Southampton Remembers The Blitz Tomorrow

Looking out from the restaurant balcony of Southampton's West Quay shopping mall across the Retail Park towards Leisure World, it is difficult now to imagine the scene in the final year of WW2. Then, in the foreground stood a transit camp for German prisoners of war, guarded by soldiers of the American 14th Major Transportation Corps. Southampton docks, beyond, laboured under the embarkation of 3.5 million troops, materials and equipment bound for the European theatre of war. Southampton High Street was mostly destroyed, and much of the rubble had been pushed towards Town Quay to construct the Staging-Hards for D-Day. From Millbrook to West End, hundreds of bomb sites littered the town.

The full force of the Blitz

Southampton was the seventh heaviest bombed city in Britain. It was considered an obvious target; it was Britain's number one military port, and the home of Spitfire production. Therefore, Southampton's air-raid precautions were advanced and preparations in the borough were intensive. The first blackout exercise in England was staged in Southampton in June 1937, more than two years before the war broke out, and the town was well provided with shelters. The historic Bargate, and many of the town's 600-year-old underground vaults, were used as bomb shelters.

Southampton was raided 57 times, and three raids were classified as major attacks. The first bombs fell on 20 June 1940, after which a pattern emerged of strategic daylight raids on aircraft factories, shipyards, docks and railway lines, with occasional small-scale attacks on populated areas and sometimes machine gun strafing of streets.

There is a strong folk memory of certain incidents and attacks. These include the drop of a propaganda leaflet entitled A Last Appeal to Reason, by Adolf Hitler; the sight of Flight Lieutenant JB Nicholson baling out of his burning Hurricane over Millbrook, only to be shot by an over-excited Home Guardsman; the attack on the International Cold Storage Depot which set alight 2,300 tons of butter which ominously burnt for nine days; and the harrowing destruction of the Civic Centre School of Art. In late September 1940, heavy raids destroyed the Vickers Supermarine Spitfire factory at Woolston, but amazingly Spitfire manufacture continued through the dispersal of production into a variety of buildings including garages, laundries and bus stations.

The increasing number of attacks ratcheted up the level of fear in the town, culminating in three major raids at the end of November 1940. The raids were of similar duration and intensity, starting around 6.30pm and each lasting between five and seven hours, with 120 bombers streaming in on each raid. The glow of Southampton burning could be seen from as far away as Cherbourg in France. Most of the High Street and thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged. Two thousand firefighters from surrounding brigades came into the town to reinforce the courageous local firefighters, but incompatible equipment and lack of water supplies rendered the situation hopeless.

It was Southampton's darkest hour. Accounts of people's reaction varied widely, ranging from the Southern Daily Echo's, 'these people survive today amazingly cheerful, and full of courage'; to Mass Observation Unit's, 'people are broken in spirit', and the controversial Hodsall Report (made public in 1973, and heavily refuted) claiming incompetence on the part of the local authorities. Certainly the most widespread public reaction to the Blitz was to vacate the town at night, and for a while 'trekking' became a way of life.

Build-up to D-Day

Although sporadic attacks continued, the worst was over with the last big 50-bomber raid in June 1942. The spring of 1942 was a turning point. In February the docks re-opened to receive Lease-Lend cargoes from America. Then there followed the gradual build-up to D-day and Operation Overlord, with Southampton people playing an important role working long hours in the factories and shipyards, and building the Mulberries, the artificial harbours that were crucial in the Allies' success on D-Day.

South Western House became the headquarters of Combined Operations Military Movement Control. The US Army 14th Major Port Transportation Corps arrived in July 1943 and took over the organisation of the docks. One of their final tasks in 1946 was the embarkation of British war brides for the USA and Canada.

Fact File: Southampton Blitz

57 raids

1,605 air raid alarms

475 tons of high explosive bombs (2,361 bombs)

31,000 incendiaries

631 dead, 898 seriously injured, 979 slightly injured

963 homes destroyed, 2,653 demolished, 8,927 seriously damaged, 32,019 slightly damaged

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/heritage/the_blitz/8488619.Recalling_our_darkest_hour/

Shame you did-née rebuild after it!

Ah but we did it was just that all the rubble was needed in Portsmouth and was reassembled as housing for the poor in Fratton

**** it! now i know why all our houses are made with chipped red brick!

My Mum grew up in Eastleigh. Later in the war when the main blitz was over there used to be lots of single hit and run raiders, particularly aimed at the airport and Pirelli works. One day she and a friend were on the way to school when a Heinkel came over and machine-gunned them. They made a dive for a shelter, and I suspect that the commendation at the following day's school assembly wasn't really needed: surviving was it's own reward!

Thanks for posting that up. It focuses me on what the City and its residents had to go through. It's something we could easily forget and can only imagine; the horror of the attack, the devastating loss of life, the grief of families and the physical changes to the historical profile of Southampton. But we should also remember the undoubted resilience of the people of Southampton and the determination to carry on as normal in the face of the sort of hardship that current generations (and i include myself in this before anyone gets arsey) can never imagine.

My dad was a young schoolboy in Shirley at the time of the Blitz; and was evacuated with all the other kids from Southampton to Bournemouth for their safety; bizarrely enough only Monday to Friday when they all returned for the weekend.

Presumably the authorities of the time didn't think the Luftwaffe devilish enough to bomb at weekends!

My grand dad was a farm labourer at Bexhill-On-Sea at the start of the war, and my dad watched the battle of Britain in the skies. Sometime after he and several of his brothers and sisters were evacuated to the Stevenage area, whilst his eldest brothers joined the home guard. Dad told me that the sky was black with planes - must've been a amazing thing to see.

Older forum members will remember The Running Horse pub down the side of the old Echo building in Above Bar. Some relatives of mine used to keep it during the war.

When their was an air-raid they took shelter in the pub cellar. One night, although the pub survived, the Echo office was flattened and the rubble trapped them in the cellar.

A broken water main was slowly filling the cellar with water. They were rescued in time but it must have been a pretty scary experience.

I remember my old Aunt telling me she went into town the morning after the raid on 30th Nov. When the sirens sounded the night before, many people were still shopping in Above Bar and the ran out of the shops into the parks. Unfortunately that was where the first stick of bombs fell. She said that the next day there were still arms and legs and other body parts up in the trees.

Thanks for that dune, an interesting read.

One day she and a friend were on the way to school when a Heinkel came over and machine-gunned them.

My Granddad was also strafed by a German fighter on his way to/from school. He was a schoolboy in Hamble during the blitz and on another occasion was nearly hit by a bit of shrapnel from the Bofers AA gun on the beach which was firing at German bombers overhead, the shrapnel fell just in front of him, missing him by inches.

Just mentioned it on Twitter and Ordnance Survey sent me this link, shows the sites of where the bombs fell:

http://blog.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/2010/11/mapping-the-southampton-blitz-70-years-on/

Just mentioned it on Twitter and Ordnance Survey sent me this link, shows the sites of where the bombs fell:

 

http://blog.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/2010/11/mapping-the-southampton-blitz-70-years-on/

Interesting. The bastards got 4 strikes in my road!

Used to live in a house in Glenfield Avenue Bitterne. The back of the house was almost a foot lower than the front and none of the windows were square or opened properly. I'd heard it was bomb damage - apparently the bombs exploding underground sent a shock wave through the earth which lifted the houses off their foundations. Interesting to see there were 5 bombs within 100m and one within 20m.

Very interesting.

Didn't realise the Hun had dropped one just behind my mum's house.

Just mentioned it on Twitter and Ordnance Survey sent me this link, shows the sites of where the bombs fell:

 

http://blog.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/2010/11/mapping-the-southampton-blitz-70-years-on/

My old man swears blind an incendiery bomb hit the back of their house and was put out by his dad. Not shown on the map though.

Two dropeed on The Dell.One each at the Milton and Archers Road end.

My Nan worked with Ted Bates at Follands in Hamble during the War. My Grandad was Chief Fireman for Hamble.

My Nan would always tell me the story of when she was on a bus going to work when a raid commenced. The bus driver just stopped the bus there in the street and told everyone to get out and leg it !!! She managed to get to safety in a nearby air raid shelter.

My Grandad would often have to go over to Southampton to help put out the fires, even though he had his hand full with Hamble / woolston fires.

My old man swears blind an incendiery bomb hit the back of their house and was put out by his dad. Not shown on the map though.

The one my nan told me about is shown, Oaktree Rd, there were still burn marks on the old Anderson Shelter that my grandad used for his tool shed.

A really good read Dune.Thanks for taking the time to post that.

My old man swears blind an incendiery bomb hit the back of their house and was put out by his dad. Not shown on the map though.

I think some incendiery bombs were quite small so I doubt all of them were accounted for.

After the war, when my Dad first took me to see the Saints (Still "War League South" if i remember correctly!) The journey from Royal Pier to Civic Centre by tram passed bombed sites all the way and walking on past the Polygon there was plenty more evidence. The very interesting map shows just why. Thanks for posting the link to that. When Southampton's Air Defences got too hot for Jerry, it appeared that he emptied his bombs over Cowes; we spent many a night in the Shelter while Dad was on Civil Defence.if not night shift shift at work.

The area near me (Bursledon) was used as a camp in preparation for D Day. I only found out because I saw some strange cuttings in the river bank and wondered where they originated from so did some googling. As I thought, they were made by the D Day landing craft.

http://www.qe2activitycentre.co.uk/hms%20cricket.htm

Don't know if anyone is listening to Radio Solent at the moment but my Grandmother has been on telling of her experiences of the time.

Some may remember a campaign I ran on SF years ago to get a plaque at SMS for those lives that were lost on that site. My Grandfather was the only surviving employee working that day. He has written many letters to Rupert Lowe about getting something to remember those who were lost. Rupert replied asking him to buy a brick and to personalise it.

He unfortunately passed away in May.

Thanks to BBC Radio Solent a plaque has now been made to remember those lives that we lost on the site where SMS now stands. Thank you Radio Solent, Mr Cortese & Kelvin Davis. I know my Granddad would be so proud.

I think some incendiery bombs were quite small so I doubt all of them were accounted for.

That's true, doubt he reported it to anyone

Nice read Dune... i really mean that !!

My Grandad was chief petty officer on the ark royal amoungst his ships, was sunk twice, once in the china seas where they told the sailors not to bother wearing life jackets as it was better to drown then be eaten by sharks.

He also marched to normandy with the marines and rescued some british lord or something from Borneo with the SBS.

He really was an amazing man that rarely spoke of his ordeals but when he did you listened.

My thanks go out to everyone that was involved in the war, both going about their lives or fighting.

If anyone missed it and was interested Solent did a special show about the Blitz last night.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00cb88q/Southamptons_darkest_hour_Southampton_Blitz_70th_Anniversary

At around 40 mins, Kelvin gives a Widow a plaque to commemorate her late Husbands friends who all worked at the gas works (where St Mary's is now) who all died in a direct hit (Although the husband was not at the shelter that night, so had been trying to get a plaque organised before he passed away earlier this year). The plaque is going to be put outside SMS to remember the young men who died on the site.

Just mentioned it on Twitter and Ordnance Survey sent me this link, shows the sites of where the bombs fell:

 

http://blog.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/2010/11/mapping-the-southampton-blitz-70-years-on/

They've missed one. My house was bombed during the war, I have the re-build drawings in with my mortgage stuff. Sadly we're not shown on the map.

Nice read Dune... i really mean that !!

 

My Grandad was chief petty officer on the ark royal amoungst his ships, was sunk twice, once in the china seas where they told the sailors not to bother wearing life jackets as it was better to drown then be eaten by sharks.

 

He also marched to normandy with the marines and rescued some british lord or something from Borneo with the SBS.

 

He really was an amazing man that rarely spoke of his ordeals but when he did you listened.

 

My thanks go out to everyone that was involved in the war, both going about their lives or fighting.

So, is your name Rodney, not Steve?

So, is your name Rodney, not Steve?

Steve ??? Who the f*ck is Steve ??

Lol though

Dyoorin da wawr

Interesting thing about that OS map is that you can actually see the flightpaths of the aircraft that dropped the bombs from the positions of the strikes marked on the map. So what was there between freemantle and Shirley that the luftwaffe were so keen to destroy?

 

They've missed one. My house was bombed during the war, I have the re-build drawings in with my mortgage stuff. Sadly we're not shown on the map.

The map is just what was dropped over 2 nights not the entire was - there was plenty more to come

Interesting thing about that OS map is that you can actually see the flightpaths of the aircraft that dropped the bombs from the positions of the strikes marked on the map. So what was there between freemantle and Shirley that the luftwaffe were so keen to destroy?

I think it has been made from a map produced during the war by the fire wardens who logged where bombs fell and have attempted to mark where bombs fell and didn't go off. It is available to any project managers of big sites that ask for it and helps them ascertain whether they are going to uncover a bomb and whether or not to dig carefully etc.

I saw one that they had in the Kier site in town (new police HQ) really interesting and actually had what looked like the bombing runs of the raids. Pretty interesting stuff.

Interesting thing about that OS map is that you can actually see the flightpaths of the aircraft that dropped the bombs from the positions of the strikes marked on the map. So what was there between freemantle and Shirley that the luftwaffe were so keen to destroy?

Our old house in Shirley had misaligned bricks from bomb damage, I see now how close they were; 3 hit Foundry Lane school. I remember an elderly neighbour telling me that lots of allied troops were encamped there.

In fact I was told that after the bombing residents were offered their houses cheap if they undertook the remedial work themselves, others had to wait their turn for repairs.

I read recently that the sale of the old bus depot to Sainsbury's (iirc) that the large octagonal brick pillar on the corner of the site is actually a vent for the underground shelter beneath the police station. Apparently their is a tunnel that runs under the road there.

That would cause a few concerns for me personally as i believe that these things should be preserved. Once they are gone they are gone forever imo. Took my grandsons around the old army estate in Gillingham where I grew up last week. Showed hem the old air raid shelters that are now covered with undergrowth where us kids used to play. He was so impressed, especially when I showed them the one in the woods which hails from the Napoleonic wars. In fact, some of the old tunnels are open to the public now (Fort Amehurst) but they don't tell people about the hidden ones which are only accesible if you know exactly where they are. And before anyone asks, the hole in the fence was already there so if perhaps trespass not necesarily 'breaking in'.

If anyone is ever down that way and interested in seeing them PM me and I'll give you directions. take a torch though.

I liked what my grandson said about preserving them too; "don't ruin history, let history ruin itself".

There's a Spitfire flypast tomorrow morning to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first flight.

_MG_0298 by Al de Man, on Flickr

I live in Bitterne Park, just off the approach for the airport. I was waiting for the Spitfire to take off this morning & it flew right over the top of me, circling a couple of times before flying off to Southampton Water, I managed to get a couple of pics. Twenty minutes or so later, I just happened to be walking out of my front door, as it came into land. It scared the living cr@p out of me, the roar of the engine as it flew about 50ft above me was awsome. This afternoon we were treated to a free air display for about 10 minutes as it looped & dived over Bitterne Park & out over Chilworth direction.

I've been fortunate enough to see several Spitfires take of & land over the years. It never fails to make the hairs on my neck stand on end. It really is a beautiful machine & the sound of the Merlin engine is just something else. I can imagine that seeing a whole squadron taking-off during the war would have been breathtaking.