Ledger reveals true extentofwarbombs
A WARTIME ledger has revealed the extent of bomb damage caused to properties owned by the Church of Scotland during the Second World War.
The Register of War Damaged Properties has recorded every incident that befell churches at the hands of the German air force, the Luftwaffe, in the 1940s.
It sets out the date, the extent of damage caused and the cost of temporary and permanent repairs carried out to around 800 properties in communities including Glasgow, Greenock and Clydebank.
The ledger has been preserved for decades in the basement of the Kirk’s offices in Edinburgh and it will soon be deposited in the National Archives of Scotland.
A total of 89 cities and towns across Scotland were bombed by the Luftwaffe during the war and official figures suggest that 2298 people were killed, 2167 seriously injured and 3558 slightly injured.
Research carried out by Les Taylor, author of a book titled Luftwaffe Over Scotland who said the figures were likely incomplete, revealed that the vast majority of casualties occurred during a two-night raid on Clydebank on March 13 to14, 1941 – an incident that left 528 civilians dead and 617 severely injured.
The ledger, which is more than 70 years old, shows that many buildings in the Dumbarton Presbytery area were severely damaged during the Blitz.
Bearsden South Church near Glasgow, now known as Bearsden Cross Church, had to be rebuilt after it was hit by an incendiary bomb dropped by a German warplane returning from the bombing raid on Clydebank. The ledger states: “Totally destroyed – only wall is standing.”
Audrey Taylor said: “The air raid warning went off and my father was out on duty on the road with the other men because he was an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) warden.
“My father came back in and said there was a fire at Bearsden Cross because the sky was alight and it turned out the church had been hit by an incendiary bomb.”
The 81-year-old, who recalled going to school with a gas mask round her neck, said: “It was devastating for Bearsden because it was the only building hit. But it brought the community together and people really rallied round and we just soldiered on.”
Rev Bill Hogg, convener of the Church of Scotland’s committee on church art and architecture and minister at Sanquhar and St Brides’s churches, said: “This ledger provides an insight into what church people faced during the Second World War.”