Remember civilians who get caught up in conflicts
IN November each year we remember those who fought and died in wars. We should also remember the civilians who are on the frontline in conflicts, whether it’s in Syria today, or Hull in the Second World War.
Eighty years ago, Hull residents were on the receiving end of ariel bombing. These were not the concentrated air raids like those that wiped out the centre of Coventry on November 14-15, 1940. That type of air attack was to come to Hull in the following year.
Between June and December 1940 Hull was experiencing three or four raids a month at intermittent intervals. Often these were clusters of incendiaries which were relatively easily extinguished.
Nevertheless, the frequent sounding of the alert meant people had to decide on each occasion whether they should go to the shelters, chance staying in bed, or, as many Hullensians did, compromise by taking refuge under the stairs.
To avoid disrupting factory production, a tiered system of warnings was devised, enabling people to continue working until an “alarm within an alert” was sounded.
Extensive casualties occurred on the night of August 18 when bombs falling on public shelters near Wincolmlee killed 20 people and injured 53. The densely built-up streets off Hessle Road and Holderness Road took the brunt of damage on August 24 and 25, with 240 people made homeless.
The first two 1,000kg parachute mines dropped in Silverdale Road and Strathmore Avenue, off Beverley Road, on October 22.
These fell before the warning was sounded, bringing many casualties and extensive damage to hundreds of houses.
A severe frost on the night of November 12 resulted in Alfred Gelder Street becoming treacherously slippery for firefighters saving the Guildhall when an incendiary shattered the window of the Banqueting Room. Water froze in the fire hoses and they had to be carried back to the fire station, still rigid, to be thawed out.
Today, the banqueting room has an attractive stained-glass window from the 1950s commemorating the Hull Blitz.