blitz 75 years on

It was a night which brought death and destruction to Bristol.

75 years ago, guided by fire-starting pathfinder planes, the German Luftwaffe flew a course up river from Avonmouth into the centre of Bristol. 

The German orders for the night of November 24 were for the first major attack on Bruder, the German codename for Bristol. 148 planes were deployed tasked with “eliminating Bristol as an importing port supplying much of the Midlands and South of England”.

The bombing started at 6pm and lasted six hours. As the city burned, the fires could be seen some 150 miles away.

207 people were killed. 187 were seriously injured. More than 10,000 homes were damaged and 1,400 people were made homeless.

The attack destroyed historic buildings, churches and much of the medieval city centre. 

It was the first of many similar nights. More than 1,400 people lost their lives in the six major bombing raids between November 24 1940 and April 11 1941.

Destruction after the night of bombing (Credit: Paul Townsend/FlickR)

Anxious to keep up public morale, the government kept a lid on the bombings. Under censorship, newspaper headlines simply described the raids as hitting “a town in the west”. 

“I was quite excited at the time – I think most children were,” said Ronald Norley, who grew up in Staple Hill.

In an interview for the Imperial War Museum archives he said: “I remember the flares and the bombing… you could see the explosions round Castle Street.  

“I saw Castle Street after the bombing – not many buildings survived. It used to be the main shopping area and it was completely gutted.”

Bomb damage to Castle Park during the bombing raids on November 24. (Starts approx 1:30)

In extracts from the BBC WW2 People’s War series, Bristolians remembered the fear and devastation of the first night of the Bristol Blitz.

Thomas Coole recalls the destruction of the city centre after a bomb fell on a shop in the Upper Arcade in the HorseFair. “We just stood and watched helplessly as the flames spread at an alarming rate from top to bottom. 

“Fires were raging when we reached the top of Union Street. We were amazed. It was one mass of flames in Wine Street, Mary Le Port Street, Dolphin Street, Peter Street and Castle Street.

“It was awe inspiring… As far as we could see, flames and more flames. Everything was so quiet, apart from the crackle of flames. For days, every time I closed my eyes I could see flames.”

Joan Rimell was in town with her friend when the bombs started to drop.

“Sailors walking behind us shouted to everyone to take cover and the sirens sounded. We watched the flares at first until the sailors shouted, we took to our heels and ran to a surface shelter.

“Bombs were falling, the noise was horrendous, both Joyce and I were scared stiff… the bombs were dropping the shelter was vibrating and sort of rocking… Soon after there was a sort of heavy smack on the building and we were all told to get out of the building that was ablaze.

“Joyce and I got out and ran as fast as we could away from the blazing building… We kept running and didn’t know where, we just couldn’t think.”

November 24 1940 was a devastating night for Freda Webster who lived in Knowle. 

“Incendiary bombs were raining down and the trees were festooned with light,” she wrote. “We did not hear the bomb that landed in our back garden blowing our house to pieces. 

“Many neighbours came to rescue us and as we were brought out of the rubble we were taken to different houses… When the ‘All Clear’ sounded I was taken out into the street possessing only the filthy clothes I stood up in and only one shoe. I was told my mother had been killed.”

The bombed out remains of St Peter’s Church in Castle Park is maintained as a memorial to Bristol’s civilian war dead

That night 75 years ago was just the beginning of a concerted bombing campaign.

Two weeks later, on December 2, Bristol was attacked again. Four days later the bombers were back. 256 people were killed and 229 people were injured during these two attacks.

The very fabric of Bristol was being blown to smithereens. The Bishop’s Palace and the Children’s Hospital on St Michael’s Hill were destroyed. Half of Portland Square was burned down and the ss Bristol City was hit at Hill’s Dockyard. The Council House, Assize Court, the Corn Exchange and Merchant’s Hall were also damaged.

To boost morale, King George VI and Queen Mary came to visit the city on December 16 1940 and Christmas passed by without any bombing. However, it was to be a brief respite.

On January 3 1941 Bristol was hit by bombing yet again. This time the docks and Temple Meads railway station were targetted.

Bomb damage at Temple Meads (Credit: Paul Townsend/FlickR)

The booking office, telegraph office, refreshment room and clock tower were destroyed. Platforms 9 and 12 were damaged.

During the 12-hour raid buildings in Queen Square, Welsh Back, Broad Quay, Nelson Street and Redcliffe Street were also damaged. The Granary on Princes Wharf was completely destroyed. 149 were killed that night and 133 people were injured.

During the raid, a 4,000lb bomb was dropped on Knowle. This bomb, named Satan by Bristolians, did not explode. It lay buried in the ground for two years but was recovered, made safe and included in the 1945 London victory parade.

Winston Churchill visited Bristol in April 1941 to assess the damage (Photo credit: Imperial War Museum H8870)

The bombs continued to fall. On March 16 1941 Avonmouth and the docks were attacked by 162 bombers. Whitehall, Easton, Eastville, St Paul’s and Fishponds were also targeted. By the time the raid ended, 257 people had died and 391 people had been injured.

The attacks were beginning to break the spirit of Bristol. The Mass Observation Unit reported: “People are getting worn out with the continual bombardment in a place where every bomb is a bomb somewhere quite near you and at you. The irregular, sporadic, sudden switching of heavy raids here has a strongly disturbing effect.” 

On April 11 1941 Bristol suffered its last major attack.

The Good Friday Raid saw Bristol attacked by wave after wave of bombers. Areas around the docks including Prince Street, Canon’s Marsh and Queen Square were damaged. The Electricity Offices in Colston Avenue were destroyed and so was St Philip’s Bridge which carried the power for Bristol trams. With the bridge destroyed the trams could no longer run.

 Bomb damage on Park Street in 1943 Photo Credit: Antony Kear WW2 People’s War

During 1942, bombing continued but they were smaller attacks. In August of that year a lone German plane dropped a 500lb bomb on Broad Weir, in the centre of the city. The bomb damaged cars and petrol caught fire. The flames spread quickly to nearby buses and engulfed them in fire. Forty five people were killed.

By the end of the year the battle above the skies of Bristol and the destruction on the ground was drawing to an end as the Luftwaffe targeted other cities. There were no raids in 1943 but in 1944 the Germans once again turned their sights on the city.

There were raids in March, April and May the last bombs falling around 2am on May 15 in Headley Park, and at Kings Weston where a searchlight site was destroyed, killing an operator from the 68th Searchlight Regiment, the last person to lose his life in Bristol as a result of enemy action during World War Two.

The attacks were finally over but Bristol was never the same again. The bombed out remains of St Peter’s Church in Castle Park stand as a lasting memorial to the Bristol civilians who lost their lives.

Information, thanks and credit to www.bristolblitzed.org which has put together a walking trail of World War Two sites in Bristol. 

Further source material thanks to UWE Humanities department.

WW2 People’s War is an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC. The archive can be found at bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar

Top photo image: Bristol bomb damage in 1943 Photo Credit Imperial War Museum D16643