Daylight raid The day grim reality of WWII really hit Bristol
BY 1935, the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton had for many years been producing aircraft and aeroengines that were very important to the fighting forces of the UK and many other countries worldwide.
In October 1935, the then Air Minister, Philip Cunliffe-Lister, had privately written to Herbert Thomas, the Works Manager at Filton, saying that “the BAC” was crucial to providing new aircraft and engines to equip the RAF, especially because of the growing political crisis on mainland Europe. This effectively cemented the Company’s close relations with the Ministry which bore fruit in time for the start of World War 2.
By September 1939, the Bristol Mercury powered Blenheim fighter/bomber accounted for half of the front-line RAF aircraft and Bristol aero-engines powered 80% of all of the RAF aircraft in service.
By September 1940, the Luftwaffe had failed to render the RAF
Map the German crews carried showing the complete Filton complex. It is said to have been drawn as a result of German extensive photograph mapping of the UK in 1938. The titles and aircraft have been added by Duncan Greenman.
so weakened that it could not present a strong enough aerial defence against any German invasion. This meant a change in tactics from destroying the RAF’s air superiority to destroying the UK’s industrial base, its towns and cities, especially London.
By doing this, the enemy also expected to draw the RAF into a battle in which it might be annihilated defending their capital and its docks. It is a fact of history that London was bombed for all but one of the 57 nights after September 7 1940 – the huge daylight attacks on 15th September 1940 loom large in the British memory.
For Bristol, the war so far had been relatively quiet, but it could have only been a matter of time before its important industrial sites and docks attracted the attention of the bombers. The first bombing raid happened in June 1940, but “Bristol Blitz” is not reckoned to have started until November 24 1940.
In the case of “the BAC”, their luck ran out slightly sooner, on the morning of Wednesday September 25 1940, when all hell broke loose at Filton.
That morning, in Northern France, Major Friedrich Kless, Gruppenkommandeur of II/KG 55 was making preparations to attack Filton. Major Kless was trained as a pilot/observer and his group was experienced and proficient. To enable him to take command of the raid without having to think about evasive flying, he acted as observer/ navigator on this mission.
His formation approached the south coast of England close to Portland, but was not initially identified as a serious threat, resulting in the warning being issued late; it then headed across Dorset and Somerset.
Coming in from the west, the attackers used Weston-SuperMare, clearly recognisable by its pier, as their outer marker. At 11:45 hours, they came in over Portbury, where accurate anti-aircraft fire brought down one of the lead aircraft. This crashed near Failand; the crew bailed out and were captured by farmers who, according to their recorded memories, used sharp implements to prevent their captives getting away!
Perhaps because of the late warning, most of the Bristol defences were neither co-ordinated nor accurate. The German aircrew briefing notes show that heavy flak batteries were also situated near the target at Charlton and at Stoke Gifford.