Manchester Blitz

Piccadilly ablaze during the night raid of 23 December 1940

The Manchester Blitz (also known as the Christmas Blitz) was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester and its surrounding areas in North West England during the Second World War by the Nazi German Luftwaffe. Manchester was an important inland port and industrial city during the war, and Trafford Park in neighbouring Stretford was a major centre of war production.

Raids on Manchester

Air raids began in August 1940, and in September 1940 the Palace Theatre on Oxford Street was bombed. The heaviest raids occurred on the nights of 22/23 and 23/24 December 1940, killing an estimated 684 people and injuring 2,364.^[1] Manchester Cathedral, the Royal Exchange and the Free Trade Hall were among the large buildings damaged. On the night of 22/23 December, 270 aircraft dropped 272 tons of high explosive and 1,032 incendiary bombs; on the second night, 171 aircraft dropped another 195 tons of high explosive and 893 incendiaries.^[1] After the bombings, Nazi propaganda declared that the entire city had been burned to the ground.

Salford and Stretford

Neighbouring Salford and Stretford were also badly damaged by the bombing. It is estimated that over 215 people were killed and 910 injured in Salford, and over 8,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.^[1] Seventy-three were killed in Stretford, and many more were injured.^[2] The following month Old Trafford was hit during an air raid that lasted 3 hours. In June 1941 German bombs damaged the original Salford Royal Hospital on Chapel Street (A6), killing 14 nurses.

Further raids

In June 1941 German bombs damaged the police headquarters. Manchester continued to be bombed by the Luftwaffe throughout the war, and was in some danger of being hit by V-1 flying bombs. On Christmas Eve 1944 the Germans launched flying bombs at Manchester; the attack failed but 27 people in neighbouring Oldham were killed by a stray bomb. The city was beyond the range of the V-2 rockets.

See also

• History of Manchester

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Manchester Blitz, Imperial War Museum, http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.2790, retrieved 15 September 2007 
2. ^ Masterson & Cliff 2002, p. 156

Bibliography

• Masterson, Vicki; Cliff, Karen (2002), Stretford: An Illustrated History, Derby: The Breedon Books Publishing Company, ISBN 978-1-85983-321-6 

Further reading

• Daily Dispatch and Evening Chronicle (1945) Our Blitz: Red Sky over Manchester. Manchester: Kemsley Newspapers (Facsimile edition by Aurora Publishing, Bolton, [ca. 2000] ISBN 978-1-85926-049-4)

External links

• The Manchester Christmas Blitz, by Frank Walsh